Pacific Southwest

Title: Thinning stagnated ponderosa and Jeffrey pine stands in northeastern California: 30-year effects

Author: Lilieholm, Robert J.; Teeguarden, Dennis E.; Gordon, Donald T.

Date: 1989

Source: Res. Note PSW-RN-407. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 6 p

Station ID: RN-PSW-407

Description: Response to precommercial thinning in stagnated 55-year-old ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) and Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi Grev. and Balf.) stands in northeastern alifornia was rapid and long-lasting. During the first 5 years after thinning, average annual diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) and height growth of trees on the thinned plot was 167 percent and 62 percent greater, respectively, than that of crop trees on the unthinned plot. During the final 12-year measurement period, average annual d.b.h. and height growth of trees on the thinned plot was 43 percent and 38 percent greater, respectively, than that of crop trees on theunthinned plot. Over the 30-year measurement period, d.b.h. and height growth of trees on the thinned plot was 91 percent and 39 percent greater, respectively, than that of crop trees on the unthinned plot; the average live crown ratio of trees on the thinned plot was 31 percent greater than that of crop trees on the unthinned plot. Mortality among crop trees was low on both plots, with some indication that crop trees on the unthinned plot are slowly differentiating crown classes despite 85 years of stagnation. Although this study was limited to one treatment plot, the results indicate that stagnated, relatively old, sapling-sized stands can quickly respond to release by increasing height and diameter growth.

Keywords: thinning, release, stagnation, ponderosa pine, Jeffrey pine

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Citation

Lilieholm, Robert J.; Teeguarden, Dennis E.; Gordon, Donald T.  1989.  Thinning stagnated ponderosa and Jeffrey pine stands in northeastern California: 30-year effects.   Res. Note PSW-RN-407. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 6 p.