Silvicultural management of blackwood Growth , form and quality

The views expressed and the conclusions reached in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of persons consulted. RIRDC shall not be responsible in any way whatsoever to any person who relies in whole or in part on the contents of this report. In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed to RIRDC publishing this material in its edited form. ii Foreword The blackwood industry is relatively small but one of the most important and valuable in Australia that supports the furniture manufacturing and craft industries. However, it is reliant on an old growth resource that is likely to be phased out in a few decades. Planting of blackwood in both industrial plantations and farm forestry has been in place for the last decade or so. Lack of management guidelines to define silvicultural regimes to maximise growth and optimise stem form is a major impediment to the successful production of high quality wood from this developing resource. The Joint Venture Agroforestry program (RIRDC/LWRRDC/FWPRDC) commissioned this project to develop such guidelines for nurse-crop systems that are currently in use and to investigate alternatives to these systems This report is a summary of three years of research that has examined the silviculture of blackwood in plantations. It is the first time a physiological approach has been taken to examine how blackwood grows and responds to silvicultural treatment. An important advance is a proper definition of how to manipulate pruning and thinning commercial blackwood plantations grown with commercial nurse-crops so that adequate growth rates are maintained without prejudicing form. In addition the foundation has been laid for determining the efficacy of alternative nurse-crops to those used at present that are more suited to the development of good form in blackwood during the crucial early years following planting. This has included a better definition of the requirements for sidelight suppression. In addition to these advances, the current knowledge base on the silviculture of blackwood has been brought up to date. (FWPRDC), together with the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC). These agencies are funded principally by the Australian Government. This report, a new addition to RIRDC's diverse range of over 1000 research publications, forms part of our Agroforestry and Farm Forestry R&D program, which aims to integrate sustainable and productive agroforestry within Australian farming systems. Most of our publications are available for viewing, downloading or purchasing online through our website: iii …