New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts
Current knowledge relevant to management of Podocarpus totara for timber
D. O. BERGIN
Forest Research
Private Bag 3020
Rotorua, New Zealand
Abstract The silviculture and ecology of the New Zealand
endemic tree
Podocarpus totara (totara) relevant to management for
timber production, either in plantations or in managed, naturally regenerating
second-growth stands, is reviewed. There is increasing interest in information
on the management of tree species indigenous to New Zealand for a range of
objectives including timber production. Previous studies and observations have
identified a range of features that make totara a species worthy of further
evaluation for growing as a specialty timber tree. These include its cultural
and heritage values; durability and machining qualities of the wood; wide
distribution; tolerance of a wide variety of sites; ease with which seedlings
can be raised in a nursery; good growth rates; potential genetic gains in both
growth and form; and amenability to tending. There is also a range of
non-timber benefits in managing a long-term resource of totara. In addition to
the interest in planting and managing totara for timber, there is a large
resource of naturally regenerating second-growth stands in many regions
throughout the country that have the potential to be managed and provide a
supply of wood. Matters requiring investigation include quantifying growth
rates and yield of both planted and naturally regenerating stands, determining
the resource of natural second-growth stands that could be managed, identifying
factors that influence the growth of heartwood, identifying low-impact
management interventions, and evaluating a range of silvicultural systems that
may be suitable for managing totara as a long-rotation specialty species.
Keywords Podocarpus totara; ecology; silviculture;
wood quality; management; totara
B99046
Received 9 September 1999; accepted 6 March 2000
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (1610K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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