MERCHANTABLE TIMBER PRODUCTION IN DALBERGIA SISSOO PLANTATIONS ACROSS BANGLADESH: REGIONAL PATTERNS, MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND EDAPHIC FACTORS

is an extensively planted tree species in Bangladesh, primarily because of its fast growth rate and multiple economic benefits. However, only a few studies have quantified baseline timber volumes attainable under sissoo cultivation in Bangladesh, and even fewer since large-scale sissoo dieback occurred in the mid- and late 1990s. Using data from 72 plantations across five Bangladeshi regions, we derived region-specific rotation-age volume estimates for sissoo. We also examined how sissoo volumes were correlated with plantation characteristics (plantation age, per cent mortality, per cent sissoo and tree density) and soil characteristics (texture, soil pH and organic matter). Sissoo volume estimates differed significantly across regions, ranging from 52.0–80.0 m 3 ha -1 in the Khulna and Chuadanga regions respectively. Our highest estimates were considerably lower than virtually all reported sissoo volume estimates due to high tree mortality in the plantations we surveyed (46.4 ± 11.3% of stems). Sissoo volume was negatively associated with soil clay content whereby the lowest region-specific rotation-age volumes associated with the highest average clay content. Results of this study suggest sissoo plantations in Bangladesh are likely to yield less revenue earnings than they have historically or compared with other commercial plantation species.