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Maximising growth and sawlog production from Acacia hybrid plantations in Vietnam

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Abstract

Management options to optimise sawlog production from Acacia hybrid (A. mangium × A. auriculiformis) combining thinning and fertiliser treatments were applied at six sites of varying resource availability across Vietnam. Stockings at planting varying from 2000 to 1111 trees ha−1 were thinned from 1333 to 450 trees ha−1 (representing 27–54% thinning %) at ages 2.0–5.6 years. Tree diameter (DBH) responses to thinning were greater in the south than in the north and south central regions. Application of fertiliser at thinning increased DBH and stand volume (SV), compared with the unfertilised treatment, regardless of thinning treatment. Early thinning (at age 2–3.6 years) to 450 or 600 trees ha−1 resulted in the greatest DBH for all diameter classes with a greater proportion of larger diameter logs. The 3-PG process-based model was applied to predict DBH and SV for all silvicultural treatments and ages. When thinning is conducted at 2–3.6 years after planting, the modelling showed that for medium and large-diameter sawlogs, the optimum rotation length is at least 5–7 years in the south and south central coast and 6–10 years in northern Vietnam.

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Acknowledgements

This study was part of a Ph.D. research program funded by an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) John Allwright Fellowship. Substantial support for this research was provided by the ACIAR funded project FST/2006/087. We acknowledge, with thanks, permission given by the ACIAR project FST/2006/087 and Forest Science Institute of South Vietnam to collect analyse and publish this data. We thank our colleagues from the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences and Ba Vi station for assistance with sampling and the maintenance of the field experiments at Ba Vi. We are grateful to Dr Vu Dinh Huong for providing soil and growth data of central and south sites. Thanks to Drs Daniel Mendham, Chris Harwood and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), University of Tasmania, Private Bag 98, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Trieu T. Hung, Alieta Eyles, David Ratkowsky & Caroline Mohammed

  2. Silviculture Research Institute, Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences, 46 Duc Thang, Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Trieu T. Hung & Vu T. Lam

  3. CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 12, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Auro C. Almeida

Authors
  1. Trieu T. Hung
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  2. Auro C. Almeida
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  3. Alieta Eyles
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  4. David Ratkowsky
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  5. Vu T. Lam
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  6. Caroline Mohammed
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Correspondence to Alieta Eyles.

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Hung, T.T., Almeida, A.C., Eyles, A. et al. Maximising growth and sawlog production from Acacia hybrid plantations in Vietnam. New Forests 50, 785–804 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-018-09699-1

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