Assessment of the growing stock and annual increment of Pinus brutia Ten. stands in Kfardebel, Latakia, Syria

• Published in: IOP conference series. Earth and environmental science 2021-10, Vol.876 (1), p.12004
• Main Authors: Alkinzh, S, Danilov, D A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Density; Forest management; Pine trees; Pinus brutia; Plantations; Polynomials; Sustainable forestry; Timber; Trees; Wood
• ISSN: 1755-1307; 1755-1315
• DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/876/1/012004

The study assessed the growing stock and wood increment of Pinus brutia Ten growing on the Kfardabil-Jabla plantation in Syria. The plantation was created in 1974–1976. Biometric field surveys were carried out over three time periods. In the plantation under study, circular sampling plots with a radius of 11.4 m were made. In the course of the study, we used a polynomial distribution to estimate the height of the measured trees, which makes it possible to predict changes in the plantation growth parameters in the future. There was a substantial increase in the growing stock in the study area: from 197.5 m3 per hectare in 2011 to 213.3 m3 per hectare in 2020. The annual timber increment fell from 2.0 m3 in 2011–2014 to 1.3 m3 per hectare in 2014–2020, which is likely to be associated with age-related changes and excessive stand density. We recommend to remove slow growing trees to reduce the density of the stand and make space for the remaining. The results obtained on the increments and volumes of wood on the Pinus brutia Ten plantation show the potential volume of wood to be harvested in accordance with the principle of sustainable forest management.