Impact of dominant tree dynamics on site index curves

Raulier, Frédéric; Lambert, Marie-Claude; Pothier, David; Ung, Chhun-Huor

doi:10.1016/s0378-1127(03)00149-x

Cited by 75 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The mortality rates for black spruce and jack pine in this study are in line with those of Raulier et al (2003) who estimated the ten-year mortality rates of dominant trees for black spruce and jack pine at 8.0% and 2.6%, respectively. Overall, our results did not show clear evidence of lower mortality rates for top height trees using data from permanent sample plots covering tree species of different shade tolerances growing in Québec.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Étude comparative des taux de mortalité entre les arbres dominants et les arbres indicateurs moyens de la station

et al. 2009

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Keywords:top height / site trees / mortality rate / site index / permanent sample plots Abstract • Although comparisons between methods of selecting trees for site index estimates are well documented in the literature, little is known on mortality rates of different canopy tree cohorts used for that purpose.• This study was initiated to test the hypothesis that the mortality rates of top height trees are lower than those of codominants only or a combination of codominant and dominant trees. To test this hypothesis, we used records from a network of permanent sample plots in Québec and studied the fate of different cohorts of site trees for five different species.• Our results did not show clear evidence of lower mortality rates for top height trees. Instead we found that depending on the species, top height trees have lower (Populus tremuloides, Pinus banksiana), higher (Picea mariana, Abies balsamea) or equal mortality rates (Betula papyrifera) than codominant trees or codominant and dominant trees combined.• These results suggest a tendency for shade intolerant species to maintain lower top height tree mortality rates over time when compared to shade tolerant species. In the latter case, it is also shown that spruce budworm epidemics (Choristoneura fumiferana) did not change the pattern of mortality rates of site trees of A. balsamea. Mots-clés :hauteur dominante / arbres indicateurs de la station / taux de mortalité / indice de qualité de station / placette-échantillon permanente Résumé -Étude comparative des taux de mortalité entre les arbres dominants et les arbres indicateurs moyens de la station.• Bien que des études comparatives sur les méthodes servant à déterminer l'indice de qualité de station sont disponibles dans la littérature, on connaît peu de choses sur les taux de mortalité des différentes cohortes d'arbres utilisées à cette fin.• Cette étude a été initiée dans le but de tester l'hypothèse selon laquelle les taux de mortalité des arbres dominants sont plus faibles que ceux des arbres codominants ou de ceux d'une combinaison d'arbres codominants et dominants. Afin de tester cette hypothèse, nous avons utilisé la base de données des placettes-échantillons permanentes du Québec et nous avons suivi la destinée de différentes cohortes d'arbres indicateurs de la station pour cinq espèces différentes.• Nos résultats n'ont pas montré de façon tranchée que les arbres dominants ont un taux de mortalité inférieur à celui des autres cohortes à l'étude. Nos résultats démontrent plutôt que selon les espèces, les arbres dominants ont un taux de mortalité inférieur (Populus tremuloides, Pinus banksiana), supérieur (Picea mariana, Abies balsamea) ou égal (Betula papyrifera) au taux de mortalité des arbres codominants ou à une combinaison d'arbres codominants ou dominants.• Ces résultats suggèrent que les taux de mortalité des espèces classées intolérantes à l'ombre ont tendance à demeurer plus faibles dans le temps lorsqu'on les compare aux taux de mortalité des espèces tolérantes à l'ombre. Pour ces dernières,...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Étude comparative des taux de mortalité entre les arbres dominants et les arbres indicateurs moyens de la station

et al. 2009

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“…Growth may be affected by many aspects of the microclimate: sunshine, precipitation, temperature, wind speed and humidity , Ung et al 2001. There are also non-climatic factors that may exert an influence, such as competition, defoliators, soil nutrient availability, the location of the tree, the age of the tree and many other variables (Beaumont et al 1999, Raulier et al 2003. Growing concern about global climate change (Houghton 1997, Houghton et al 2001 has put greater urgency on understanding the relationship between climate and important management factors such as site productivity, a key component in growth and yield prediction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting lodgepole pine site index from climatic parameters in Alberta

Monserud¹,

Huang²,

Yang³

2006

The Forestry Chronicle

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We sought to evaluate the impact of climatic variables on site productivity of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm.) for the province of Alberta. Climatic data were obtained from the Alberta Climate Model, which is based on 30-year normals from the provincial weather station network. Mapping methods were based on ANUSPLIN, Hutchinson's thin-plate smoothing spline in four dimensions (latitude, longitude, elevation, climatic variable). Site indices based on stem analysis (observed dominant height at an index age of 50 years at breast height) were used as a measure of forest site productivity. A total of 1145 site index plots were available for lodgepole pine, the major forest species in Alberta. Regression analyses were used to predict site index as a function of climatic variables for each plot. The strongest linear predictors of site index were growing degree days > 5 o (GDD5), the Julian date when GDD5 reaches 100 (D100), and July mean temperature (MTWM). A nonlinear model with D100 as the predictor variable was chosen as the final model. Both the observed and the predicted site indices from the 1145 locations were interpolated using ANUSPLIN and mapped using ArcView. We concluded that climate is an important component of site productivity, accounting for about one quarter of the variation in lodgepole pine site index across the province.

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“…However, as this value is similar to the 14% value obtained by Magnussen and Penner (1996) in a stand near Grande Prairie, Alberta, there is evidence it is a reasonable juvenile top height bias estimate for white spruce in Alberta mixedwoods. Ideally, a site curve fit to permanent sample plot (PSP) data would eliminate the need for this correction, by providing a direct estimate of the true top height -age trajectory (Raulier et al 2003). However, as Alberta lacks re-measured PSP data at the mid-rotation age classes, such a correction is currently necessary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, since these techniques are often calibrated using retrospective stem analysis data (Huang 1996(Huang , 1997Nigh and Martin 2001), they may be subject to a bias (Raulier et al 2003). Shifts in the size rank of the larger trees over the lifetime of a stand (Tiarks et al 1998) will cause bias in the site index if the stand is not sampled when the top height trees are at the base age (Dahms 1963, Magnussen andPenner 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking juvenile growth of white spruce with site index

Zhang¹,

Stadt²,

Lieffers³

et al. 2006

The Forestry Chronicle

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The goal of this study was to link the growth of juvenile white spruce stands with an estimate of their site index. We applied a previously developed technique for correcting the height bias created by dominance switching among juvenile trees before trees reached the site index base age (50 years at breast height), using stem analysis data of white spruce from five mixedwood stands in central Alberta. For white spruce of approximately 15 years total age, we found the height of the current top height trees was approximately 14% greater than the height of the top height trees that would be selected close to breast height age 50. This height correction is essential to avoid an overestimate of site index. Secondly, to avoid the difficulties of determining breast height age or growth increment required for juvenile site index determination, we developed a linkage to site index using data from 168 white spruce trees that were longitudinally sectioned along the pith, selected from juvenile (age 6-15) spruce stands. Using this new equation, coupled with the correction for bias, we found that site index for white spruce from 49 test stands in Alberta, ranged from 9.0 to 31.8 m at base age 50, with a mean of 17.8 m; these values are in the range for spruce in mixedwood stands in Alberta.

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Impact of dominant tree dynamics on site index curves

Cited by 75 publications

References 21 publications

Étude comparative des taux de mortalité entre les arbres dominants et les arbres indicateurs moyens de la station

Étude comparative des taux de mortalité entre les arbres dominants et les arbres indicateurs moyens de la station

Predicting lodgepole pine site index from climatic parameters in Alberta

Linking juvenile growth of white spruce with site index

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