Silvicultural Performance of Four Native Forest Species as a Function of Pruning Intensity

Abstract

Basic information about growth rate and response to silvicultural treatments on potential native species are bottlenecks for the wide use of these species for forest production. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate the silvicultural performance of four native species as a function of pruning intensity. The experimental design was completely randomized with ten replications and one plant per plot, in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme, four forest species, and four pruning intensities. At 30 and 42 months, height (H) and diameter at breast height (DBH) were evaluated, then the current annual increment (CAI) was calculated, as well as the mean annual increment (MAI) at 42 months. Guazuma ulmifolia showed higher growth in height and DBH compared to other species at both ages. The pruning resulted in a reduction of MAI in 0.15 cm. year-1 in DBH for every 25% of pruning intensity.