Growth and yield comparisons for red pine, white spruce and black spruce plantations in northwestern Ontario

Abstract

Intensive forest management for wood production requires that we identify our most productive forest lands as well as the most productive and most commercially valuable tree species that should be managed on these lands. The Thunder Bay Spacing Trial established in 1950 provides growth and yield comparisons on a productive site for red pine, white spruce, and black spruce. Our analysis based on six remeasurements from 1983 to 2007 show that red pine has produced more than twice the volume of white spruce and about three times the volume of black spruce. The greater volume for red pine in comparison to the spruces is attributed to taller trees, larger average diameters and more basal area.

Assessing Soil-Related Black Spruce and White Spruce Plantation Productivity

“…Both basal area and total wood volume accelerated with age within the plantation age range up to 40 years, with white spruce outperforming black spruce in total basal area and wood volume accumulations by a factor of 1.07 and 1.25, respectively (Table 4). The latter number is higher than what was found by Mallik et al (2008) by way of white versus black spruce experimentation, but similar to what was reported by Homagain et al (2011) for same aged black and white spruce plantations in northwestern Ontario. Hence, the wood volume productivity is 25% higher for white spruce than for black spruce plantations, all other conditions (age, soil type, time since thinning) being the same.…”

“…These differences, however, may increase or decrease as the plantations age further (Homagain et al, 2011). In terms of the post-thinning effects, there were small but significant basal area and wood volume benefits stemming from the pre-commercial but not yet from the more recent commercial thinning opera-tions.…”

Site index comparisons for forest species in the Upper Great Lakes area of the United States and Canada

“…Th e 1978 Alban study was based on 25 pairs of adjacent 28-to 42-year-old red pine 1 and jack pine plantations and showed that red pine plantations had greater annual increment and greater basal area than adjacent similar aged jack pine plantations. McClain et al (1994) and Homagain et al (2011) also showed that red pine plantations in northwestern Ontario produced much greater yield than adjacent similar aged white and black spruce plantations.…”

Dendroclimatic Analysis and Site Index Modeling of Central Appalachian Red Spruce

“…For example, height data can be collected every 5 or 10 years for an extended period at least covering a base age of 25 or 50 years (Newton, 2008;Homagain et at., 2011;Coble and Lee, 2006).…”

“…Despite the lack of destructive sampling, some anamorphic site index models still contain some sort of height measurement taken at a known age (Coble and Lee, 2006). Because of this requirement, anamorphic site index studies are usually conducted on plantation species or with samples that have data of the tree's height at or near a base age (Newton, 2008;Homagain et al, 2011).…”