Impact of stand density on tree morphology and growth stresses in young beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stands

Dassot, Mathieu; Constant, Thiéry; Ningre, François; Fournier, Mériem

doi:10.1007/s00468-014-1137-4

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In the long-term unmanaged stand, SZ, very high values of stand basal area and stand volume accumulated (59 m 2 ha −1 , and 903 m 3 ha −1 , respectively [19]). It is well known that a high growing stock, accompanied by high stand densities and a closed canopy, strongly impacts crown dimensions [16,38,39]. This explains the significantly different values in several crown morphological traits in SZ compared to the other stands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Long-Term Abandonment of Forest Management Has a Strong Impact on Tree Morphology and Wood Volume Allocation Pattern of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Georgi

Kunz

Fichtner

et al. 2018

Forests

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The three-dimensional (3D) morphology of individual trees is critical for light interception, growth, stability and interactions with the local environment. Forest management intensity is a key driver of tree morphology, but how the long-term abandonment of silvicultural measures impacts trunk and crown morphological traits is not fully understood. Here, we take advantage of a long management intensity gradient combined with a high-resolution terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) approach to explore how management history affects the 3D structure of mature beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees. The management gradient ranged from long-term (>50 years) and short-term (>20 years) unmanaged to extensively and intensively managed beech stands. We determined 28 morphological traits and quantified the vertical distribution of wood volume along the trunk. We evaluated the differences in tree morphological traits between study stands using Tukey's HSD test. Our results show that 93% of the investigated morphological traits differed significantly between the study stands. Significant differences, however, emerged most strongly in the stand where forest management had ceased >50 years ago. Furthermore, we found that the vertical distribution of trunk wood volume was highly responsive between stands with different management intensity, leading to a 67% higher taper top height and 30% lower taper of beech trees growing in long-term unmanaged stands compared to those in short-term unmanaged or managed stands. These results have important implications for management intensity decisions. It is suggested that the economic value of individual beech trees from long-term unmanaged forests can be expected to be very high. This might also translate to beech forests that are extensively managed, but we found that a few decades of implementation of such a silvicultural system is not sufficient to cause significant differences when compared to intensively managed stands. Furthermore, TLS-based high-resolution analyses of trunk and crown traits play a crucial role in the ability to better understand or predict tree growth responses to the current drivers of global change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Long-Term Abandonment of Forest Management Has a Strong Impact on Tree Morphology and Wood Volume Allocation Pattern of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Georgi

Kunz

Fichtner

et al. 2018

Forests

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“…The growth and development of beech stands are significantly influenced by various factors, such as site and environmental factors (Pichler et al, 2009;Vacek & Hejcman, 2012;Bošeľa et al, 2016;; stand structure and competition (Jullien et al, 2013;Vacek et al, 2014aVacek et al, , 2015aVacek et al, , 2015bDassot et al, 2015;Bulušek et al, 2016), genetic characteristics including species provenance (Hansen et al, 2003;Gömöry & Paule, 2011;Gömöry et al, 2013), and management intervention (Barna et al, 2010;Ratnam et al, 2014;Westergren et al, 2015). Natural or anthropogenic disturbances (Zeibig et al, 2005;Fichtner et al, 2012;Vacek et al, 2014b;Králíček et al, 2017) and masting behavior of the species also influence the growth and development of the stands (Piovesan & Adams, 2001;Drobyshev et al, 2010;Vacek et al, 2017b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of thinning regimes on growth and development of crop trees in Fagus sylvatica stands of Central Europe over fifty years

Štefančík¹,

Vacek²,

Sharma³

et al. 2018

Dendrobiology

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Crop trees are the main component of the qualitative and value production of forest stands. Therefore, stand density of crop trees is one of the most important information items for comparing different management strategies in forestry. Although the number of crop trees per hectare and their productivity are influenced by various factors, thinning can be one of the most important among them. This article aims to compare the growth and development of crop trees in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stands, which have been managed by three different thinning types over 50 years: heavy thinning from below, free-crown thinning and without thinning (or control). The measurements and assessments of crop trees were made using three essential criteria (best stem quality, diameter and height dimensions, regularity of spacing) every four or five years during 50 years. More than 9,000 assessments of crop trees with stand ages ranging from 30 to 105 years on 23 sample plots across Slovakia were analyzed. The highest number of crop trees was reached in a stand where free-crown thinning was applied. The proportion of crop trees on the subplots managed by crown thinning was 61% of the stand basal area and 66% of the merchantable volume at stand age of 100 years. However, much lower proportions of crop trees were found on the subplots managed by thinning from below (32% and 32%) and control (20% and 21%), respectively. The subplots, where freecrown thinning was applied, showed significantly higher values of other quantitative characteristics (e.g., diameter increment, height-diameter ratio, crown width) than those on the subplots managed with the other two thinning types (low thinning and control). Based on the results from a systematic investigation after 50 years, free-crown thinning is recommended for selective thinning in beech forests.

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“…Crop trees were selected according to strictly defined criteria at the age between 40 to 60 years, (after two or three interventions; except for the control subplot) and those published by Štefančík (1984) -stem quality, stem and crown dimension and spacing. Regarding the crown shape, trees with the continuous type of crown were selected as these are the most suitable from the morphological point of view (Vacek 1987;Woodcock et al 1995;Dassot et al 2015). When conducting thinning from below, the crown level remained unaffected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crown development of beech crop trees under different thinning regimes

Štefančík¹

2017

J. For. Sci.

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Crop trees are the main bearers of qualitative and value production of the stands. Although the number and production of the mentioned trees are affected by various factors, crown development by means of the thinning regime can be considered as very significant. The paper aims at the comparison of crop trees in homogeneous beech (Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus) stands, which were managed by three different management or thinning regimes for a long period (ca. 50 years): (i) heavy thinning from below (C grade according to the German forest research institutes released in 1902), (ii) Štefančík’s free crown thinning, (iii) without interventions (control). Selection of crop trees was carried out at the beginning of research using the best stem quality, diameter and height dimension and regular spacing). In this paper only the last assessment of crop trees aged from 83 to 105 years including 23 subplots established across the Slovakian territory was analysed. The highest number of crop trees has been reached in forests where Štefančík’s free crown thinning was applied. The proportion of these trees on subplots with the mentioned type of crown thinning was 61% out of the basal area at stand age of 100 years. A much lower proportion was found on subplots managed by thinning from below (32%) and on control ones (20%). Crown parameters (crown width, crown ratio, crown projection area, crown surface area and volume) showed the most appropriate values on subplots where Štefančík’s free crown thinning was used. It was: 8.36 m (crown width), 0.50 (crown ratio), 56.84 m2 (crown projection area), 289.56 m2 (crown surface area), and 481.75 m3 (volume). Based on the results obtained after almost 50 years of systematic investigations, the mentioned thinning method was recommended for beech forests.

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Impact of stand density on tree morphology and growth stresses in young beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stands

Cited by 11 publications

References 25 publications

Long-Term Abandonment of Forest Management Has a Strong Impact on Tree Morphology and Wood Volume Allocation Pattern of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Long-Term Abandonment of Forest Management Has a Strong Impact on Tree Morphology and Wood Volume Allocation Pattern of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Effect of thinning regimes on growth and development of crop trees in Fagus sylvatica stands of Central Europe over fifty years

Crown development of beech crop trees under different thinning regimes

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