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Forests
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Intensive Silviculture
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Intensive Silviculture

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2020) | Viewed by 6856

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Carlos Gonzalez-Benecke

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Vegetation Management Research Cooperative (VMRC), Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management, Oregon State University, 240 Peavy Forest Science Center (PFSC), Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Interests: ecophysiology; reforestation; vegetation management; silviculture; seedling production; process-based modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Information on site-specific silvicultural practices such as determining the optimum target seedling (including genetics and seedling production systems), mechanical soil preparation, competing vegetation management, fertilizer applications, pruning and density management regimes continues to develop for forests across the world. With fluctuating human needs, markets, technologies and climate, increasing the productivity and efficiency of production-oriented forests plays a key role in meeting growing timber demands. Understanding the biological basis of how forests respond to management and environmental changes, and the ecological, operational and economic implications are crucial aspects to consider when designing and implementing sustainable intensive silvicultural management systems. Despite advances in increasing productivity in forests, many questions still remain. We invite submissions for a Special Issue of Forests on the subject of “Intensive Silviculture”. Topics for submissions may include, but are not limited to:

silviculture
forest nutrition
forest vegetation management
genetic improvement
climate change
forest economics
forest health
modelling
monitoring
quantitative methods

 

Dr. Carlos Gonzalez-Benecke
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • silviculture
  • forest nutrition
  • forest vegetation management
  • genetic improvement
  • climate change
  • forest economics
  • forest health
  • modelling
  • monitoring
  • quantitative methods

