Silviculture of birch (Betula pendula Roth and Betula pubescens Ehrh.) in northern Europe

In Europe, two commercially important treelike birch species occur naturally: silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) and downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.). Both species have a wide natural distribution area on the Eurasian continent, ranging from the Atlantic to eastern Siberia. Although birches occur throughout almost the whole of Europe, the most abundant birch resources are in the temperate and boreal forests of Northern Europe. In the Baltic and Nordic countries, the proportion of birch out of the total volume of the growing stock varies between 11 and 28 per cent. In Northern Europe, birch is commercially the most important broadleaved tree species. Birches are light-demanding early successional pioneer species, which grow both in mixed stands and in pure stands. This article provides an overview of the most important ecological characteristics and typical growth and yield patterns of birch, based on European scientific literature. Growth and yield research on birch has been relatively active in Northern Europe, where numerous growth and yield models have been developed during the last decades. In this paper, a list of published scientific articles on growth modelling is provided and is grouped according to the different types of model. When growing in forest stands, birches have a relatively straight slender stem form. The current practices and silvicultural recommendations, based on research directed at high-quality timber production in silver birch stands, are reviewed. Although the emphasis is on even-aged pure silver birch stands, the management of mixed stands as well as the silviculture of downy birch and curly birch are also briefly discussed.