VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Picea abies | Norway Spruce 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Norway spruce wood is strong, soft, straight- and fine-grained, and
easily worked [17,87].  It is not durable in contact with soil.  It is
widely used for construction, pulp, furniture, and musical instruments
[17,80].  Norway spruce is one of the most common and economically
important coniferous species in Europe and Scandinavia [46].  In Maine,
thinned material and standing dead Norway spruce produced pulp of good
strength as reported in a study of the pulp potential of seven softwoods [16].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Norway spruce seedlings are highly preferred winter browse for snowshoe
hares in Quebec.  Browsing of seedlings and saplings in plantations can
be intense, as young plantations form ideal winter habitat for snowshoe
hares [3].  Norway spruce is not a preferred browse for moose in
Scandinavia; young and middle-aged stands of Scotch pine form habitat
preferred by moose over mature Scotch pine-Norway spruce forests and
bogs [14].  In Europe, red deer strip the bark of Norway spruce [60].
Other animals browse spruce foliage but it is not a highly preferred
food source for either wildlife or domestic animals [87].  Norway spruce
provides important winter cover for a number of species of wildlife
[80].  Grouse eat spruce leaves and the seeds are consumed by a number
of birds and small mammals [86,87].


PALATABILITY : 
Norway spruce nursery stock is of extremely low preference to
white-tailed deer when compared with other ornamental species, including
both conifers and hardwoods [18].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 



VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Norway spruce was planted on surface mine spoils in Indiana from 1928 to
the 1960's [9].  It tolerates acidic soils but is not well suited for
dry or nutrient deficient soils [80].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Norway spruce has been planted for windbreaks and shelterbelts in
western prairies, although it grows better in more humid environments
[17].  It is recommended for shelterbelt plantings in humid,
severe-winter regions [2].  Norway spruce is widely planted for
Christmas trees and as an ornamental [17].

Norway spruce roots can be used as grafting stock for white spruce
(Picea glauca) [52].

Norway spruce resin has been used to make Burgundy pitch, and the twigs
used to make Swiss turpentine.  The twigs and needles were used to make
antiscorbutic and diuretic beverages [87].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Norway spruce is the most intensively studied spruce in the world.  A
number of geographic races have been identified, and numerous genetic
improvement programs are underway, mostly in Europe and Scandinavia
[87].  In Europe, Norway spruce is the focus of increasing concern about
forest decline.  It is exhibiting a specific set of symptoms
("Waldsterben") which are also showing up in forest trees in the United
States (including red spruce [Picea rubens] and Norway spruce)
[40,46,55,66].  These symptoms include needle chlorosis combined with
magnesium deficiency and thinning of the crown [46].  Explanations
usually center on air pollution (ozone, acid deposition, or toxic metals
contamination) coupled with acidified, depleted soils that cause, among
other problems, foliar magnesium deficiency [12,46,55,58,66].  

Soils under Norway spruce stands are often more acidic than soils under
other species.  Soil acidity appears to increase with stand age as soil
buffering capacity decreases with age [4].

Norway spruce is not windfirm and is also subject to snowbreak [42].

Artificial Reforestation:  Norway spruce has been widely planted in
reforestation programs in the eastern United States [2].  In Ontario,
expected rotation of Norway spruce ranges from 60 to 70 years.  Sites
are prepared by plowing, and Norway spruce seedlings are planted with 5 x
5 foot spacing (1.5 x 1.5 m) [19].

Silviculture:  In Europe, Norway spruce is usually managed with
selection systems in mixtures with European beech and European silver
fir, particularly on private holdings.  Such mixtures require frequent
thinning to maintain European silver fir, which would otherwise be
eliminated by the beech and Norway spruce [67].  Norway spruce is also
managed with even-aged systems such as patch clearcutting and
strip-cutting [49].  In Sweden, single-tree selection has been of
limited use, but a recent report suggests that it is possible to obtain
abundant regeneration and high ingrowth rates in selection stands with
high levels of standing volume [48].  Scotch pine can be planted as a
nurse tree for Norway spruce; such mixtures result in a net gain in
production over monocultures of either species [10].  During dry
summers, spruce litter buildup can create manganese concentrations that
prevent regeneration of Norway spruce.  As a consequence, land managers
in France alternate rotations of Norway spruce and hardwoods, or destroy
the toxic manganese in litter by scarification [20].

Norway spruce is resistant to mistblown glyphosate used to kill
competing hardwoods [81].

Fertilization of Norway spruce can promote frost damage by prolonging
the growing season, and delaying cuticularization of the epidermis [68].

Whole-tree harvesting in Sweden is deleterious to soil fertility and
lowers soil pH [53].

In Belgium, Norway spruce was excluded from heathlands (Calluna
vulgaris) created by burn-beating cultivation (cutting, piling and
burning humus layers to fertilize fields), mowing, and sheep grazing.
Norway spruce has been planted on these former heathlands, and
burn-beating agriculture is no longer practiced.  Since burn-beating
removes the humus layer these Norway spruce plantations are growing on
severely depleted soils.  Depleted soils may be contributing to
Waldsterben in these plantations, and may also present problems for
future rotations [25].

In Finland, 15- to 20-year-old natural stands of Norway spruce were
frost hardy (defined as the temperature at which 50 percent mortality of
bud occurs) to 24.8 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 deg C) in mid-summer, and
frost hardy to -54.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-48 deg C) in January.
Hardening occurs over a short period in September, and is lost over a
short period in early May [59].

Insect Pests:  In North America, Norway spruce is host to western spruce
budworm [13] and mountain pine beetle [32].

Related categories for Species: Picea abies | Norway Spruce