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Concept
Forest stand
Summary
A forest stand is a contiguous community of trees sufficiently uniform in composition, structure, age, size, class, distribution, spatial arrangement, condition, or location on a site of uniform quality to distinguish it from adjacent communities.
A forest is a "collection of stands" also utilizing the practices of forestry. Stand level modelling is a type of modelling in the forest sciences in which the main unit is a forested stand.
A forest stand is commonly described as in 10ths or 10%s. Thus a ratio could be given of: 3 Ponderosa pines, 2 mangrove trees, 5 silver spruces. If there was a mixed stand that stand mix could be described as mixed up to 10%, mixed 10–40% and a mixed stand over that amount.
The form of mixing of the tree types is commonly given as:
individuals – when there are a few unconnected trees of a type.
troop – up to 5 trees connected of one type.
group – when there are more than 5 trees, but they are shorter than a harvestable tree.
thicket – when there are more than 5 trees, but they are taller than a harvestable tree to around 0.5 ha.
rotten group (cluster) – a packed together standing aggregate of trees, trees in the rotten group have different heights and different depths or a stripwise arrangement. Rotten is from German, Rotte and means pack. These trees are linked together in small rotten groups separated by bigger interstices. This means they are ideal for mountain afforestation.
A stand's spacing may be described by the crown cover of the trees. It can thus be delimited as:
Packed – the crowns all overlap when looked at from above
Closed – the crowns all touch, but do not overlap
Light – when there is space between the crowns that is even
Spacey/gappy – when a few trees are close and yet there are many clearings between these little groups
Stands are not logical, ecologically defined management units. Instead they have evolved from the Normalwald concept, which was predicated on the idea of harvesting efficiency and thus that forest land was primarily to generate income from timber production.
Official source
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