Low-rainfall eucalypts as a potential plantation resource in south-eastern Australia for sawn appearance products

Can climate at the seed-source predict the success of eucalypts planted on sites that have been grazed for over 100 years?

“…Mean annual rainfall and mean annual temperature at seed-source of the respective species assigned to categories of high (H), medium (M) or low (L). Number of parent trees at each seed-source was at least 9. site of origin of the seed for each species planted), and in particular for mainland selections, from limited scientific reports on farm forestry trials available at the time (Ritson et al, 1992;Andrews, 2000;Close and Davidson, 2003) and from personal communication with the Australian CSIRO Tree Seed Centre that was aware of unpublished results of farm forestry trials that have since been reported (Blakemore et al, 2004;Swain and Gardner, 2004;Harwood et al, 2007;Walsh et al, 2008). Seed was germinated during January 2002 and seedlings were raised under ambient conditions at a plant nursery on the Tasmanian East Coast (42805 0 S, 147847 0 E).…”

Diameter–basal area ratio as a practical stand density measure for pruned plantations

“…However, the mix of objectives and small scale mean that harvest viability often requires high individual log values to offset poor economies of scale. The most important factors that determine the standing value of eucalypt sawlogs are tree diameter and knots (Blakemore et al, 2004). Pruning and thinning are effective means of improving wood quality and promoting diameter growth (Reid and Washusen, 2001).…”