Forest plantations are typically highly productive as compared to natural forests. Evans (1992) reported that plantations often produce 10 m3 or wood/ha annually, that wood yields of 20-25 m3/ha/yr are not uncommon, and that annual yields as high as 45 to 60 m3 have been attained with some hardwood species. Sedjo (1999), using figures adapted from Clapp (1993), cites annual plantation yields averaging 10-40 m3/ha, with some values as high as 70 m3 ha. High plantation productivity has been well documented by many others (Hakkila 1994, Pandey 1995, Sedjo 1999, Steen 1997, Tiarks et al. 1998). In contrast to plantations, natural tropical moist forest commonly yields 1 to 2 m3 /ha annually, which can be increased to perhaps 6m3/ha with management (Wyatt-Smith 1987); similar yields are recorded for natural forests in temperate regions (Sedjo 1999). Yields of up to 15 m3/ha are reportedly attained in some types of managed dipterocarp forests (Wyatt-Smith 1987).

 

The current age structure of plantations is very young, with as much as 135 million acres less than 20 years of age and 65 million of those less than 10 years (Figure 5). Given this reality, and in view of the fact that rotation ages for plantation-grown trees are in the range of 6 to 35 years, the volume of harvest coming from plantations will increase at a rapid rate over the next several decades.
Industrial Forest Plantation Age Structure
Globally - 1995

 

 

0-5 6- 11- 16- 21- 26- 31- 36- 41- 46- 51+
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Source: Brown and Ball, 2000.

It is likely that plantation forests will increase in area (as noted above) because of the high productivity compared to natural forests.

The large-scale development of forest plantations could prove detrimental to the North American forest products industry. An important implication of continued plantation development is that production of industrial wood products is likely to eventually move close to the location of the available forest resource. Thus far the majority of industrial plantations are dedicated to production of pulpwood and softwood sawlogs, and in both instances large volumes of low-cost and often environmentally certified wood are an increasing reality. A long history of plantation-oriented research focused on softwoods within the United States, coupled with concerted actions to create domestic softwood plantations, put the U.S. softwood industry in a position to respond to the threat posed by the global forest plantations phenomenon. With regard to rapid production of hardwood sawtimber, only several relatively small-scale plantations of teak, eucalyptus, and several other species are currently in place with production of sawlogs as an objective. The potential for this kind of development clearly exists, however, as evidenced by the considerable success of rubberwood furniture products in North American and European markets. Indeed, fully 70 percent of EU wooden furniture imports are now rubberwood (International Trade Forum 2004). The almost total lack of research related to plantation production of North American hardwoods puts the domestic hardwood industry in a vulnerable position relative to competition that may arise from fast-growth plantations.

 

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