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Thinning out the first generation trees

Started by MapleNeil, February 06, 2015, 02:53:06 PM

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MapleNeil

Hi,
I just got a woodlot that has some more mature areas with eastern white pine and red oak (and some maple), but the areas that were cut more recently have a lot of white birch and trembling aspen.  I want to speed up the succession to the white pine / red oak forest.  Will cutting down the birch and aspen trees help?  I don't think they're very useful trees for firewood or lumber so I don't really want them.
Thanks,
MapleNeil

Clark

Maple - Give us a location and we'll be able to help you a lot better.

The short answer to your question is that cutting down all the birch and aspen will give you more birch and aspen. Now, cutting down select trees and being careful about maintaining stocking might give you the result you desire.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

MapleNeil

I'm in eastern Ontario.  The land there is low-lying with beaver ponds and swampy areas and a bit hilly.

CJennings

Birch is good firewood.

Conifers can have a hard time competing with the intolerant hardwoods. You need to control the birch and aspen but you need to have some regeneration of the pine and oak, or else you get more birch and aspen. You may have to plant if it's not there naturally. Just a warning, but white pine grown too open will often have poor form. Weevils attack it and cause problems. Shelterwood works good for pine but that would have required planning before the harvest.

SwampDonkey

Sometimes wildlife are your friend in regard to the oaks. In your aspen ground you may find new saplings of oak if you look hard enough at the stems and leaves. On my land there was never an oak, but I live near a large hill nearby where oak flourish on the south end of it. Wildlife like bears have brought them in droppings. Most always in harvest or wildlife trails and scarification rows of plantation. The bears on my land know where they are to, they climb them when they get big enough, and become a nuisance, often breaking them off or bending them down to the ground. I also have a black cherry tree they have taken a liking to.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Clark

To answer your question more specifically, yes you can speed up succession in aspen/birch towards pine and oak with some hand work.

While I understand your desire to change the composition of your stand (I would be doing the same thing) I would put more value on the birch and aspen. They do respond to release and they will produce valuable trees in the future. With release and light pruning you will greatly increase the future value of your stand.

I've attached a paper that studies the long-term effects of releasing crop trees in your stand. If the stand is young (<2" DBH) I would cut everything within 6' of your crop trees. If the stand is older I would cut those trees whose crowns touch the crop trees crown. The bottom line is that you need to release those trees that show dominance (even if it is very slight) over it's neighboring trees.

If the stand is older you could run a commercial thinning through the stand. Around here that would require a summer harvest and nearly giving the wood away but there are times when I think it is the best option. After the thinning you could dibble in red oak acorns and/or plant white pine. Depending on the spatial arrangement of the mature red oak and white pine that may not be needed or it may be needed in certain places only.

Depending on the age of your current stand you may or may not get to see some of the succession towards your goal. Those young stands are less likely to show much successional movement over the next 10-20 years but you will speed it up by releasing crop trees. The older stands you could easily push towards your goal and see that change happen.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

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