The Loblolly Pine Growth and YieldResearch Cooperative: 1979 – 2006

(Tour and Joint Meeting December 2006)

Harold Burkhart

Ralph Amateis

Objective of the Coop

• Develop tree growth andstand development models– Account for intensive cultural

practices

– Useful for a range ofmanagement requirements

Region-wide Thinning Study1982 - 2003

Purpose: provide data for developinggrowth and yield models for thinned andunthinned loblolly pine plantations oncutover site-prepared areas

Region-wide IMP Study1999 - Present

Purpose: provide data for developinggrowth and yield models for intensivelymanaged loblolly pine plantations acrossthe natural range of the species

Spacing Trials1983 - Present

Purpose: determine the effects of planting densityand spacing on tree growth and standdevelopment; provide juvenile growth data formodeling purposes.

Small-scale Trial

Stand-level Models

• NATLOB (natural stands of loblolly pine)

• PCWTHIN (old-field thinned and unthinnedloblolly pine plantations)

• TAUYIELD (site-prepared thinned and unthinnedloblolly pine plantations)

• FASTLOB (thinning, fertilization, hardwoodcompetition, early stand treatments)

• ECONHDWD (assess economics of competitioncontrol)

• YPOP (thinned stands of yellow poplar)

Individual Tree Models

• G-HAT (growth of Appalachian hardwoods afterthinning)

• TRULOB (tree-list updating model for loblollypine plantations)

• PTAEDA3 (tree growth, stand development andeconomic assessment model for loblolly pineplantations)

LobDSS

• A Decision Support System for intensively managedloblolly pine plantations

• Joint project of Forest Nutrition Cooperative and LPGYRC

• Customizable soil-site and early treatment responsematrices

• Single stand or batch capability

• Tabu search and exhaustive search pseudo-optimizationalgorithms for midrotation thinning and fertilizationtreatments

• Economic analysis capabilities

• Windows application

• Detailed user’s manual for DSS and FASTLOB2

ETP and STP Pruning Studies2000 - Present

Purpose of ETP Study: Will earlypruning affect the age of transition tomature wood?

Purpose of STP Study: To determinehow pruning intensity affects loblollypine plantation development.

Possible Applications to Alberta

• Knowledge exchange e.g. mixed-effectsmodeling techniques, defect trendestimation, decision support systems;

• Scaling of loblolly pine models andpractices to lodgepole pine;

• Collaborative international project(s)?