Article Early Growth Response of Nine Timber Species to Release in a Tropical Mountain Forest of Southern Ecuador Omar Cabrera 1,2,* , Andreas Fries 3 , Patrick Hildebrandt 1, Sven Günter 4 and Reinhard Mosandl 1 1 Institute of Silviculture, Center of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany;
[email protected] (P.H.);
[email protected] (R.M.) 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, San Cayetano Alto s/n, 1101608 Loja, Ecuador 3 Department of Geology and Mine and Civil Engineering (DGMIC), Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, San Cayetano Alto s/n, 1101608 Loja, Ecuador;
[email protected] 4 Institut für Internationale Waldwirtschaft und Forstökonomie, Leuschnerstraße 91, 21031 Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +593-7-370-1444 Received: 16 January 2019; Accepted: 6 March 2019; Published: 13 March 2019 Abstract: Research Highlights: This study determined that treatment “release from competitors” causes different reactions in selected timber species respective to diametrical growth, in which the initial size of the tree (diametric class) is important. Also, the growth habit and phenological traits (defoliation) of the species must be considered, which may have an influence on growth after release. Background and Objectives: The objective of the study was to analyze the diametric growth of nine timber species after their release to answer the following questions: (i) Can the diametric growth of the selected timber species be increased by release? (ii) Does the release cause different responses among the tree species? (iii) Are other factors important, such as the initial diameter at breast height (DBH) or the general climate conditions? Materials and Methods: Four-hundred and eighty-eight trees belonging to nine timber species were selected and monitored over a three-year period.