Southern Research Station

Title: Early Thinning in Bottomland Hardwoods

Author: Howell, Madison P., III; Nix, Lawrence E.

Date: 2002

Source: In: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–48. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pg. 196-200

Description: A 23-year-old sprout origin stand in the Congaree river bottom near Columbia S.C was commercially thinned in 1994 using standard "Leave Tree", "Trainer Tree", and "Corridor" methods. The stand consisted of 260-325 trees per acre and 28-31 cords per acre. There were 90-140 potential crop trees (30 to 40 percent commercial oaks) of different bottomland species, oaks (Quercus spp), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), sweetgum (Lyquidambar styraciflua), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvania), red maple (Acer rubrum), and sugarberry (Celtis laevigata). After 5 years of growth, the effect of thinning on residual crop tree quality was measured by number of epicormic sprouts, degree of logging damage, and vine occurrence. Five years after thinning the 28-year-old stand averages 70 crop trees per acre, 12.4 inches diameter and 2.35 logs commercial height. All thinning methods had twice the number of epicormic sprouts as did the control. Logging damage was the lowest in the trainer tree treatment. Vine occurrence on crop trees was reduced by thinning to half that of the controls (30 versus 60 percent), which is a considerable enhancement in the future quality of crop trees.

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Citation

Howell, Madison P., III; Nix, Lawrence E.  2002.  Early Thinning in Bottomland Hardwoods.   In: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–48. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pg. 196-200