Effects of low-density thinning in a declining white pine stand in Maine

Abstract

Low-density (32 ft²/acre residual basal area) and medium-low density (60 ft²/acre residual basal area) thinnings were studied over a 4-year period in a declining white pine stand on the Massabesic Experimental Forest in southern Maine. Gross basal area growth at 60 ft² was about three-fourths the rate of the control and more than twice as much as the 32 ft² thinning, while diameter growth at 60 ft² was twice that of the control and about the same as the low-density treatment. Regeneration under the thinning treatments was abundant. Declining white pine stands apparently respond quickly to low-density thinnings and the optimum level, among the treatments studied, is about 60 ft² residual basal area.

Keywords

low-density thinning, white pine, decline

Citation

Leak, William B.; Yamasaki, Mariko. 2013. Effects of low-density thinning in a declining white pine stand in Maine. Res. Note NRS-170. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 6 p.