Thinning aspen - Results 45+ years later

I am pleased today to be given the opportunity to talk on the results of two aspen thinning projects that were established in the Late forties and early fifties. A group of Canadian Forest Service researchers including C Kirby, H. Johnson, J English, G. Steneker, R. Waldron, J Jarvis, R. Haig, I. Bella and R. Yang have worked on or produced publications based on these studies. The studies from Riding Mountain in Manitoba originated from clearcutting and the second study from northern Saskatchewan is of fire origin. Today I will be presenting the latest results on these trials. Very feto long term sources of information are available on intensively managed second growth aspen stands. In the 45 to 49 years since establishment, some replicate plots have been destroyed by natural and human caused disturbances. Results show a consistent pattern of development in spite of differences in initial stand volume, tree size, stand origin and site.