Forest Maturity

the age at which individual trees or plantations are most suitable for use.

There are several types of forest maturity: natural, quantitative, economic, technical, and restorative. The stage of natural maturity is defined as the age at which the plantation or tree dies. For example, individual pine and spruce trees have a life-span of 300 to 350 years, and pine and spruce forests a lifespan of 200 to 250 years. Quantitative maturity is the age at which the plantation or tree has the greatest annual growth (cu m of wood per hectare divided by the age of the plantation). A forest cut at this age yields the greatest amount of wood. Qualitative maturity is the age at which a volume unit of output is most valuable. Economic maturity of a tree or plantation is reached when the greatest average monetary income can be obtained in a year. Technical maturity is the age at which a tree or plantation produces the largest average amount of the desired assortment.

Restorative maturity is the age at which the optimal natural restoration of the forest (seed or vegetative reforestation) is ensured. For soft-leaved trees (such as birch and alder) seed restorative maturity occurs at 30 to 40 years of age, for pine at 40 to 50 years, for spruce 60 to 70 years, and for hard-leaved trees (such as oak) 80 to 90 years. Root restorative maturity occurs at 25 years for soft-leaved species and at 40 years for hard-leaved species.