Assessment of Wound Recovery and Radial Growth 10 Years after Forest Operations in Hardwood Stands

Damage to the residual stand caused by forest operations can have detrimental impacts on the biological processes of stand growth. This study shows the details from monitoring damages related to manual motor ground-based timber operations in a mountain mixed hardwood forest. The harvesting system was cut-to-length, and logs were extracted by wheeled cable-skidders. Data were collected from the remaining trees immediately after logging and 10 years after the logging session. The parameters assessed included stem injury, radial growth increment and wound healing rate for five hardwood species of commercial interest. The number of injured trees represented 15% of the residual stand, 23% of the wounds were related to the felling operation and 76% to extraction. Wound height, wound size and damage to bark, due to felling, were larger than those in extraction, while wound width and damages to cambium and wood caused by extraction were larger than those triggered by felling. Ten years after harvesting, average longitudinal and radial growth increments were reduced by 38% and 24%, respectively. Wound healing rates ranged from 12.90 mm yr(-1) for extraction wounds to 19.70 mm yr(-1) for felling ones within 10 years. On average 73% of all wounds were still unrecovered and 17% of these were decayed, while only 10% were fully healed within a 10-year recovery period. The analysis showed that the best recovering performance among damaged trees was mostly achieved in shade-intolerant species with a diameter less than 40 cm, located in the dominant canopy layer with a wound size smaller than 100 cm(2). In addition to the significant effect on log quality, the ecological longevity of residual trees has major implications for pre-planning harvesting operations that can preserve the quality and value of residual trees. Understanding the damage inflicted upon residual trees is essential to reduce economic losses, improve planning of harvest operations and, ultimately, ensure a sustainable harvest of mixed hardwood stands in mountain regions.