Relationships between crown dimensions and stem development in Fraxinus excelsior

Ottorini, J.M.; Le Goff, N.; Cluzeau, C.

Relationships between crown dimensions and stem development in Fraxinus excelsior

1996

Ottorini, J.M. | Le Goff, N. | Cluzeau, C.

In this study, the relationships between crown development and stem volume increment of ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) were considered in the framework of a project where modelling and computer simulation should be used to gain insight into the dynamics of even-aged ash stands. Twenty trees, of various development stages and competition status, were felled and subjected to stem and branch analysis. The relationships established in a previous study between stem elongation, branch growth, and branching angle (based on these measurements), together with the characteristic pattern of variation of stem cross-sectional area increment along the stem (Pressler's Law), allowed the reconstruction of the past development of tree crowns. The quantity of foliage in tree crowns was estimated by a "foliar volume" calculated as the product of crown surface projection area and height growth, for each growing year considered. This foliar volume was used together with a relative foliar volume based on the stem surface area to obtain a prediction equation for annual stem volume increment.

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