Femelschlag oder Plenterung – Ein Vergleich aus betriebswirtschaftlicher Sicht | Irregular Shelterwood System or Selection ('Plenter') System – a Comparison from an Economic Point of View

The state-owned forest enterprise of the former forest district of Berne introduced cost accounting per forest unit in 1981. The present study compares the irregular shelter-wood units with the selection ('plenter') system units on the basis of important operational parameters. Overall profits from timber production in the selection forest units exceeded those of the irregular shelterwood units by an average of 25 Swiss francs/m3. Selection system unit expenditure was lower by 15 Swiss francs/m3. The selection system has the advantage of incurring substantially lower planting and tending costs whereas timber harvesting costs for both parts of the forest enterprise were about the same. Up until 1991, the selection forests achieved higher yields with an average of 15.– Swiss francs/m3. Due to the decline of the silver fir price, however, there has been no difference in this parameter since 1992. Thus, apart from the advantages of the selection forest regarding ecology and the protection function, economic r...