Rit Mógilsár - Jun 2002, Page 3

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Snorrason, A.; Einarsson, S.F. 2002. Land capability for forestry in Ice-
land. Preliminary report for South and Southwest of Iceland. Icelandic
Forest Research report no.14/2002, 68 pp.
In 1997 an inventory of tree growth was initiated in order to assess land
capability for forestry in Iceland. The objectives are to describe, on a
regional basis, the potential growth of the following tree species most
commonly used in forestry and arboriculture in Iceland:
Downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.).
Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray).
Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.)
Fast-growing willow species; feltleaf willow (Salix alaxensis Cov.); dark-
leaved willow (Salix myrsinifolia Salisb.).
Picea spp. [Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.); Engelmann
spruce (P. engelmanni Parry); white spruce (P. glauca (Moench) Voss.)
and Norway spruce (P. abies (L.) Karst.).
Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.)
Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.)
In this report we present the first results from the project, namely those
concerning tree-measurements in four counties in South and Southwest
of Iceland. Similar reports have already been published for Western,
Northern and Eastern Iceland and the vestfirdir peninsula (Arnór
Snorrason et.al. 2001a, 2001b, 2001c and 2002). Measurements were
carried out in year 2001, encompassing a network of temporary sample
plots for each species. The sampling scheme allowed an average dis-
tance of 15 km between sampling plots for birch, feltleaf willow, cotton-
wood, Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine and Siberian larch and 20 km be-
tween plots for other species. The methods of measurement were tra-
ditional and straightforward, allowing calculations to be made for stand-
ing volume, mean annual increment and current annual increment per
hectare. Furthermore, data were collected on environmental factors at
each site, such as topographical exposure, soil depth, slope steepness
and slope direction. In total, data were collected from 360 plots on 169
sites. Results are presented for dominant height, standing volume and
mean annual volume increment per hectare. The results are however
not interpreted in detail. Owing to differences between sites in stand
establishment, stand density and thinning regime, care must be taken
when interpreting the results. Such interpretations will be presented in
a future report.
Keywords: forest mensuration, dominant height, standing bole volume,
volume growth