Hybrid Poplars or Hardwood Coppice? An Agriforestry Option to Economically Increasing Wood Production in Eastern Canada

A 1980 study compared wood volume production from 10-19 year-old naturally regenerated aspens growing on a loamy sand with the growth of 10-17 year-old hybrid poplars planted as one-year old rooted cuttings in a loamy soil in the Morgan Arboretum, Macdonald College, Quebec.Average volume per aspen sucker was 0.083 m3 versus 0.357 m3 for the hybrid poplars. The hybrids, on a better site but two years younger in age produced four times the volume growth of the natural stand regenerated following a strip clear cut in 1961. Both stands were thinned prior to the yields reported. The growth increment differences between stands was significant at the 0.01 level of probability.In spite of the better yields produced by the hybrids, the authors suggest that the potential for economic short rotation forest management from natural coppice hardwoods should be investigated more fully.