Combining wood supply with reindeer foraging in the same forest: Evaluation of spacing and thinning strategies

Abstract

The forest land of northern Sweden is used for reindeer husbandry by the Indigenous Sámi while also being managed for wood supply. Modern forestry with dense pine Pinus sylvestris stands, maintained with high basal areas and high leaf areas, allow little light to reach the ground and the lichen cover. Finding sustainable forest management for low-productivity pine sites that combine lichen cover habitats with economically viable wood production is an urgent need. In this study, we compared pine regenerations resulting in 600, 1200 and 1800 trees per hectare when the stand reached a height of 10 m. In addition, we examined the effects of two thinning strategies: business as usual (BAU) follows thinning guidelines currently used in Swedish forests, whereas combined wood and lichen (CWL) features repeated heavy thinnings throughout the rotation. Results showed reduced production but a relatively small decline in economy in the CWL strategy compared to BAU, despite a large reduction in basal area. In addition, CWL resulted in larger but fewer trees per hectare which may also benefit biodiversity and the recreational use of the stands.