Evaluation of application of the 15d method in Loveh forest, Golestan province

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 .Sc. Silviculture and Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forest Science, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

2 Associate Prof., Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

3 Associate Prof., Department of Forestry, Faculty of Forest Science, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Iran

4 M.Sc. Forestry, Technical Division of Humid and Semi-humid Regions, Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization, Chalus, Iran

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the application of the 15d method and monitoring the alteration within the improvement area in district one from Loveh forest management plan after 28 years. A systematic sampling have been designed in a network of 150×200m with circle plots of each 0.1 ha for forest stand inventory and circle micro plots of each 0.01 ha for regeneration inventory. Based on available data from the previous inventory in the forests management plan and the current data that is collected from our inventory, some parameters including basal area, volume, forest composition and distribution in diameter classes were compared between 1982 and 2010 using analysis of t-test and chi-square test. The result showed that under this method, distribution in diameter classes in both 1982 and 2010 years have significance differences with normal distribution. The differences of basal area for Cappadocian maple (Acer cappadocicum), field maple (Acer campestre), elm (Ulmus glabra) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) were statistically significant. Volume of chestnut-leaved oak (Quercus castaneifolia), Cappadocian maple, elm, hornbeam and total volume per ha were also significantly different. Comparing of stem number and height of the stand showed that the density and height of the studied stand have increased after application of this method. Study of regeneration showed that the interventions cause the stand composition altering to hornbeam-oak. Our result indicates that the application of the method 15d has affected the mixture, species diversity and the structure of the stand. Therefore, in order to improve the structure and favoring of oak and noble species, we suggest thinning operations for 20 to 30 years with a positive selection from above.

Keywords


- Anonymous, 1982. Loveh forest management plan, districts one and two. Published by Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Management Organization, Natural Resources General Office, Gloestan Province, Gorgan, 183p (In Persian).
- Bayramzadeh, V. and Attarod, P., 2007. Effect of shelterwood logging method on the quantity and quality of beech natural regeneration. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences, 6(6): 994-999.
- Brose, P.H. and Van Lear, D.H., 1999. Effects of seasonal prescribed fires on residual overstory trees in oak-dominated shelter wood stands. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry, 23: 88-93.
- Downs, J., 2006. The effect of shelterwood harvesting on oak regeneration one and two years after harvest in southern Ohio. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Ohio, 78p.
- Ersali, B., 2000. Study of oak natural regeneration in Nowshahr forests. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, 104p (In Persian).
- Glöde, D. and Sikström, U., 2001. Two felling methods in final cutting of shelterwood, single-grip harvester productivity and damage to the regeneration. Silva Fennica, 35(1): 71-83.
- Hickey, G.M., Innes, J.L., Kozak, R.A, Bull, G.Q. and Vertinsky, I., 2005. Monitoring and information reporting for sustainable forest management: An international multiple case study analysis. Forest Ecology and Management, 209(3): 237-259.
- Karimidust, A., 2004. Identification of forest associations and their relation to altitude gradient in forest of Loveh. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, 116p (In Persian).
- Khanlari, D., 2006. Silviculture and Forestry of Iran (Hyrcanian, Zagros and Arasbaran). Agricultural Publication of Karbord, Tehran. 360p (In Persian).
- Marvie Mohajer, M.R., 2006. Silviculture. University of Tehran Press, Tehran, 387p (In Persian).
- Mohajer, N. and Mirkazemi, S.Z., 2004. Investigation on natural regeneration of Quercus castaneifolia C. A. Mey at Loveh forest management project. Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research, 12(2): 201-220 (In Persian).
- Quinby, P., 2000. First-year impacts of shelterwood logging on understory vegetation in an old-growth pine stands in central Ontario, Canada. Environmental Conservation, 27: 229-241.
- Schlesinger, R.C., Sander, I.L. and Davidson, KR., 1993. Oak regeneration potential increased by shelterwood treatments. Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, 10: 149-153.
- Schuler, T. and Miller, G.W., 1995. Shelterwood treatments fail to establish oak reproduction on mesic forest sites in west Virginia-10-year results: 375-387. In: Gottschalk, K.W. and Fosbroke, S.L.C. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 10th Central Hardwood Forest Conference. 5-8 March 1995, Morgantown, 577p.
- Shahini, Y., 2011. Impact of light on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of oak seedlings, case study Loveh forest. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, 101p (In Persian).
- Zobeiry, M., 2005. Forest Inventory. University of Tehran Press, Tehran, 401p (In Persian).