STEMS > Silvicultural Systems > Patch Cut
Patch Cut

The patch cut system removes all the trees from a small area within a stand. In this study area, patch size varies from 0.5 ha (the minimum considered necessary to provide the amount of light Douglas-fir needs to develop satisfactorily) to 2 ha (the maximum area that is visually unobtrusive). After cutting, each patch is managed as a distinct, even-aged unit, and over time the management area becomes a multi-aged mosaic of patches.

For photos of patch cut see Tour Stops 1, 7, and 9.

Silvicultural Systems:

1. Patch Cut
2. Extended Rotation
3. Group Selection
4. Clearcut with Reserves
5. Dispersed Retention
6. Extended Rotation with Commercial Thinning
7. Aggregate Retention
Immediately after the first entry
After 30 years
Click to see larger image.   Click to see larger image.
A view of a patch cut opening immediately after harvest and five years later.

Summary Description of Key Features

Silvicultural System: Patch Cut
Treatment Unit Size: 35.7 ha
Opening Sizes: 0.7, 1.4, and 1.8 ha
Deferred Areas: 3.5 ha to be cut every 10 years in 0.5 - 2.0 ha openings over 80 years
Retention Structures Objective: 10 ha of adjacent wildlife tree patches and individual trees
Age Structure: Multi-aged
 
Last Modified: 2008 May 22.
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