Abstract
The Forestry Department of the Ise Shrine is planning to produce timbers in the Ise Shrine Forest to rebuild the temples for the Shikinen Sengu Ceremony held every 20 years. Thus, this study proposes a stand density control system for the sustainable production of large timbers through the application of a system yield table to this forest. A system yield table known as the Local Yield Table Construction System (LYCS) was used to predict tree growth with the parameters newly introduced from the growth data of Chamaecyparis obtuse in the Kishuu area and the Ise Shrine Forest. We estimated the mean DBH and mean height of 35∼100 year-old trees assuming the specific management scheme involving long rotation and low density control. The LYCS produced a good fit to the actual growth and suggested a possible application to various thinning strategies. In addition, the LYCS was successfully adapted for the Shrine Forest in terms of various settings such as density control. Finally, we proposed a thinning plan for the sustainable production of timbers for the Shikinen Sengu Ceremony, including harvesting costs and labor availability.
