Assessing the profitability of thinning Norway’s spruce and pine forests: an analysis accounting for machine trail effects

41-51

Artikel aus einer Zeitschrift

200212600

This study examined the economic potential of thinning in pure, even-aged Norway spruce and Scots pine forests in Norway based on simulated stand dynamics using plot data from the Norwegian national forest inventory. Simulated management scenarios included fully mechanized thinning from below of varying intensity including no thinning. The economic evaluation was based on comparing the equivalent annual annuity of the unthinned scenario and the economically best-performing thinning scenario for each studied plot. The findings suggest that only late thinnings in well-stocked stands with sufficiently large trees are economically beneficial. Furthermore, to be economically superior, a thinning intervention itself had to generate enough profit, meaning that the revenue from thinning needed to sufficiently exceed the costs. Profitability of thinning scenarios varied with discount rates and timber prices and depended on whether rotation age was based on maximum net present value or maximum mean annual increment. Thinning was less often profitable in pine compared to spruce stands.
Keywords: Forest management; economic feasibility; stand dynamics; growth simulation; extraction roads; sawtimber proportion