Sitka Spruce:
Picea sitchensis, the Sitka spruce, is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to almost 100 m tall with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m. It is by far the largest species of spruce, the fifth largest conifer in the world and the third tallest conifer species. The Sitka spruce is one of the few species documented to reach 300 feet in height. It acquires its name from the community of Sitka, Alaska.
Uses
Sitka spruce is valued for its wood, which is light, soft, and relatively strong and flexible. It is used extensively in the construction industry, ship building and as plywood. The wood has excellent acoustic properties and is used to make sounding boards in pianos and other musical instruments such as violins and guitars. Lower grade material is used in the manufacture of pallets, in Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) and Oriented Strand Board (OSB).
Forestry
Sitka spruce is of major importance in forestry for timber and paper production. Outside its native range, it is particularly valued for its fast growth on poor soils and exposed sites where few other trees can be grown successfully. In ideal conditions young trees may grow 1.5 m per year. It is naturalised in some parts of Ireland and Great Britain where it was introduced in 1831. Sitka spruce is also planted extensively in Denmark, Norway and Iceland. In Norway, Sitka spruce was introduced in the early 1900s. An estimated 50,000 hectares have been planted in Norway, mainly along the coast from Vest-Agder in the south to Troms in the north. It is more tolerant to wind and saline ocean air and grows faster than the native Norway spruce.
Production Levels
Yield class is the expression used to compare productivity among species or for different sites or soil quality. A higher yield class results in a greater productivity for the plantation and a higher and wider tree. Production levels for all species on farm forest plantations in Ireland were above the average for the UK, Sweden, Canada and USA. The national average yield class for conifers was 17.7m3 ha-1 yr-1 (17.7 cubic metres of wood per hectare per year roughly equivalent to 17 tonnes per ha per annum) On average, growth in Europe and north America is much slower; average production in Sweden is 3.3m3 ha-1 yr-1 and 2.6m3 ha-1 yr-1 for the USA. Production in Sitka spruce plantations is among the highest reported for the species anywhere in the world (4-34), averaging 21.2m3 ha-1 yr-1 (yield class 22). The results indicate that production levels on privately owned plantations for all species are very favourable, particularly for conifer species and especially Sitka spruce.