Effect of silvicultural management on wood quality and timber utilisation of Cedrus atlantica in the European mediterranean area

Abstract

[EN] In Catalonia, Spain, the wood properties and the quality of Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) Manetti ex Carrirre round timber was investigated on 120 sample trees from four stands with different spacings. The age of the sample trees lay between 25 and 36 y. The more wider-spaced trees show no relevant decline in quality as to anatomical and technological wood properties, but significantly more timber volume and improved round timber quality. By means of wider spacing in the silvicultural treatment of Cedrus atlantica forests and regular selective thinning and pruning, the forest owners should be able to produce Atlas cedar of high sawn-timber quality.