Long-term growth of a planted forest of Japanese cedar at Soehatazawa experimental forest under various thinning intensities of trees 45-104 years old
2015
Masaki, T. (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan). Department of Forest Vegetation) | Osumi, K. | Seki, T. | Mori, S. | Kajimoto, T. | Hitsuma, G. | Yagihashi, T. | Shibata, M. | Noguchi, M.
Soehatazawa Experimental Forest, a planted forest of Japanese cedar (Cyptomeria japonica D. Don) planted in 1909 and located in a hilly area of Akita prefecture, Japan, was established in 1953. At that time, eight plots differing in thinning intensity were designated within the forest (two each for heavy thinning, moderate thinning, light thinning, and no thinning). Tree growth in each plot was monitored intermittently for 59 years (1953-2012) and continues to be monitored in terms of diameter at breast height (DBH) and height. Thinning operations were conducted in 1957, 1969, and 1981. A small number of trees were damaged in 1991 by the occasionally strong winds. At the recent census in 2012 (tree age: 104 years), the mean DBH, mean height of the upper portion of the trees (upper 25%), and the standing volume varied between plots by 50-65 cm, 40-43 m, and 1000-2000 cubic m /ha, respectively, reflecting the intensity of thinning. In trees > 100 years old, the annual increment in the standing volume was maintained at high levels within each plot. Together with the spatial data on each tree, long-term data on this forest are valuable to study growth of even-aged planted forests. The data are stored as electronic supplemental material and can now be accessed for use by the public (file name: 'Soehatazawa Experimental Forest data for open use.xlsx', URL http://www.ffpri.affrc.go.jp/pubs/bulletin/434/index.html).
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