Estimation of Timber Production of Five Species of the Tamaulipas Thorny Shrubs Growing in Native Stands and Plantations

摘要

Shrub species have a great capacity to develop in extreme climatic conditions; this ability has a direct influence on their development and productivity in timber and firewood. In this paper, the timber’s production of experimental plantation aged 28 years of Acacia berlandieri (Benth.), Havardia pallens (Benth.) Britton & Rose, Helietta parvifolia (Gray) Benth., Ebenopsis ebano (Berl.) Barneby and Acacia wrightii (Benth.) species is quantified and compared with the production of the same species developed naturally in the native bush. The variables recorded were the number of shoots per tree, total height, basal diameter and diameter at breast height of each tree to determine the volume of wood with the Smalian equation. The results indicate that the volume of usable wood was higher in experimental plantation than that on native vegetation for H. parvifolia, A. berlandieri and H. pallens. The species that produced the highest volume of timber were H. parvifolia (0.396 m3·ha-1·year-1) in plantations and E. ebano (0.118 m3·ha-1·year-1) in native shrubs, species with lower production were H. pallens (0.059 m3·ha-1·year-1) and A. berlandieri (0.052 m3·ha-1·year-1) in the native area. The highest number of shoots was registered for A. berlandieri and H. parvifolia, with eight shoots per tree in experimental plantations of both species compared with native vegetation, which was five and three shoots per tree respectively. These results high-light the importance of developing plantations in degraded areas of scrub, which can increase timber volume production.