Density and Height Growth in Natural Slash Pine

摘要

Three thinning treatments were applied to plots of 3-year-old natural slash pine with up to 50,000 seedlings per acre. Measurements 14 years later prove height growth is reduced significantly in dense stands. For short pulpwood rotation, early thinning is imperative. It will also increase height and merchantable volume for later harvests. In dense, unthinned, natural stands, dominant height is not a true indicator of productive potential for a managed stand on the same site.