Comparison of growth and wood quality of Norway spruce and European larch: effect of previous land use

Abstract

Afforested farmland is a phenomenon of Central Europe. In this study, we evaluate the radial growth of Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] and European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) in forest stands established on abandoned agricultural land compared to forest stands on standard forest soils. As the quality of wood from such sites is often challenged, we also focused on wood quality of those species. The following characteristics of wood were evaluated: wood density, bending strength, impact bending strength, modulus of elasticity and radial growth in relation to climatic factors. The radial growth of both tree species showed higher radial increment to tree age of 19–23 years on former agricultural land compared to forest land. Norway spruce growing on forest land was significantly (p < 0.05) more sensitive to climatic factors than on agricultural land (7 significant moths vs. 3 months), while there were low differences in larch. Spruce produced wood with significantly higher density on agricultural land (399 kg m−3), while larch had higher density on forest land (583 kg m−3). In other characteristics, significant differences were found only in the case of larch. Higher values were detected for impact bending strength (4.5 J cm−2) and bending strength (87 MPa) on forest land. The detected differences between wood characteristic were not important for industrial purposes and final usage of the wood. Therefore, afforested agricultural lands provide wood of similar quality and also showed higher resistance in relation to climatic change compared to permanent forest lands.