##  [A Lodgepole Pine Commercial Thinning Trial in Kananaskis, Alberta: 58-Year Results](/resource/lodgepole-pine-commercial-thinning-trial-kananaskis-alberta-58-year-results) 

Organization

[Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)](/organization/natural-resources-canada-nrcan)

[2 Billion Trees (2BT)](/organization/2-billion-trees-2bt)

 

 

Project

[Northern Forestry Centre](/project/northern-forestry-centre)

 

Resource Type

[Report](/taxonomy/term/38)

 

 

Author(s)

Stan Navratil

 

 

Original Authors

Stan Navratil

 

 

Resource Date:

2002

 

Page Length

14

 

 

In 1941, the Canadian Forestry Service (CFS) established a commercial thinning trial in a 77-year-old lodgepole pine-dominated stand near Kananaskis, Alberta. Seventy percent of the total volume was removed, and density was reduced from 7 166 to 1 710 trees per hectare. Sample plots established in 1949 were remeasured in 1999; results are presented together with some earlier results. Thinning increased diameter growth and net periodic total volume increment. Twenty-two years after thinning (at age 99) the cumulative volume yield of lodgepole pine was 111 m3/ha, or 44%, greater than that of the control treatment. This yield increase rose to 66% by age 135, 58 years after thinning. Results suggest that dense, late-rotation lodgepole pine stands can respond to thinning with increased volume growth.