Quick restoration of suppressed Norway spruce timber after choice harvesting on a drained peatland forest web site

Based mostly on a brand new examine, the carbon sequestration of suppressed spruces recovered throughout the next progress season after a range harvesting. That is nice information from the angle of local weather change. The conditions for working towards steady cowl forestry in fertile drained peatland forests are additionally good from the angle of tree progress, because the gradual stem diameter progress interval, sc. “launch impact” proved to be comparatively brief.

Steady cowl forestry has been proposed as an alternative choice to even-aged rotation primarily based forest administration in drained peatland forests. Based mostly on earlier analysis, the avoidance of ditch community upkeep, mitigation of water high quality and local weather impacts, and higher monetary profitability have been thought-about some great benefits of steady cowl forestry in spruce-dominated peatland forests.

Alternatively, steady cowl forestry has been questioned close to tree progress, particularly as after choice harvesting the spruce timber launched from their suppressed place in relation to the dominant timber are likely to develop slower for a number of years, stunting their progress even in an in any other case appropriate progress setting.

“The isotope analyses carried out point out that the carbon dioxide sequestration of the suppressed timber accelerated instantly throughout the subsequent progress season following the choice harvesting, even when the stem diameter progress recovered extra slowly,” says Professor Aleksi Lehtonen from the Pure Assets Institute Finland (Luke).

As a consequence of the choice harvesting, the expansion area of the suppressed spruces elevated an awesome deal, though this diverse between the person timber. Based mostly on the examine, the change within the timber’ photosynthesis mirrored the altered gentle circumstances.

The outcomes led the researchers to find out that the elevated carbon sequestration of the suppressed timber was focused elsewhere than the stem throughout the years after the choice harvesting, probably at strengthening the tree’s root system.

The gradual progress interval of the suppressed timber lasted lower than 5 years. Throughout the 5 years after the choice harvesting, the relative change of the stem diameter progress of suppressed timber was bigger than that of dominating timber, when evaluating the interval previous the harvesting to the interval following it.

Within the examine, the stem diameter progress of the timber was measured each in suppressed timber and dominant timber earlier than and after the choice harvesting. Moreover, the ratio of steady isotopes (¹³C/¹²C) was measured from the tree rings each within the choice harvesting space and an unharvested management space. This isotope ratio permits reviewing the relation of the timber’ price of photosynthesis and the stomatal conductivity, i.e., the photosynthetic price of timber compared to water use. The examine was applied in Lettosuo in Tammela.

The analysis outcomes have been revealed within the Forest Ecology and Administration.