Cost–Quality Relationship of Norway Spruce Planting and Scots Pine Direct Seeding in Privately Owned Forests in Southern Finland

Abstract

This case study describes the relation between inputs and outcomes of two major regeneration chains in privately owned forests in southern Finland. The selected regeneration chains were Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) planting and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) direct seeding. The study material consists of forest regeneration quality inventory data of 3-year-old planting areas and 4-year-old direct seeding areas. The regeneration costs were extracted from the registries of Forest Owners' Associations (FOAs) for every step of the regeneration chain of the inventoried areas. The relationship between cost of forest regeneration and results of quality control inventories were studied using multilevel models. According to the results, in the case of Norway spruce planting, the costs were only weakly related to quality: an extra investment of 100€ increased the number of crop-trees by 33/ha. In the case of Scots pine direct seeding, there was a significant positive correlation between the cost and number of pine seedlings. An extra investment of 100€ increased the number of pine seedlings by 654/ha. However, selection of direct seeding for the MT (Myrtillus type) sites and more fertile ones, as well as for fine mineral soils produced poor results of regeneration. The variation between municipalities that were used as operational units for FOAs was significant in both regeneration chains.