Profitability of continuous-cover forestry in Norway spruce dominated peatland forest and the role of water table

Abstract

Continuous-cover forestry (CCF) is expected to reduce the negative environmental impacts of peatland forestry in comparison with rotation forestry (RF), but the unknown profitability of CCF on peatlands limits its application in practice. The profitability of CCF was analyzed by simulating management scenarios with a process-based ecosystem model, EFIMOD, which was complemented to describe the interplay between tree growth and water table depth, which is typical of peatland forests. A variety of harvest intervals and post-harvest basal areas for a mature Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) dominated stand was simulated on a nutrient-rich peatland site. Conventional RF was simulated for comparison. CCF provided a higher profit than RF. The best financial performance was obtained with a 15-year harvest interval regardless of interest rate, although the overall profitability of CCF depended on the interest rate used. Ditch network maintenance was needed to maintain the stand growth only when the post-harvest basal area was smaller than 10 m2·ha−1. There were many CCF scenarios in which the difference in the net present value of harvest revenues was within 10% compared with the best CCF scenario. Hence, there are many relatively profitable CCF harvesting alternatives for forest management in boreal spruce-dominated peatland forests.