Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

A. Oosterbaan, E. Hochbichler, V.-N. Nicolescu and H. Spiecker:

Silvicultural principles, goals and measures in growing valuable broadleaved tree species

Summary

In all European countries, valuable broadleaved tree species are important sources of high-quality wood, used especially in the veneer and furniture industries. In this context, the paper aims at producing a framework to describe the measures that should be taken in order to improve the silviculture of valuable broadleaved trees species (VALBRO). This framework is based on two important general principles: (1) Restriction or elimination of branchiness and (2) Production of large diameter butt logs. The paper focuses on two important silvicultural interventions, artificial pruning and thinning, as the main components of single-tree silviculture, recommended in case of VALBRO. Key words:  Valuable broadleaved tree species, valuable wood, phases of development, single-tree silviculture, thinning, artificial pruning.