Does the application of silvicultural management models drive the growth and stem quality of sweet chestnut coppices tow
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Does the application of silvicultural management models drive the growth and stem quality of sweet chestnut coppices towards sustainability? Maria Sameiro Patrício1 · Luís Nunes1 · Maria Loreto Monteiro1 Received: 10 May 2019 / Accepted: 12 September 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract The coppice is a very flexible cultural system producing several calibers adapting to the demands of the market. Small-caliber roundwood from sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) coppices, formerly in great demand, is now less interesting for the market. Thus, the improvement of coppices management by applying alternative silvicultural models in order to obtain benefits and sustainability is essential. For this purpose, four permanent plots (P1–P4) were established in 1994 to monitor different coppice management systems. The plots were installed in a coppice which resulted from the final clear cut of a sweet chestnut high-forest stand in 1992, at 50 years old. Three silvicultural management models were tested in order to produce roundwood of small (P1), medium (P2), and large (P4) diameters. A control plot was established without any type of silviculture which corresponds to most of the existing chestnut coppices (P3 = without intervention). Thinnings were applied in the plots according to the respective management model. Twenty-four years after the sprouting of the coppice, the silvicultural models were evaluated according to their objectives in terms of growth, yield, and quality of the sawlogs. This assessment period corresponds to the end of the rotation period for P1, and the results are in accordance with expected values. In P2 and P4 the observed growth closely matches expectations for this growth stage of the coppice. The quality of the sawlogs is clearly superior to that of the plot without intervention. Comparing the mean dendrometric values, higher values were observed in plots where the models were applied. The results also show that when roundwood is used for saw-timber, silvicultural management is essential. Keywords Castanea sativa Mill. · Silviculture · Volume equations · Chestnut coppice · Timber production · H–D equations
* Maria Sameiro Patrício [email protected] 1
Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300‑253 Bragança, Portugal
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New Forests
Introduction The sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is one of the most important broadleaf Mediterranean species that can be found either in natural or semi-natural forests accompanied by other plant and animal species, or forming traditional orchards often with centennial trees. In the areas where it is present, the coppice always appears associated with the man who influenced its propagation and use throughout the centuries. Traditionally, chestnut woodlands have fulfilled four fundamental functions: economic (fruit, wood, wood-based products and other non-timber forest products associated to multipurpose forests, such as mushroom production and beekeeping, being a
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