Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31298/sl.143.1-2.5
Diameter increment distribution along the stem of narrow-leaved ash in response to thinning intensity
Ali Kemal Özbayram
orcid.org/0000-0002-5922-1751
; Faculty of Forestry, Düzce University, Turkey
Abstract
Narrow-leaved ash (NLA, Fraxinus angustifolia) is an important tree species due to its rapid development and valuable wood. In the pure NLA plantations in Turkey, little is known about the effects of thinning intensity on the diameter increment of different parts of the tree stem. In 2005, a thinning experiment with three thinning intensities (control: 0%; moderate: 19%; heavy: 28% of basal area removed) was established in an NLA plantation in Sakarya, Turkey. Seven years after thinning, a total of 25 sample trees representing dominant and co-dominant trees were felled, and cross-sectional stem samples were taken for analysis. The diameter at breast height (d1.30) and d1.30 increments of the co-dominant trees with the moderate and heavy treatments were similar to each other and greater than in the controls. The seven-year d1.30 increments of the dominant trees in the heavy-treatment plot were approximately 20% greater than in the other treatments plots. The highest diameter increments in both dominant and co-dominant trees for all treatments were determined at the 0.30 m and 17.30 m section heights. The sample tree diameter increments of between 1.30 m and 13.30 m were similar within their classes. In conclusion, heavy-intensity thinning of up to 28% did not cause tapering in the NLA plantation stems, and thus, heavy thinning can be recommended for NLA trees.
Keywords
Narrow-leaved ash; <i>Fraxinus angustifolia</i>; thinning; stem form
Hrčak ID:
217773
URI
Publication date:
28.2.2019.
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