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Effects of thinning and site productivity on culmination of stand growth: results from long-term monitoring experiments in Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) forests in northeastern Japan

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Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

We analyzed data from 28 long-term experimental monitoring plots installed in Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) plantations in northeastern Japan to examine how site productivity and thinning practices relate to culmination in stand growth. Site productivity and thinning practices in the plots were evaluated by site index (dominant tree height at 40-years old) and by cumulative thinning rate (cumulative thinning volume divided by cumulative gross production during the entire period of measurement). Culmination of stand growth was evaluated by culmination age of the mean annual increment (MAI) and its maximum value (Max MAI). Max MAI for the mean annual gross increment (MAIgross) and mean annual net increment (MAInet) increased with increasing site index, but did not change with cumulative thinning rate. Culmination age for MAIgross decreased with increasing site index, but did not change with cumulative thinning rate. Culmination age for MAInet decreased with increasing site index. Additionally, culmination age for MAInet increased with increasing cumulative thinning rate in sites with a high site index (>19.3 m) but not in those with a low site index (<19.3 m). These results indicate that thinning extends the culmination age without changing Max MAInet under high site productivity. Therefore, thinning increases total net yield in sites with high productivity based on a long-term perspective.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff members of the Tohoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Institute, and Tohoku Regional Forest Office who installed permanent plots at the research site and maintained them over the long term. Masahide Hayashi, Keiko Izumi, Yasuhiro Yokota, Tomomasa Amano, Hirofumi Kuboyama, Kazushige Yamaki, and Hiromichi Furuido assisted in the recent fieldwork. We also thank Shigejiro Yoshida, Nobuya Mizoue, and anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of this article and insightful comments. A part of this study was supported by the Global Environment Research Fund of the Ministry of Environment as a research project on the Influence of Environmental Changes and Forest Management Practices on CO2 Sequestration of Conifer Plantations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tohoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Morioka, 020-0123, Japan

    Tomohiro Nishizono

  2. Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kyoto, Japan

    Kunihiro Tanaka

  3. Department of Forest Management, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan

    Kazuo Hosoda & Yoshio Awaya

  4. Tama Forest Science Garden, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuhiko Oishi

Authors
  1. Tomohiro Nishizono
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  2. Kunihiro Tanaka
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  3. Kazuo Hosoda
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  4. Yoshio Awaya
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  5. Yasuhiko Oishi
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Correspondence to Tomohiro Nishizono.

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Nishizono, T., Tanaka, K., Hosoda, K. et al. Effects of thinning and site productivity on culmination of stand growth: results from long-term monitoring experiments in Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) forests in northeastern Japan. J For Res 13, 264–274 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-008-0082-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-008-0082-8

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