A New Effort to Study Intensively Managed Pine Plantations

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A New Effort to Study Intensively Managed Pine
Plantations

• CAPPS - Consortium for Accelerated Pine
  Production Studies

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Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources -
The University of Georgia

• Bruce E. Borders

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Supply vs Demand for Wood Fiber

• Worldwide and domestically the demand for wood
  fiber is continuing to increase
• The landbase available for production of wood
  fiber is declining due to urbanization,
  suburbanization and environmental concerns
• To help meet the demand for this material we must
  increase production of plantation grown wood

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Intensive Management of Southern Pine Plantations

• Competition Control Using Herbicides
• Soil Amelioration With Mechanical Treatments
  (e.g. bedding, ripping)
• Fertilization (time of planting, time of crown
  closure, etc.)
• Genetically Improved Planting Stock (disease
  resistance and growth gains)

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CAPPS Field Plots

• Four separate installations located at 2
  locations in Georgia
• Two Piedmont installations (near Eatonton, GA in
  Putnam county)
• Two Lower Coastal Plain installations (near
  Waycross, GA in Ware county)

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Treatments

• H - complete vegetation control throughout the
  life of the stand using herbicides
• F - annual fertilization treatment
• HF - both H and F
• C - check plot (a very intensive mechanical
  treatment that include bedding in Waycross and a
  3-pass operation in Eatonton)

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Replication

• Two complete blocks of 3/8 acre treatment plots
  at each location
• 3 time replicates at each location
• Eatonton - 1988, 1990, 1995 (one block only)
• Waycross - 1987, 1989, 1993

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Height Development at Eatonton
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Volume Production at Eatonton
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Height Development at Waycross
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Volume Production at Waycross
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Picture 1
Waycross, Wet site Herbicide Plot at Age 11
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Picture 2
Waycross, Dry site Herbicide and Fertilization
Plot at Age 11
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Waycross, Wet site Herbicide and Fertilization
Plot at Age 11
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Intensively Managed Loblolly Pine at Age 2
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Conclusions from Empirical Study

• It is possible to produce greater than 450 cubic
  feet per acre per year in a loblolly pine
  plantation grown in Georgia
• This productive potential is approaching growth
  rates reported in areas such as Brazil and South
  Africa

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Objective of CAPPS

• Improve our understanding of tree responses to
  intensive cultural treatments
• Use this improved understanding to develop more
  efficient management guidelines
• Develop simulation models that provide realistic
  yields on a localized level

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Objectives (cont.)

• Provide information for the improvement of
  process level simulators
• Evaluate and characterize wood quality of fast
  grown loblolly pine trees

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CAPPS - A Cross Disciplinary Study

• To accomplish the objectives described above it
  is necessary for a great deal of collaboration
  among scientists in various fields
• The scientists involved are forest biometricians,
  silviculturists, soil scientists, tree
  physiologists, forest ecologists and wood
  scientists

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Study 1

• The effects of fertilization and competition
  control on carbon and nutrient allocation, leaf
  area efficiency, and light interception and the
  physiology of loblolly pine plantations.

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Study 2

• Solid wood production in intensively managed
  loblolly pine plantations with development of
  individual tree taper, weight and volume
  relationships

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Study 3

• Localizing growth and yield models for
  intensively managed loblolly pine plantations

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Study 4

• Basic wood properties of intensively managed
  loblolly pine plantations

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Funding

• CAPPS received funding for a 5 year period
  starting in July 1998 extending through June of
  2003
• The total extramural funding for this project
  comes from DOE (approximately 300,000), and
  forest industry (approximately 500,000

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Funding (cont.)

• Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources at
  the University of Georgia is also providing
  approximately 500,000 of actual and in-kind
  support for this project

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Project Status

• All projects are in the early stages
• Data at the various levels of resolution (tree
  compartment (branch, foliage, root, stem, whole
  tree, etc.) as well as all site descriptors
  (soils, water tables, etc.) are being compiled in
  a Relational Database System.

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Interesting Mensurational Work

• Simulating the development of these fast grown
  plantations
• Simulating leaf area development both within and
  among years
• Developing more site specific models that include
  site information, leaf area information as well
  as more traditional mensurational information

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