Empirical modelling of chestnut coppice yield for Cimini and Vicani mountains (Central Italy)

Abstract

The prescription of stand rotation according to site conditions and economic targets requires yield information that expresses stand productivity under different site-classes. This is particularly relevant for the optimal management of chestnut coppices allowing the production of timber assortments sized differently. This paper reports a new yield model built for chestnut coppices of the Cimini and Vicani mountains (Central Italy), according to three site index classes. The model focuses on the development of stands after an intense thinning carried out at the ages of 13-14 years. The model is compared with two previous yield tables built for chestnut coppice forests living in the same area and including one site index class only. The study stresses the high productivity of chestnut coppices growing on the volcanic soils of Cimini and Vicani mountains and shows how the growth course following intense thinning allows to get stems with large mean volume at the end of rotation. In the light of the most recent studies on the causes of ring shake, i.e. the most relevant defect of chestnut wood, the negative consequences on timber quality originating from the current thinning regime are also outlined.