Determining the Growth Potential for Even-aged Stands of Norway Spruce (Plcea abies (L) Karst.)

摘要

Under the forest growing conditions of Latvia the 30-40 year-old pure stands of spruce undergo abrupt changes. While in some stands an intensive volume growth in high quality stems continues, other stands decline, losing productivity and even breakingdown. By using a method developed for this purpose, growth potential for even-aged pure stands of spruce in 355 forest compartments in eight regional forestries of Stock Company "Latvijas valsts meDi" was analysed. Out of the compartments analysed healthy and promising stands were 26%, hopeless unpromising stands 11%, and increased risk stands 63%. The loss of growth potential for spruce could only partially be explained by the impact of site type or regional differences. The results of the given studysuggest that this process is related to the ecological demands of Norway spruce as a shade tolerant tree species.