Long-Term Effects of Thinning in Sub-Mountainous Thermophilic Sessile Oak ( Quercus petraea Mill.) and European Beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) Coppices in the Croatian Dinarides

Martina Đodan, Valeriu-Norocel Nicolescu (), Sanja Perić, Anamarija Jazbec and Debbie Bartlett
Additional contact information
Martina Đodan: Croatian Forest Research Institute, Cvjetno Naselje 41, 10450 Jastrebarsko, Croatia
Valeriu-Norocel Nicolescu: Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Brasov, Sirul Beethoven 1, 500123 Brasov, Romania
Sanja Perić: Croatian Forest Research Institute, Cvjetno Naselje 41, 10450 Jastrebarsko, Croatia
Anamarija Jazbec: Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 23, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Debbie Bartlett: Faculty of Engineering & Science, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Medway, Kent ME4 4TB, UK

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: Coppicing has been neglected in recent decades, leaving gaps in knowledge on silvicultural interventions, especially the long-term effects on coppices of Southeast Europe. The recent economic crisis, the sudden increase in energy prices, and the increased demand for assorted wood products have initiated higher interest in coppices in Croatia. Thus, our work aims to define the long-term effects of thinning in sessile oak ( Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) and European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) sub-mountainous thermophilic low coppices in the Croatian Dinarides. The experiment includes two localities with thinning and control plots. Thinning was performed in 2002, with 17.71% of wood volume removed in the European beech coppice and 26.09% in the sessile oak coppice. In 2020, 1276 trees were marked, measured (DBH, tree height, number of stems per stump), and assessed for vitality, origin, and six silvicultural features revealing tree quality. In 2022, trees were again measured (DBH, tree height) to gain data on tree growth. Conventional data analysis methods were used. The results show a statistically significant positive long-term effect of thinning on tree growth, stem, and crown features and support findings that thinning, by increasing growth and quality, is a necessary intervention in European beech and sessile oak low coppices. Thinning promoted the healthiest and best quality trees/stems, resulting in a more valuable range of wood products and the potential for higher income. It had a positive impact on tree growth regardless of the tree’s origin (seed or stump) and improved the growth and quality of trees among the supporting tree species. Short-term effects of thinning in trial plots suggested that thinning supported tree species diversity, but this effect diminished over time, showing no positive effect after twenty years. The study points to the need for more frequent thinning in coppices to support tree species diversity (i.e., to allow growth to less competitive tree species) but underlines the need for further research.

Keywords: Fagus sylvatica L.; Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.; DBH; tree height; species composition; stem quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/21/9340/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/21/9340/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:21:p:9340-:d:1508084

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().