How to manage stands to achieve continuous cover silviculture

 

Objective

Improve understanding of the effects of stand manipulation on factors that influence the successful transformation of stands from an even-aged structure to continuous cover.

Background

Manipulation of the stand, through the use of thinning regimes, is one of the main silvicultural tools available to managers when transforming stands to continuous cover silviculture (Mason and Kerr, 2004).  However, traditional thinning regimes are primarily designed to maintain cumulative volume production and prepare the stand for clearfelling; our prognosis is that they have limited application for use in transformation.

Forestry Commission Information Note 40 (Mason and Kerr, 2004) recommends the use of crown thinning in transformation. However, the knowledge base to support this recommendation is weak.

The main aim of this project is to increase understanding of the interaction of thinning with factors in order to achieve successful transformation, such as:

• Stand microclimate
• Seed production
• Stand stability
• Timber quality
• Ground flora
• Browsing impacts
• Establishment and recruitment.

Current work areas

• Seedling demography in a mature stand of Coriscan pine
• Interactions of thinning and deer browsing
• Interaction of thinning and the production of cones and viable seed
• Strategies for the transformation to continuous cover of neglected coppice-with-standards stand.

Main contacts

Colin Edwards and Gary Kerr.

Reference

Mason, B. and Kerr, G. (2004). Transforming even-aged conifer stands to continuous cover management ^(PDF-88K).  Forestry Commission Information Note 40.  Forestry Commission, Edinburgh.