Canadian Forest Service Publications
Stumping out tree root disease – An economic analysis of controlling root disease, including its effects on carbon storage in southern British Columbia. 2018. Bogdanski, B.E.C., Cruickshank, M., Di Lucca, M., Becker, E. Forest Ecology and Management 409 pp.129–147.
Year: 2018
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 38991
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2017.11.012
† This site may require a fee
Abstract
Stumping, or removing stumps after logging, is a forestry practice used to control the level of Armillaria and Phellinus root disease in temperate forests in British Columbia (BC) and elsewhere. A comprehensive assessment of the economic rationale for stumping is largely absent. This study attempts to fill this gap by using a detailed case study of a 46-year old trial and an assessment using growth and yield model simulations of a range of managed Douglas-fir stands in the southern interior of BC. The analysis considers both timber and carbon values over a variety of management costs and site conditions. There are conditions within which stumping is an economically viable strategy, especially on public forest lands, that will improve long-term timber yields and storage of carbon on the land base. Specifically, we find stumping at the Skimikin site increases annual stand productivity by 3.29m3/ha/yr at age 44. Under reasonable economic conditions and an interest rate of 3%, this productivity growth leads to a minimum average increase in the soil expectation value (SEV) of $1105/ha. If carbon ($15/t CO2) is included in the calculations, the increase is a minimum increase of $2586/ha. We find that with carbon, and under similar economic conditions and discount rate, stumping is more profitable than not stumping on even less productive sites than Skimikin. On stands with productivity of 20m at age 50 years (SI20), we find stumping generates at least $141/ha more than unstumped stands.
Plain Language Summary
Stumping, or removing stumps after logging, is a forestry practice used to control the level of Armillaria and Phellinus root disease in temperate forests in British Columbia (BC) and elsewhere. A comprehensive assessment of the economic rationale for stumping is largely absent. This study attempts to fill this gap by using a detailed case study of a 46-year old trial and an assessment using growth and yield model simulations of a range of managed Douglas-fir stands in the southern interior of BC. The analysis considers both timber and carbon values over a variety of management costs and site conditions. There are conditions within which stumping is an economically viable strategy, especially on public forestlands, that will improve long-term timber yields and storage of carbon on the land base. The results support the on-going stumping efforts on public lands and provides support for expansion of these efforts.
