Silviculture of Planted Forests Managed for Multi-functional Objectives: Lessons from Chinese and British Experiences

Abstract

Planted forests are anticipated to increase in area and to supply an increasing proportion of the world’s timber supplies in future decades. However, because of their increasing importance, management of these forests will need to pay greater attention to silvicultural practices which can help to sustain and improve the delivery of a range of other values besides timber production. Some indications about how this might be achieved can be gained from an examination of recent developments in the management of planted forests in Northeast China and the British Isles. Both regions share a common history of deforestation and unsustainable harvesting with forest cover being restored during the twentieth century by extensive reforestation programmes based on a few species that were robust to plantation silviculture. In response to changing societal pressures, these simple forests are now being managed to meet multifunctional objectives including biodiversity, recreation and landscape values. The most successful silvicultural methods for increasing the diversity of planted forests have involved the introduction of complementary species, either through planting or by natural regeneration, and the use of thinning to create a more open and varied stand structure. However, the relative merits of these approaches depend upon local conditions such as the light regime found within the planted forests and the occurrence of abiotic risks such as windthrow. An important lesson is the value of establishing long-term silvicultural trials to demonstrate the processes involved in the diversification of planted forests.