Possibilities and limitations of medium-term silvicultural planning

By describing the medium and long-term development of a stand of trees, silvicultural planning ensures continuity of forest management. Hitherto, this important task was achieved using yield tables in combination with a limited number of prescribed thinning types. The practical use of such simple tools is declining since various system of continuous cover forestry have been introduced in most of the German federal states. The variety of silvicultural options is increasing and experience about the likely change of forest structures following a thinning is often lacking. That information is crucial for those who need to predict the development of a managed forest. It may be collected using new thinning control inventories.