文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Branch occlusion and discoloration of Betula alnoides under artificial and natural pruning

作者：Wang, Chun-Sheng[1] Hein, Sebastian[2] Zhao, Zhi-Gang[1] Guo, Jun-Jie[1] Zeng, Jie[1]

第一作者：王春胜

通信作者：Zeng, J[1]

机构：[1]Chinese Acad Forestry, Res Inst Trop Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, Guangdong, Peoples R China;[2]Univ Appl Forest Sci, D-72108 Rottenburg, Germany

年份：2016

卷号：375

起止页码：200-210

外文期刊名：FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

收录：;WOS:【SCI-EXPANDED(收录号:WOS:000379886900020)】；

基金：This work was financially supported by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (2012BAD21B0102). We thank Laoshan Forest Farm (LSFF), Tianlin County, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for access to Betula alnoides plantations for the pruning experiment. Long-Dun Wu, Tian-Long Lin and Guo-Mao Liang of LSFF assisted in tree growth measurement and field sampling. We are very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful and invaluable comments on the manuscript. Prof. Khongsak Pinyopusarerk of CSIRO Australia is thanked for comments and advice on the revised manuscript.

语种：英文

外文关键词：Betula alnoides; Knot attribute; Wood discoloration; Artificial pruning; Natural pruning

摘要：Knot-related defects are important criteria for timber grading of valuable tree species. Clear-wood production through pruning has been an important issue in silviculture and forest management. In this study, knot attributes, branch occlusion and discoloration under natural and artificial pruning were investigated in a 10-year-old Betula alnoides plantation to determine the effectiveness of artificial pruning in mitigating knot-related defects. The dataset contained 270 occluded branches sampled from 30 artificially-pruned trees and 284 from 30 trees under natural pruning. Linear and generalized linear mixed-effect models were constructed to reveal the differences in factors influencing branch occlusion, knot size, and discoloration between natural and artificial pruning treatments. The mixed-effect models indicated that the most important factor in predicting branch occlusion time, dead knot radius, total knot radius and discoloration length was branch diameter for artificial pruning and dead branch stub length for natural pruning. The dead branch stub length was also closely and positively correlated with branch diameter under natural pruning. Branch occlusion time was negatively correlated with stem diameter growth rate during the period of branch occlusion while discoloration length was positively correlated with branch occlusion time for both treatments. In addition, acute branch insertion angle increased the size of dead knot and discoloration. It was concluded that artificial pruning promotes faster branch occlusion, reduces knot sizes and does not lead to stem discolorations, and should hence be applied in the plantation management of this species. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.