Silvicultural responses of two spruce plantations to midrotation commercial thinning in New Brunswick

Pelletier, Gaétan; Pitt, Doug

doi:10.1139/x07-173

Cited by 53 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…CT of plantations occurs when size of thinned trees permits conversion to useable wood products to increase commercial productivity (Nyland 2002, Pelletier andPitt 2008). To contribute to biodiversity conservation while procuring renewable timber (Vincent et al 2009), traditional silvicultural practices which focus primarily on wood production may need to be modified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental manipulation of habitat structures in intensively managed spruce plantations to increase their value for biodiversity conservation

MacLeanDavid

DracupEvan

GandiagaFranck

et al. 2015

The Forestry Chronicle

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Six intensively managed white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) plantations located in three general landscape contexts (plantation dominated, hardwood dominated, and mixed hardwood and plantation) in northern New Brunswick underwent alternative commercial thinning (CT) treatments: 1) an unthinned control; and three 40% basal area CT removals, with 2) slash and tops remaining on site (status quo CT), 3) branches and tops extracted from the site (biomass removal CT), and 4) clumps of unthinned trees left, and one-half girdled to create snags (enhanced structure CT). We examined responses of taxa that have a clear connection to deadwood and thinning response: beetles and bird species that are directly dependent upon deadwood, ground vegetation species sensitive to disturbance, and small mammals that have been observed to have low density in planted stands. Results three years post-thinning showed that crown width and tree growth responded positively to CT, and herbaceous vegetation diverged from reference stands and unthinned treatments with CT, but greatest compositional change was associated with biomass removal CT. Beetles responded positively to CT, small mammal species responded both positively (red-backed voles) and negatively (woodland jumping mice) to CT, but areas dominated by plantations had negative effects on voles. Effects of CT on songbirds were unclear and their quantification would require larger treated blocks, but maintenance of habitat at the landscape level is essential for the conservation of bird species that require deadwood. The experimental biomass removal CT was least similar to both unthinned and older unmanaged stands, and may therefore be detrimental to biodiversity conservation efforts. These results are only the initial three years after treatment but set the study up to permit a long-term legacy of determining long-term responses of taxa over stand development.Keywords: commercial thinning, beetles, songbirds, small mammals, ground vegetation, deadwood, tree growth response, plantation habitat RÉSUMÉ Six plantations d' épinette blanche (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) aménagées de façon intensive, et situées dans trois paysages forestiers différents (prédominance de plantation, prédominance de feuillus et mélange de feuillus et de plantation) dans le nord du Nouveau-Brunswick ont fait l' objet de traitements d' éclaircie alternatifs (ÉC) : 1) témoin non éclairci; et trois éclaircies commerciales à 40 % de la surface terrière avec 2) abandon des branches et des houppiers sur le parterre de coupe (ÉC statu quo), 3) enlèvement des branches et des houppiers de sur le parterre de coupe (ÉC avec prélèvement de la biomasse), et 4) maintien de groupes d'arbres non éclaircis et annelés à moitié pour créer des chicots (ÉC avec structure améliorée). Nous avons étudié les taxons qui ont un lien étroit avec le bois mort ainsi que leur réaction à l' éclaircie : les coléoptères et les oiseaux qui ont absolument besoin de bois mort, les espèces vivant dans la végétation du sol, sensibles aux ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental manipulation of habitat structures in intensively managed spruce plantations to increase their value for biodiversity conservation

MacLeanDavid

DracupEvan

GandiagaFranck

et al. 2015

The Forestry Chronicle

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“…Clune (2013) studied spruce-fir response to a combination of commercial thinning methods, timings and intensities of removal over the past decade in Maine, with results showing the benefit of CT on stand stability and growth. CT has been shown to focus diameter and volume growth on a selected number of stems and therefore decreases the growing time to a specific merchantable volume (Pelletier and Pitt 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating harvest costs and profit of commercial thinnings in softwood stands in west-central Maine: A case study