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 3465 KiB  
Article
Shifts in Foliage Biomass and Its Vertical Distribution in Response to Operational Nitrogen Fertilization of Douglas-Fir in Western Oregon
by Jacob D. Putney and Douglas A. Maguire
Forests 2020, 11(5), 511; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/f11050511 - 01 May 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2171
Abstract
Nitrogen (N) fertilization is a commonly applied silvicultural treatment in intensively managed coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) plantations. Field trials were established in a randomized complete block design by Stimson Lumber Company (Gaston, Oregon), to test the economic [...] Read more.
Nitrogen (N) fertilization is a commonly applied silvicultural treatment in intensively managed coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) plantations. Field trials were established in a randomized complete block design by Stimson Lumber Company (Gaston, Oregon), to test the economic viability of N fertilization on their ownership and to better understand Douglas-fir growth responses. The 23 stands comprising the trials were Douglas-fir dominated, had a total age of 16–24 years, had been precommercially thinned, and had a density of 386–1021 trees ha−1. Fertilizer was applied aerially at a rate of 224 kg N ha−1 as urea during the 2009–2010 dormant season. In the dormant season of 2016–2017, seven growing seasons following application, 40 trees were felled and measured with the objective of assessing crown attributes and aboveground allometrics. Branch-level foliage mass equations were developed from 267 subsampled branches and were applied to the 40 felled sample trees on which the basal diameter and height of all live branches were measured, allowing estimation of both the total amount of foliage and its vertical distribution. A right-truncated Weibull distribution was fitted to data, with the truncation point specified as the base of live tree crown. The resulting tree-level parameter estimates were modeled as functions of tree-level variables. Stand-level factors not explicitly measured were captured through the use of linear and nonlinear mixed-effects models with random stand effects. Fertilization resulted in more total crown foliage mass in the middle crown-third and caused a downward shift in the vertical distribution of foliage, with implications for feedback responses in crown development and photosynthetic capacity. Defining the morphological responses of Douglas-fir crowns to nitrogen fertilization provides a framework for studying influences on stand dynamics and should ultimately facilitate improved site-specific predictions of stem-volume growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intensive Silviculture)
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16 pages, 4693 KiB  
Article
Interactive Effects of Stock Type and Forest Vegetation Management Treatments on Douglas-Fir Seedling Growth and Survival—Ten-Year Results
by Maxwell G. Wightman, Carlos A. Gonzalez-Benecke and Eric J. Dinger
Forests 2019, 10(11), 1002; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/f10111002 - 08 Nov 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1703
Abstract
In the Pacific Northwest, the use of forest vegetation management (FVM) and seedling stock type selection are important tools to ensure seedling establishment according to organizational objectives and state laws. Individually, these two reforestation decisions have been shown to increase growth and survival [...] Read more.
In the Pacific Northwest, the use of forest vegetation management (FVM) and seedling stock type selection are important tools to ensure seedling establishment according to organizational objectives and state laws. Individually, these two reforestation decisions have been shown to increase growth and survival of Douglas-fir seedlings, however, the interaction between seedling stock type and level of vegetation control represents economic and ecologic tradeoffs that are less well understood. This study was designed to test the combined effects of three FVM regimes and three containerized stock types, one of which was experimental at the time, on Douglas-fir growth during the initial ten years of establishment on a site near Belfair, Washington (USA). When compared to the no-action control, FVM treatments reduced competitive plant cover below 20% during the year of application, and differences in vegetation cover persisted through the fifth growing season. Vegetation species diversity recovered quickly after FVM and there were no differences among the treatments by the third growing season. After ten growing seasons, trees in plots treated with FVM were 1.1 m taller with a mean diameter at breast height (DBH) 2.2 cm larger than those in the no-action control. Larger seedlings at the time of planting (styro-60) were 0.6 m taller with a mean DBH 1.1 cm larger than smaller seedlings (styro-8 and styro-15). The only significant stock type by FVM interaction in the experiment occurred with the survival of styro-60 seedlings growing in the no action control which had lower survival than all other treatment combinations (67% vs 91%). The long-term competitive impact of shrub cover was demonstrated by a strong non-linear relationship. Increasing cumulative shrub cover from 10% to 30% during the first two years of establishment reduced stand volume at year 10 by 79%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intensive Silviculture)
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17 pages, 3109 KiB  
Article
Biochar Fertilization Significantly Increases Nutrient Levels in Plants and Soil but Has No Effect on Biomass of Pinus massoniana (Lamb.) and Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook Saplings During the First Growing Season
by Xiaogai Ge, Zhenya Yang, Benzhi Zhou, Yonghui Cao, Wenfa Xiao, Xiaoming Wang and Mai-He Li
Forests 2019, 10(8), 612; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/f10080612 - 24 Jul 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2567
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that biochar fertilization has profound effects on plant and fine root growth, but there is a lack of studies on how changes in plant and soil stoichiometry by biochar fertilization influence plant growth and root morphology. We investigated the [...] Read more.
Previous studies have shown that biochar fertilization has profound effects on plant and fine root growth, but there is a lack of studies on how changes in plant and soil stoichiometry by biochar fertilization influence plant growth and root morphology. We investigated the effects of biochar fertilization on biomass, root morphology, plant nutrient concentrations, and the stoichiometry of plants and soil in a greenhouse experiment with Pinus massoniana (Lamb.) (PM) and Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. (CL) throughout the 2017 growing season immediately following biochar fertilization application. Four levels of biochar treatment were used, i.e., addition rates of 0 (control), 5 (low biochar), 10 (medium biochar), and 20 t ha−1 (high biochar). Biochar fertilization had no effect on biomass, fine root length, or fine root surface area. Biochar treatment, however, had significant effects on nutrient levels and their stoichiometry in both plants and soil. Detrended correspondence analysis suggested that increases in soil C:N, soil C:P, and soil N:P were associated with increases in plant nutrient levels, especially P concentration. Our results indicate that biochar fertilization prioritizes enhancing plant and soil nutrients over increasing height and diameter in the first growing season. A higher biochar fertilization dosage has a major influence on root morphology for PM and on P concentrations in the plant and soil for CL, probably through different growth characteristics and nutrient resorption rates. Further studies, particularly those considering long-term effects, are necessary before general recommendations regarding biochar application should be given. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intensive Silviculture)
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