Site evaluation and productivity of a 3-year old stand of Eucalyptus urograndis in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Plantation forests in Brazil cover 7 million hectares, which represents 1% of the country (68% of Eucalyptus and 25% of Pinus plantations). The aim of this study was to evaluate a Eucalyptus urograndis plantation. High levels of Ca and Mg in the soil suggest that limestone had leached into the soil profile. The soil resistance down to 60 cm depth in the row of planting was lower than the inter-row space, indicating that deep tillage had been effective. Soil resistance, down to 20 cm depth at an inter-row distance of 1 m from the planting row, was higher, likely by the increase in soil compaction during the site preparation. The canopy biomass differed amongst the DBH classes, justifying the use of an allometric equation based on a basal area for assessing the canopy biomass. The observed variation in DBH did not correlate with variation in wood density. The wood density of 0.37 g cm-3 was lower than those reported for 7-year-old plantation. The in situ removal of the bark increased nutrient availability by 8-11%. Harvesting of tree bole in 3-year old plantation didn´t result in a large nutrient export, indicating that proper plantation management can contribute to plantation forest sustainability.