The UK’s commercial forestry is based largely on one species, Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), which provides wood fibre for a wide range of uses, including construction, pallets and packing, fencing, panel products and paper. There are other important economic species, such as Norway spruce, Scots pine, larches, and Douglas-fir, but a little more than half of the total volume is Sitka spruce because this species grows and processes so well.
With this in mind, a study was set up by the Strategic Integrated Research into Timber (SIRT) project to have a preliminary look at a number of potential alternative species, to gauge what properties we could expect from UK forestry, and how they might complement the existing commercial species for the wood processing industries.
Keywords: climate change, species, hardwood, Picea sitchensis
Authors
S. H. Adams
D. J. Ridley-Ellis
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