Study

Alternative silvicultural practices with variable retention to improve understory plant diversity conservation in southern Patagonian forests

  • Published source details Lencinas M.V., Pastur G.M., Gallo E. & Cellini J.M. (2011) Alternative silvicultural practices with variable retention to improve understory plant diversity conservation in southern Patagonian forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 262, 1236-1250.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Thin trees within forests: effects on understory plants

Action Link
Forest Conservation
  1. Thin trees within forests: effects on understory plants

    A controlled study in 2001-2005 in temperate Nothofagus pumilio forest in Argentina (Lencinas et al. 2011) found that thinning increased plant cover, biomass and species richness. Cover (thinned: 36-40%; unthinned: 20%) and biomass (thinned: 1,000-1,251 kg/ha; unthinned: 200 kg/ha) of understory plants were higher in the three thinning treatments. Numbers of plant species/1 m2 was higher in aggregated retention plots (8.2) than in unthinned plots (6.1), and similar to both in dispersed (7.1) and combined retention plots (7.0). In 2001, three thinning treatments (11-24 ha): dispersed retention (20–30% of green tree retention); aggregated retention (28% of trees retained, one aggregate of forest/ha); combined retention (40–50% of retention, one aggregate/ha and dispersed retention among them), and unthinned (9 ha) were established within a 61 ha area. Data were repeatedly collected 1-4 years after treatments in 10 permanent plots (1 m2) in each treatment.

     

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