Silviculture
To ensure that Nova Scotia's forests are managed sustainably, their regeneration, growth, and quality are enhanced through silviculture. Methods of regeneration used in the province include selection management, irregular shelterwoods, shelterwoods with reserves, and partial overstory removals. Stand tending methods include commercial thinning, pre-commercial thinning, and crop-tree release. Plantation management is also an important silvicultural component in Nova Scotia’s forestry sector, including site preparation, tree planting, competition control, and soil nutrient management. These silviculture treatments and their effective use are critical to forest sustainability. The Timber Management Group conducts research and reports on silviculture to ensure that that management objectives are achieved and practices are based on the best evidence available.
The Silvicultural Guide for the Ecological Matrix (SGEM) describes silvicultural prescriptions that are required on Crown land and recommended on private land.
The following information bulletin describes some clarification around silviculture and wind disturbance in Nova Scotia.
Windfirmness
A significant component of determining an appropriate silvicultural prescription in Nova Scotia is the acceptability of growing stock within a stand. The SGEM provides guidance for assessing whether a tree is acceptable or unacceptable growing stock (AGS or UGS).
Given the wind-dominated disturbance regimes in the province and the growing severity of those disturbances with climate change, extra consideration should be given to the windfirmness of a stand when prescribing a treatment.
Height-to-diameter ratio and live-crown ratio are two of many variables considered in AGS/UGS assessment but are critical in determining the windfirmness of trees and suitability of treatments like commercial thinning and uniform/continuous-cover shelterwoods.
The factsheets below provide a quick reference on windfirmness: