what is the practice of cutting only mature trees in a forest?

Question

thanks for your help!

Answer 1

The practice of removing ONLY mature trees in a forests is called
either:

1) Single Tree selection - is an uneven-aged silvicultural system in which new age classes are created by the removal of individual trees of all size classes, more or less uniformly throughout the stand.

2) Group selection - is defined as a silvicultural system that removes trees in defined groups to create stand openings with a width less than two times the height of adjacent mature trees, and that manages the area as an uneven-aged stand.

3) Shelterwood systems - in which mature trees are removed in a series of cuts to achieve a new even-aged stand under the shelter of remaining trees.Some clearcut systems actually retain the understory regen or immature trees in a mature stand in ground based harvest systems.

Thinning is NOT a practice of cutting mature trees. Thinning is a practice to remove suppressed, intermediate and some co-dominant trees species in a forest stand to increase the vigor and growth in height and diameter of the stand.

Some stands will be commercially thinned 2 or 3 times over a stands rotational age to remove any trees with forest health issues (insects, disease), any trees that show poor vigor (short height, small diameter, crooks, forks, scars, frost cracks) and any trees that are spaced too closely to get the optimum growth in height and diameter.

As well in commercially thinned stands some trees species will be prunned to increase the value of the wood by reducing the number of knots (branches) and the first and second pass thinnings this wood can be commercially sold as post and rail wood or shipped off for pulp.

Answer 2

I believe that it is called thinning
It is supposed to make the forest less likely to catch on fire
If the forest was let alone it would eventually burn in order to create space for regrowth

Answer 3

it's called selective cutting....it's less destructive to the forest ecosystem than clearcutting and reforestation.

Thinning is removing young trees so that the chosen few can grow bigger.

Answer 4

It's Reforestization. To let the saplings have a chance to grow, while at the same time using timber that would otherwise die and drop. It's a controlled harvest.