Thinning
The common term for the process of judiciously removing certain individual trees to improve the remaining quality and tree vigor in the plantation or forest; thinning can reduce the risk of a reversal of carbon sequestration due to fire, windthrow, insect infestations and disease.
Glossary. M.S. Ashton et al. (eds.), Managing Forest Carbon in a Changing Climate, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2232-3, © Springer Science +Business Media B.V. 2012
1. Removal of older stems to promote new growth. 2. Removal of excess fruits to improve the size and quality of the remaining fruits. 3. Removal of seedlings spaced too closely for optimumgrowth.
FAO Glossary of Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture, 2001 (http://www.fao.org/biotech/index_glossary.asp?lang=en).