Maximising the production of fuelwood in different silvicultural systems

This paper examines different ways of increasing the production of whole-tree chips for energy production. The influence of selected silvicultural factors, such as tree species, thinning programme and especially plant density and the quality of nurse trees on the production of wood chips are examined. Calculations based on Danish yield tables and results from experiments on plant density and thinning grade in Denmark show an increase of 30–40% in chip harvest when the plant density is increased from an average of 4500 to 6500 plants ha−1. Using light-demanding tree species, such as common alder or hybrid larch as a nurse tree in Norway spruce or beech stands can substantially increase the whole-tree chip yield if the nurse trees are chipped in the early thinnings. It is stressed that the production of whole-tree chips should not jeopardise the general forest management objectives.