Early Thinnings

Abstract

To obtain high growth in a juvenile forest stand more trees are needed per unit area than what can survive in later periods of the rotation. Close spacing between the trees — up to a point — improves the quality of wood and gives, in thinnings, a wider choice in the selection of trees and species to survive for sustained growth. Also natural regeneration of trees may come into a plantation in which a prescribed spacing is observed. These factors alone or combined create a situation in forest management when it is desirable to carry out early thinnings, the purpose of which is to regulate the stand in spacing and composition for optimal future growth and also to capture material that would be lost to natural mortality.