Selection priority for harvested trees according to stand structural indices
The selection of trees to be harvested is a core tenet of uneven-aged forest management; however, few studies have focused on the process of tree selection. A set of stand structural parameters (uniform angle index, W; mingling index, M; dominance index, U) based on tree neighbor-spatial relationshi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF)
2017-06-01
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| Series: | iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://iforest.sisef.org/contents/?id=ifor2115-010 |
| Summary: | The selection of trees to be harvested is a core tenet of uneven-aged forest management; however, few studies have focused on the process of tree selection. A set of stand structural parameters (uniform angle index, W; mingling index, M; dominance index, U) based on tree neighbor-spatial relationships, are particularly suitable for expressing the structural characteristics of forest stands. Such indices were used to parameterize thinning in three plots (a-c, each 100 × 100 m2) in a Korean pine broad-leaved forest in northeastern China and one plot (h, 70 × 70 m2) in a pine-oak mixed forest in northwest China. Low-intensity single-tree selection was applied according to the principles of structure-based forest management (SBFM), i.e., to promote high mixture, obvious size differentiation, and random pattern with the aim of improving the overall structure of the managed plots. A group of thinning priority indices (v_ij, k_ij and z_ij) were calculated according to the bivariate distributions of the structural characteristics of harvested trees and stands before harvest. Our results demonstrated that v_ij, k_ij and z_ij adequately describe the spatial relationship between each tree and its nearest neighbors, and their combinations can be efficiently used to set thinning priorities on harvested trees with different structural characteristics. Their application can reduce the subjectivity of the selection process and improve the speed and accuracy of the choice of trees to be harvested in uneven-aged mixed forests. |
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| ISSN: | 1971-7458 1971-7458 |