3.2. Felling criteria
The trees marked for felling by the owner were the biggest
trees in the stand: over 80% of the trees with dbh equal to or
more than 40 cm were cut. Only very few damaged or
malformed trees in the smaller diameter classes were felled. On
the average 119 trees per hectare, with mean dbh 36.5 cm, were
cut, for a total of 115 m3 (29.5% of standing volume). After
cutting, standing volume was 330.2 m3 ha1 of which 83% with
dbh > 17.5 cm.
Harvesting created a series of small gaps which correspond
to the areas occupied by the very small groups of mature trees.
The number of gaps varied from 18 to 25 per hectare in the two
plots. Felling operations tended to disrupt the upper soil layer
within the gaps.
4. Discussion
Results show that the structure of these Calabrian pine
stands is the consequence of the type of management that has
been applied for over a century according to unwritten
silvicultural and planning criteria.