Mixed Forests as a Part of Sustaibable Forestry in Southern Sweden

We review and discuss the applicability of mixed stands in the context of sustainable forestry in southern Sweden. This is done from a silvicultural perspective regarding aspects such as regeneration, pre-commercial thinnings, production, economy, damage and policy implications. The paper is based on literature reviews and on studies performed in southern Sweden or under comparable conditions. After considering the underlying mechanisms, we find that it is possible to establish a mixed stand in the regeneration phase and sometimes even to a lower cost compared to monocultures. To keep the mixture, or to create it, with pre-commercial thinnings is however often more expensive. The reviewed studies, together with a new simulation, show that the effect on productivity of mixed stands compared to monocultures is minor. Some positive effects on damage (i.e., decreased levels) in mixed stands have been found. The economy and the policy implications of mixed stand management were found to be dependent on the specific stand and situations. Ageneral finding was that research and knowledge of managing mixed stands, as compared to monocultures, are limited, which in turn could limit the applicability of mixed stand management