Rationalisation of forest tending

The prevailing economic crisis in forestry requires that all the possibilities of silvicultural, technical, and organisational rationalisation be used. The present paper points out the prerequisites and possibilities of rationalising silviculture and develops on that basis concepts for rational forest tending. At the goal defining and planning stage the prerequisites of a rational tending concept of young forests are a revision of the general goal of silviculture (optimisation as opposed to maximisation), the differentiated establishment of the intensity of forest tending, the adaptation of the stocking goal to the natural development of the stand, a new regeneration goal (structure as opposed to canopy closure), and the clear definition of the aim of forest tending. Principles of a rational tending of young forests are the early regulation of the mixture ratio with the aim of optimal stocking, early reduction of the treated area through the establishment of forest tending units, the early identification of the selected trees for the final stand density, and the development of two-layer or two-stage structures. The result will be a general concept of forest tending units with the early identification of selected trees. The goal of valuable timber tending includes the control of environmental conditions so that a limited number of trees (the selected trees) will form a perpendicular and unbroken shaft, quickly freeing themselves of branches in the lower part of the shaft. Thus the varied ability of the tree species to form an unbroken shaft axis and to free themselves naturally from branches must be taken into account in rational forest tending. Based on this ability and considering the reaction of the trees' branches to being freed quickly of surrounding branches, seven tending types were defined. They will form the basis for implementing the general concept in a manner suitable for the selected species