EJPAU 2008. Michalec K. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE QUALITY OF TIMBER OF NORWAY SPRUCE (PICEA ABIES L. KARST.) FROM TWO RANGES OF THIS SPECIES IN POLAND IN RELATION TO AGE, STAND QUALITY CLASS AND SITE TYPE OF FOREST

Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities (EJPAU) founded by all Polish Agriculture Universities presents original papers and review articles relevant to all aspects of agricultural sciences. It is target for persons working both in science and industry,regulatory agencies or teaching in agricultural sector. Covered by IFIS Publishing (Food Science and Technology Abstracts), ELSEVIER Science - Food Science and Technology Program, CAS USA (Chemical Abstracts), CABI Publishing UK and ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publisher - full membership). Presented in the Master List of Thomson ISI.

2008
Volume 11
Issue 1

Topic:

Forestry

ELECTRONIC
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES

Michalec K. 2008. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE QUALITY OF TIMBER OF NORWAY SPRUCE (PICEA ABIES L. KARST.) FROM TWO RANGES OF THIS SPECIES IN POLAND IN RELATION TO AGE, STAND QUALITY CLASS AND SITE TYPE OF FOREST, EJPAU 11(1), #15.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume11/issue1/abs-15.html

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE QUALITY OF TIMBER OF NORWAY SPRUCE (PICEA ABIES L. KARST.) FROM TWO RANGES OF THIS SPECIES IN POLAND IN RELATION TO AGE, STAND QUALITY CLASS AND SITE TYPE OF FOREST

Krzysztof Michalec
Department of Forest and Wood Utilization, Agricultural University of Cracow, Poland

ABSTRACT

The research concerned two natural ranges of occurrence of Norway spruce in Poland – the south-western range (mountain stands) and the north-eastern one (lowland stands). Twelve sample plots of 1 ha were located in the region of Warmia and Mazury (12 forest districts), 8 plots in the Sudeten Mts (6 forest districts) and 12 ones in the Carpathian Mts (7 forest districts). The collected data served for comparative analyses of the quality of spruce timber from stands of different ages and stand quality classes, and growing on different site types of forest. On the basis of the criterion of age it was noted that in the mountains it is the youngest stands under research that have the best quality while in the lowlands the older stands are of better quality. Considering spruce stand quality classes in its south-western range, stands with higher quality classes were found to be characterized by better quality. In the north-eastern range, no significant differences were noted in timber quality between the compared stand quality classes.

Considering site types of forest, the best timber quality was found on sites optimal for the species under analysis: BMG in the mountains and BMw in the lowlands; very good timber quality was also found in stands growing on fertile sites. Such results suggest the necessity of research on the relations between site types of forest and spruce timber quality.

Key words: spruce, spruce timber quality, stand indexes, timber defects.

Krzysztof Michalec
Department of Forest and Wood Utilization,
Agricultural University of Cracow, Poland
Al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425 Cracow, Poland
Phone: +48 12 662 50 95
email: kmichalec@op.pl

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