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Commercial thinning that maintained species diversity of a mixed black spruce-jack pine stand enhanced productivity

Summary

Published in Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 33(8). https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2018.1495254

Commercial thinning enables forest managers to meet timber production objectives. Thinning reduces tree density to alleviate competition for resources and favour growth of selected tree species. However, in doing so, thinning can homogenize the composition of mixed-species forests and raise biodiversity issues. There is increasing evidence that species richness can lead to higher productivity through a complementarity effect. Hence, thinning that would maintain species diversity of mixed-species forests could enhance stand productivity and help forest managers to reconcile timber production objectives and biodiversity issues. The objective of this study was to compare post-thinning stand production, experimentally over 10 years, in mixed and monospecific stands of black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.). The post-thinning stand production curve of the mixed stand converged toward that of the unthinned mixed stand while the production curves of the thinned and unthinned monospecific stands remained parallel. The convergent productivity of the mixed stand could be explained by a positive interaction between effects of thinning and niche complementarity. We propose that thinning that maintains species diversity of mixed stands could help forest managers who are implementing ecosystem management to reconcile timber production objectives with biodiversity issues.

Sector(s): 

Forests

Categorie(s): 

Scientific Article

Theme(s): 

Forest Ecology, Forestry Research, Forests, Silviculture

Author(s)

BARRETTE, Martin, Stéphane TREMBLAY and Isabelle AUGER

Year of publication :

2018

Format :

PDF available upon request

ISSN

0282-7581

Keywords :

courbes de production, relation diversité-productivité, complémentarité des niches, forêt boréale, écologie forestière, sylviculture et rendement des forêts naturelles - peuplements résineux, article scientifique de recherche forestière, forest ecology, silviculture and yield of natural forests - softwood stands, stand production curves, diversity-productivity relation, niche complementarity effect, boreal forest

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