Growth of Eucalyptus maidenii in East Africa

The research has investigated the growth and predicts the volume/hectare to be harvested after 15 to 60 years in five age groups of Eucalyptus maidenii in two woodlots in Horizon Sopyrwa forest in Nyabihu District, Northwest Province of Rwanda. The growth and stocking parameters such as diameter at breast height (DBH), Tree height, basal area/ha (G), the volume/ha(V) and the Mean Annual Increment at the age of 15 years were measured in stand 1(Aidel) and stand 2 (Nyaruhonga) of the plantations. The mean tree volume obtained was 0.8963±0.1725 m3 and 0.3537±0.1302 m3 for stands 1 and 2, respectively while the corresponding mean volume/ha on the sites was 363.9031±32.7623 m3 and 116.1364±21.6221 m3, respectively. A higher mean annual increment in volume of 24.2603 m3/ha/year was obtained in stand 1 whereas 11.8669 m3/ha/year in stand 2. The results clearly indicated that, the harvestable yield for stand 1 at the recommended biological rotation age of 42 years will be 1413 m3/ha while the stand 2 at 53 years will be 1390 m3/ha. Thus, it can be concluded that in Horizon Sopyrwa, stand 1 is more productive as compared to stand 2.