Forest Plantation Productivity

W. J. Libby
Consultant

Working Paper FP/3

Forest Plantations Thematic Papers

Prepared in collaboration with
Christel Palmberg-Lerche
(FAO, Rome)

Table of Contents

Forestry Department
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

February 2002

Forest Resources Development Service
Forest Resources Division
Forestry Department

FAO, Rome (Italy)

Table of Contents

DISCLAIMER

1.0. PROBLEM STATEMENT

1.1. The need for wood, wood products, and other forest services.
1.2. Forest plantations or indigenous forests?

2.0. FACTORS AFFECTING FOREST PLANTATION PRODUCTIVITY

2.1. Access
2.2. Site selection
2.3. Species choice
2.4. Genetic inputs

2.4.1. Adaptation and allocation
2.4.2. Breadth of adaptedness
2.4.3. Avoidance of both inbreeding and dysgenic selection

2.5. Nursery practices
2.6. Site preparation
2.7. Spacing and age control
2.8. Planting
2.9. Post-planting care
2.10. Soil moisture and fertility
2.11. Thinning and pruning
2.12. Holistic management
2.13. Biological diversity considerations
2.14. Carbon-credit considerations

3.0. SELECTED CASE EXAMPLES

3.1. General gains from choice of species and provenance
3.2. New Zealand
3.3. Australia
3.4. China
3.5. Europe
3.6. Colombia
3.7. USA

3.7.1. California
3.7.2. Second generation seed orchards of Pinus taeda
3.7.3. Gum yields of Pinus elliottii

4.0. TRADEOFFS

4.1. Wood substitutes
4.2. Indigenous forests

5.0. REGIONAL AND GLOBAL EXPECTATIONS

6.0. REFERENCES