مجله جنگل ایران (Nov 2021)
Survey of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of local Populus spp. trees (Case study: Kurdistan province)
Abstract
Due to the lack of documentation on local poplar farms, 50 sample plots in Kurdistan province were random-systematically- selected and their habitat and vegetative characteristics were recorded in 2018. For quantitative vegetative traits such as tree diameter and height, 30 trees within sample plot were randomly measured and data were analyzed based on nested design (including the factors of city, poplar plot within the city and trees within the plot in the city) and for qualitative traits, their frequencies werecalculated. The results showed that 92% of the poplars in the province belonged to the Populus nigra and 8% of them belonged to P. alba. About 80% of the poplars in the province were closed crown with right trunk and 20% had a wide crown with wavy trunk and multi-stemmed. About 90% of the sproutswere directly planted with 50- 150 cm (Khalf) cuttings in groups, cultivated at the margins of the river, agriculture and garden, and were more than 6 years old. The average age of poplar stands was 17.2 years old and about 65% of them were second or third stage sprout farms. The average of poplar areas was 1628 m2 with average of 1481 trees per hectare, average survival rate of trees 35.8%. The mean of tree DBH and height were 0.17 and 14.2 m, respectively and mean of tree volume and wood volume per hectare equal to 0.21 and 308.43 m3, respectively. Also, the mean of the average annual volume growth was 17.73 (range: 7.3-27.5) m3/ha and there were significant differences (p≤0.01) among the cities of the province as well as the stands in the cities for the mentioned quantitative characteristics. The results showed that the time of exploitation of the native poplar stands was 2.5 times more than modified and industrial farms, the planting density of trees was 8-10 times higher but the diameter, height and volume of wood of the native stands were 40%, 54% and 45% respectively of them. In addition, based on the results, most of poplar farms of Kurdistan province were as a complementary cultivation with traditional planting methods and low wood yield and non-competitive with conventional cultures, thus, should be improved in the wood cultivation and production programs.
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