The Silvicultural Treatment of Eucalypt Plantations in Southern Africa
Аннотация
SYNOPSIS Approximately 500 000 ha has been afforested in Southern Africa with Eucalyptus spp.—principally E. grandis—for the production of mining timber, pulpwood, rough building and fencing materials and fuel on a short rotation of 6 to 10 years, for telegraph and transmission poles on a medium-length rotation of 10 to 14 years and for sawlogs and veneer-logs and piles on a moderately long to long rotation of 14 to 30 years. Short rotation crops are planted at an espacement of 2,1 × 2,1 to 2,7 × 2,7 m and managed under the coppice clearfelling system, from two to four crops usually being harvested before replanting becomes necessary. Cleaning to one, two or three shoots per stool is usually undertaken within one to two years of coppicing, but no pruning or brashing up takes place. Medium-length and long rotation crops are established at 2,7 × 2,7 m and thinned from an early age. Brashing up is commonly practiced, but live pruning has not proved to be entirely beneficial unless carried out just before the branches die. Upon the stand being clearfelled, the site is usually replanted.