Abstract

The objective of the research was to assess the growth and structural changes of clonal and seed-origin teak trees in monoculture and agroforestry systems. The experiment was established in a randomized complete block design with six replicates. Eight treatments were etablished consisting of combinations of two propagation types (clonal and seed-origin), two types of cultivation systems until the age of 24 months (monoculture and taungya system with maize) and two types of cultivation system after 24 months of age (monoculture and silvopastoral systems). 
 
 The data were analyzed by modeling the growth and yield, diameter distribution and diameter class ingrowth. The technical age of thinning was then determined by the percent entries method. Independent of the cultivation system, clonal trees presented greater tree height and diameter than seed-origin trees. Regarding the cultivation systems, systems ending in a monoculture phase presented greater tree height and diameter than systems ending in a silvopastoral phase. In terms of structure, represented by the evolution of diameter distribution, seed-origin trees and systems ending in a silvopastural phase resulted in flatter and broader distributions than clonal trees and final monoculture phase. Overall, the technical age of the first thinning varied from 6 to 9 years, being earlier for clonal trees in monoculture and later for seed-origin trees in systems ending in a silvopastoral phase. The slower growth and greater variability in silvopastoral systems with seed-origin teak tree can be attributed to the genetic variability of the trees associated competition with the brachiaria grass, which also made the plants more susceptible to the attack of pests.

Highlights

  • Teak (Tectona grandis L., Lamiaceae) is one of the main tropical forest species cultivated worldwide, with a planted area of approximately nine million hectares, out of which 88% located in Asia, 8% in Africa and 4% in Latin America (Midgley et al, 2015)

  • The systems which had a silvopastoral phase had the lowest values for these goodness-of-fit statistics, which is a result of the higher variability of the analyzed variables in these systems

  • We assessed the performance in terms of growth and structural development of clonal and seed-origin teak trees in different cultivation systems including monoculture and two agroforestry systems in the state of Mato Grosso, midwest Brazil

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Summary

Introduction

Teak (Tectona grandis L., Lamiaceae) is one of the main tropical forest species cultivated worldwide, with a planted area of approximately nine million hectares, out of which 88% located in Asia, 8% in Africa and 4% in Latin America (Midgley et al, 2015). Efforts have been taken to increase the productivity of teak plantations by choosing sites suitable to the growth of this species, by selecting more productive and adapted genotypes and by drawing site-genotype specific silvicultural prescriptions. Poor decisions upon these silvicultural components have been pointed as jas.ccsenet.org. 2012; Ugulino, Latorraca, & Tomazello Filho, 2014), plant breeding, genotype prescription (Costa et al, 2015; Costa, Resende, & Silva, 2007; FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), 2015; Schuhli & Paludzyszyn Filho, 2010) and other silvicultural prescriptions such as soil preparation and fertilization, planting spacing, thinning and pruning (FAO, 2009; Kaosa-ard, 1995; Pelissari, Caldeira, & Drescher, 2013)

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