scholarly journals Pruning effect on Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) growth and quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Endijs Baders ◽  
Janis Donis ◽  
Guntars Snepsts ◽  
Andis Adamovics ◽  
Aris Jansons

Abstract Pruning requires significant investment, therefore, the aim of the study was to characterize occlusion of branch wounds and changes in radial increment as well as frequency of browsing damages after pruning of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in order to provide data for financial calculations and recommendations for practical forestry. Altogether 1,614 pruned and 4,368 unpruned trees from 45 Norway spruce stands were measured and cored. Degree of wound occlusion and browsing damages were assessed, and additional volume increment estimated in each stand. Pruning resulted in significant increase of length of branch-free section: for unpruned trees it was 0.3 ± 0.07 m, but for pruned 3.4 ± 0.10 m. Branch wounds for most of the trees (68%) were filled with resin (occluded), for lower share of trees (31%) – still open, but for some trees (1%) completely occluded. Branch wound occlusion rate was not affected by differences in stand density, but was significantly affected by stand age: proportion of trees with occluded branch scars increased with age. Trees with occluded branch wounds had a significantly higher increase in tree ring width after the pruning in comparison to the period before pruning than trees with open branch wounds, emphasizing the importance of radial increment in development of branch-free layer of wood. Pruning resulted in minor (−7% or −0.28 ± 0.05 m3 ha−1) reduction of annual increment that was statistically significant only up to 3 years after this forest management activity for stands younger than 17 years and with mean height up to 10.5 m. Pruned trees were significantly more browsed than unpruned (6.1% and 2.7%, respectively).

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (No. 12) ◽  
pp. 539-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wilczyński ◽  
E. Feliksik

Changes in radial increment of Norway spruce in 25 stands more than 100 years old were analysed. Stands were growing on sites of different exposure situated at 450–1,200 m above sea level in the Polish Western Beskids Mountains. In the mid-1990s a considerable increase in annual ring width was observed. The greatest increase occurred in trees growing at the highest altitudes. This phenomenon occurred after a long period of increment decrease at the turn of the 1970s. After 1990 as the annual ring width was increasing, the variation and amplitude of ring width also increased. The cause of a long-term increase in radial increment was the improvement of thermal and pluvial conditions during late winter and early spring having a substantial effect on Norway spruce growth. In the 1990s the period of rapid changes in thermal and pluvial conditions of summer began. After moist and cold summers there were hot and dry summers. This resulted in increased variations and amplitude of the growth responses of Norway spruce and contributed to the weakening of trees above 100 years of age. The increasing break-up of Norway spruce stands growing in the lower mountain zone of the Polish Western Beskids Mountains, observed in recent years, is the final effect of this process.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Jan Světlík ◽  
Jan Krejza ◽  
Pavel Bednář

Tree growth depends on many factors such as microsite conditions, vitality, and variations in climate and genetics. It is generally accepted that higher growth indicates both an economic benefit and better vitality of any tree. Here we use a modified approach of evaluating tree social area to study mutual tree competition based on the orientation and shape of trees social area. The investigation was performed in nine Norway spruce stands in the Czech Republic. The objective of this study performed from 2008 to 2012 was to quantify relative tree radial increments with respect to the lowest and highest competition found in specific sectors of tree social area (AS). Specific groups of trees (tree classes) were evaluated according to their classes (dominant, co-dominant and sub-dominant) and their composition status in ninety-degree sectors of AS using established classifying rules. The results showed that a spatially-available area (AA) is an inappropriate parameter for predicting tree growth, whereas AS provided robust explanatory power to predict relative radial growth. Tree size was observed as an important indicator of relative radial increments. A significantly positive correlation was found for a radial increment of sub-dominant trees with the lowest competition from western directions; whereas a negative correlation was observed when the lowest competition was observed from eastern directions. For dominant trees, there was an evident growth reaction only when more than 50% of the AS was oriented towards one of the cardinal points. Individual differences in the orientation of tree AS may be important parameters with regard to competition and its spatial variability within an area surrounding a particular tree and deserve more detailed attention in tree growth models and practice.


2012 ◽  
Vol 263 ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ane Zubizarreta-Gerendiain ◽  
Jaume Gort-Oromi ◽  
Lauri Mehtätalo ◽  
Heli Peltola ◽  
Ari Venäläinen ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 930-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Nothdurft ◽  
Sonja Vospernik

A novel methodological framework is presented for climate-sensitive modeling of annual radial stem increment using year-ring width time series. The approach is based on a generalized additive model with penalized regression splines together with a distributed time lag model taking into account smooth nonlinear effects of a series of monthly temperature and precipitation values, as well as their interactions. Climate effects are also assumed to vary smoothly with time lag. The model framework enables both the detrending of the individual time series and the regression modeling to be performed simultaneously in a single model step. The approach is applied to year-ring width time series of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) trees in Tyrol, Austria. The marginal response curves show that tree growth is mainly promoted by high temperatures in late spring and early summer and by precipitation in fall and winter. Summer drought does not have a negative influence on the current year’s radial increment; however, when it is associated with high temperatures, it lowers the increment in the subsequent growth period. Higher winter precipitation in conjunction with lower temperatures has a positive effect. A significant non-climate related long-term growth trend is demonstrated, probably reflecting NOx and SO2 emission trends in Austria.


2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (No. 10) ◽  
pp. 474-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kula ◽  
W. Ząbecki

Research on merocoenoses of cambioxylophagous insect fauna of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) was carried out in spruce stands of different age in the area with an endemic population (Moravian-Silesian Beskids, Czech Republic) and in the area with an epidemic population (Beskid Żywiecki, Poland) of the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle Ips typographus (L.). The structure of merocoenoses was characterized separately for standing trees attacked by bark beetles, trees struck by lightning, trees affected by fungal pathogens and wind-felling and trees in the form of snags and fragments. The occurrence of cambioxylophagous insects, mostly bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), was compared between the study areas with emphasis on dominant facultative primary bark beetles and types of damage to spruce trees.  


2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 63-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jachym

This article presents a review of data and results of investigations from the period 1958–2006 regarding the occurrence of insects of the genus <I>Cephalcia</I> Panzer (Hymenoptera, Pamphiliidae) in Norway spruce stands of the Beskidy Mountains (Western Carpathians, southern Poland). Currently, eight species are known for the area: <I>C. abietis, C. alashanica, C. alpina, C. annulicornis, C. arvensis, C. erythrogaster, C. fulva</I> and <I>C. masuttii</I>. Information regarding each species is given, with details on identification, local occurrence and importance.


1995 ◽  
Vol 168-169 (1) ◽  
pp. 405-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Slovik ◽  
Alfred Siegmund ◽  
Gerald Kindermann ◽  
Rüdiger Riebeling ◽  
Árpad Balázs

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 769-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harri Mäkinen ◽  
Pekka Nöjd ◽  
Kari Mielikäinen

Regional and temporal growth patterns of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) were evaluated in 40 stands along a transect of over 500 km running from central Finland to the Arctic spruce timberline. Standard deviation of the ring-width series increased from south to north, but the geographical differences in mean sensitivity and first-order autocorrelation were small. The high degree of similarity in growth variation between stands indicated similar growth responses of trees to weather variation despite different environmental conditions along the transect. The most pronounced differences in the regional increment chronologies were found between the southernmost and northernmost stands. Growth variation was most strongly correlated with current June mean temperature, and correlation between growth and July temperature increased from south to north. In addition, negative correlation was observed between winter temperatures, particularly February temperature, and growth variation. Growth was more weakly correlated with precipitation than with temperature.


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