1.3.1 Foundations and Principles of Tree Species Selection

Tree species selection for plantation should, first, follow ecological principle, forestry principle and economic principle. Second one, species selection for timber forest should consider growth speed, yield, timber quality and forest stability. Last one is the methods of fitting species to the site include selection and modification, but selection is more important, more basic one.

See online APFNet Course 6: Forest Resource Management and Protection (http://blogs.ubc.ca/apfnet06/) Module I, Topic 1 Principles of silviculture, 1.1.2 Species selection. From that course you will know the principles of species selection.

1.3.2 Species survey

List local species according to the following features: tree/shrub, main uses, resistance (to poor nutrition, drought, flood, wind, freeze/frost), N-fixation, root system (intensive or not), foliage decay (good or not), growth rate (high or low), timber (high or low), non timber value (high or low), acid/lime-stone, suitable soil pH, suitable elevation, suitable slope aspect, landscape visual effect, suitable topography.

Taking “Xining Greening and Environmental Protection Project” (XGEP-Projet) Qinghai Province, PR China as an example, see table of species characteristics (Annex 1).

1.3.3 Match species to the site

Now, we know the site and we know the species, match species to the site means put the species to the proper site. Under the guidance of the plantation objective, one can select the most suitable tree species for a site or the most suitable site for a tree species.

Example XGEP-Project, compare tow tables to show how to match species to the site, site class (table 1), tree species characteristics (Annex 1)