Hiesl

BenjaminJeffrey

RothBrian³

2015

The Forestry Chronicle

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Precommercial thinning (PCT) is a common silvicultural treatment in the management of young conifer forests. The positive effects of PCT on tree growth are well documented, however, there have been few operational studies of thinning productivity associated with later harvests in such stands and associated cost comparison with high-density, small-diameter stands. In the winters of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 a long-term herbicide and PCT study in west-central Maine was commercially thinned using cut-to-length (CTL) and whole-tree (WT) harvesting systems in PCT and non-PCT stands, respectively. Thinning prescriptions consisted of three nominal removal intensities (33%, 50%, and 66% of the standing softwood volume) in a randomized block design with three to four replications. Stand density, basal area, hardwood content, and removal intensity were not significant in explaining variation in harvester and feller-buncher productivity. An analysis of unit cost of production indicated that wood chip production using a WT system in non-PCT stands is less costly than the production of roundwood using a CTL system in PCT stands. Profit, however, is similar for products harvested by either system. Our conclusion is that the WT system used in the study is economically feasible to treat highdensity, small-diameter stands in a commercial thinning.Keywords: PCT, non-precommercial thinning, NPCT, New England, harvester, feller-buncher, Ponsse Ergo, CAT 501 RÉSUMÉOn recourt souvent à l' éclaircie précommerciale (ÉPC) pour traiter les jeunes peuplements de résineux. Si les effets positifs de ce traitement sont bien documentés, on compte peu d' essais opérationnels comparant la productivité et les coûts de l' éclaircie combinée avec la récolte tardive dans ces mêmes peuplements à ceux pour les peuplements de forte densité et de faible diamètre. Durant les deux hivers de 2012/2013 et 2013/2014, on a effectué une éclaircie commerciale dans un bloc expérimental traité par ÉPC combinée à l'application d'herbicide dans le centre-ouest du Maine; la coupe s' est effectuée avec la méthode par bois court (BC) dans l'ÉPC, et par arbre entier (AE) dans les peuplements non éclaircis. Les règles d' éclaircie comportaient trois niveaux initiaux de prélèvement (33 %, 50 %, et 66 % du volume de résineux sur pied) dans un dispositif de blocs aléatoires avec trois ou quatre répétitions. La densité du peuplement, la surface terrière, le contenu en feuillus et le niveau de prélèvement n' ont pas affecté significativement la productivité de l'abatteuse-façonneuse et de l'abatteuse-groupeuse. L'analyse du coût unitaire de production a montré qu'il en coûte moins de produire des copeaux avec le système par AE que des billots avec le système par BC dans les peuplements éclaircis. Cependant, le profit aura été le même dans les deux cas. Nous en concluons qu'il est économiquement faisable d'utiliser la méthode de l' AE décrite dans l' étude pour effectuer une éclaircie commerciale dans les peuplements de forte densité et de faible diamètre.

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“…This result is similar to the result of Emmingham et al [49] who found that low-thinned and crown-thinned stands grew up to 124% more volume than the control. In New Brunswick, Canada, a study by Pelletier and Pitt [50] showed that all of the tested CT treatments resulted in improved diameter and volume growth on fewer individual trees. They further reported that early thinning entries increased the merchantable volume per stem by up to 24% over unthinned controls.…”

Section: Thinning Effect On Average Merchantable Stem Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Alternative Silvicultural Prescriptions for Mid-Rotation, Unthinned, Spruce-Fir Stands in Maine

Hiesl

Crandall

Weiskittel

et al. 2017

Forests

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Abstract:Determining the optimal timing and type of entry in mid-rotation, unthinned stands can be complicated by a variety of economic and biological factors. In this analysis, long-term data from the Commercial Thinning Research Network was used to project spruce-fir (Picea spp.-Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) stand growth on six different sites across Maine following six alternative thinning treatments (33% and 50% relative density removal paired with low, crown, and dominant thinning methods). Results showed that the low-thinning treatment performed best in terms of maximum net present value, stand age at time of maximum net present value, and average merchantable stem size. Although the low-thinning resulted in a 10% mean reduction in maximum net present value when compared to the control, the average merchantable stem size more than doubled. Overall, results of this analysis indicate that it may be financially responsible to commercially thin these stands using a low-thinning method and a light removal intensity, as the average merchantable stems size was increased and a mid-rotation financial return provided.

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Silvicultural responses of two spruce plantations to midrotation commercial thinning in New Brunswick

Cited by 53 publications

References 11 publications

Experimental manipulation of habitat structures in intensively managed spruce plantations to increase their value for biodiversity conservation

Experimental manipulation of habitat structures in intensively managed spruce plantations to increase their value for biodiversity conservation

Evaluating harvest costs and profit of commercial thinnings in softwood stands in west-central Maine: A case study

Assessing Alternative Silvicultural Prescriptions for Mid-Rotation, Unthinned, Spruce-Fir Stands in Maine

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