The potential of using coppice growth as training trees in plantations for the production of high-quality oak boles
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
Oaks (Quercus spp.) grown in monoculture plantations often do not develop high-grade boles because all the trees grow at similar rates and crown stratification does not occur resulting in persistent branches and poor bole quality. The use of trainer species in mixed species plantations could promote interspecific competition and crown stratification leading to higher grade oak boles. As part of a larger, long-term study investigating growth, crown interactions, and bole development of cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda) with several species at different planting densities, yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and cherrybark oak were planted together. Yellow-poplar has a much faster growth rate and overtops the slower growing cherrybark oak. After four growing seasons at 6- x 6-feet spacing, yellow-poplar averaged 17-feet tall, while cherrybark oak averaged 8-feet tall. Yellow-poplar crowns were overtopping the cherrybark oak. Yellow-poplar was thinned (64 percent of yellow-poplar trees) and allowed to coppice. Two years following the thinning, yellow-poplar coppice growth averaged 4.9-feet tall. This paper reports on yellow-poplar coppice growth and the potential ability of the coppice to have a training effect on the growth, development, and bole form of adjacent cherrybark oaks.