Canadian Forest Service Publications
Productivity of short-rotation aspen stands. 1986. Stiell, W.M.; Berry, A.B. The Forestry Chronicle 62(1): 10-15.
Year: 1986
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 4557
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Abstract
A study of aspen sucker stands subjected to repeated harvesting at the Petawawa National Forestry Institute compared biomass production at rotations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,13, and 20 years. The shortest rotation at which sucker production can be physiologically sustained is unlikely to be less than 10 years. Biomass mean annual increment appeared to culminate at about 15 years. Declining yields at the shorter rotations were thought due mainly to starvation of rootstocks by the frequent removal of the photosynthesizing tops on which they depend for nourishment. High incidence of Armillaria infection in stump roots probably contributed to the diminished quantity and size of suckers, and may prove to be a serious factor in short-rotation systems for aspen. On the basis of foliar analysis there was no evidence of nutrient deficiency at any rotation.