The objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of vegetation control on the microclimate (light, air temperature, vapor-pressure deficit (VPD)) and on the growth of young planted, ...sessile oak seedlings. Three types of vegetation control, creating a range of above-ground interaction intensity, were compared. In the open treatment, vegetation was chemically controlled and was maintained at a low height; in the closed treatment, vegetation was manually controlled and a few dominant individuals that overtopped the oak seedlings were cut; and in the sheath treatment, the vegetation in a 0.5-m diameter circle around each seedling was manually cut to a height equal to three quarters of the total seedling height. In all treatments, a strong reduction of incoming radiation was observed, as well as an increase in air temperature and VPD during the day, and a decrease in daily PET, compared to the reference located 4 m above the vegetation. However, the neighboring vegetation did not modify the microclimate around the seedling to a level that could have induced a significant reduction in seedling photosynthesis and, thus, in seedling growth. Seven years after planting, seedlings were shortest in the open treatment and tallest in the closed treatment (334, 372, 378 cm in the open, sheath and closed treatments, respectively). Seedlings in the open treatment allocated proportionally more biomass to diameter increment than to height growth, compared to seedlings in the sheath and closed treatments. The seedlings averaged 1.77, 1.10 and 1.00 forks in the open, sheath and closed treatments, respectively, and the average height of the lowest fork was 171, 206 and 226 cm in the same treatments. The reduction of the number of forks per seedling was not related to a reduction of the appearance of new forks, but rather to a reduction in the persistence of the existing forks. These changes in stem allometry and in fork development seemed to be related to the lateral shade afforded by the vegetation.
Cet article développe de manière détaillée un certain nombre de travaux de recherche sur les forêts hétérogènes. Trois exemples sont présentés correspondant à trois approches différentes : une ...approche basée sur l'observation, une approche basée sur l'expérimentation et une approche basée sur la modélisation. Ces exemples devraient permettre d'alimenter les réflexions sur la gestion des forêts hétérogènes.
Les dégâts de gel tardif sur la pousse terminale : un facteur de risque d’apparition de fourches chez le hêtre (Fagus sylvatica L.). La fourchaison est un défaut fréquent du hêtre qui peut nuire à la ...formation d’une grume de qualité. L’hypothèse d’un effet des gelées tardives contribuant à aggraver la fourchaison, bien que largement admise par les gestionnaires forestiers, restait pourtant à démontrer et à quantifier dans un cadre expérimental. Les dégâts occasionnés par la gelée tardive du 15 mai 1995 sur de jeunes plants de hêtre du dispositif expérimental de Lyons-La-Forêt (France) et leurs conséquences sur la mise en place de fourches ont été analysés. Les hêtres étaient alors âgés de 17 ans et de hauteur comprise entre 1,5 et 9 m. Parmi toutes les densités de plantation testées seule la plus faible (625/ha) présentait un impact fort et diversifié du gel. Trois niveaux d’intensité croissante de dégâts immédiats sur la pousse terminale en élongation ont pu être distingués : (1) aucune trace de gel, (2) feuilles roussies (3) pousse gelée. L’intensité des dégâts visibles sur la pousse terminale est apparue très dépendante de la hauteur du plant justifiant notre approche expérimentale originale centrée sur l’évaluation individuelle des dégâts. La quasi totalité des hêtres de hauteur inférieure à 4 m avaient gelé et tous ceux de hauteur supérieure à 7 m étaient indemnes. Les fourches imputables au gel ont été inventoriées fin 1997 selon une définition objective basée sur des critères dendrométriques et sur un critère d’âge. Le dégât de gel le plus intense a eu pour conséquence une augmentation significative du risque de fourchaison (71,7 % de plants fourchus). Avec un risque relatif de fourchaison en présence de pousse gelée égale à 2,15 et une fraction du risque attribuable de 0,36 on peut conclure que le gel tardif observé contribue notablement à la dégradation de la forme du hêtre touché par le gel et à la qualité globale du peuplement
Forking is a frequent flaw in beech which can adversely affect the formation of high quality logs. Even though the hypothesis that late frosts increase forking is widely accepted by forest managers, it remains to be proved and quantified experimentally. Damage caused by a late frost on 15 May 1995 to young beech trees in an experimental site at Lyons-La-Forêt (France) and the consequences on the development of forking were analysed. The beech trees were 17 years old with heights between 1.5 and 9 m. Of all the plantation densities tested only the lowest density (625/ha) showed various and severe frost damage. Three levels of immediate damage to the growing terminal shoot were observed, with increasing intensity from: (1) no trace of frost damage, (2) reddened leaves and (3) frost-nipped shoots. The intensity of visible damage to the terminal shoot appeared to be very dependent on the height of the plant which justified our original experimental approach, based on an evaluation of the damage for each individual. Almost all of the beech trees less than 4 m high suffered frost damage and all those taller than 7 m were unaffected. Three-year-old forks due to frost which occurred in May 1995 were recorded at the end of 1997 using an objective definition based on dendrometric and age criteria. The worst frost damage resulted in a significant increase in the risk of fork emergence (71.7% of the plants were forked). With a risk related to forking in the presence of frost-nipped shoots equal to 2.15 and a fraction of the attributed risk of 0.36 it was concluded that the late frost observed played a significant role in the degradation of the shape of the beech affected by frost and the overall quality of the stand
Les dégâts de gel tardif sur la pousse terminale : un facteur de risque d’apparition de fourches chez le hêtre (Fagus sylvatica L.). La fourchaison est un défaut fréquent du hêtre qui peut nuire à la ...formation d’une grume de qualité. L’hypothèse d’un effet des gelées tardives contribuant à aggraver la fourchaison, bien que largement admise par les gestionnaires forestiers, restait pourtant à démontrer et à quantifier dans un cadre expérimental. Les dégâts occasionnés par la gelée tardive du 15 mai 1995 sur de jeunes plants de hêtre du dispositif expérimental de Lyons-La-Forêt (France) et leurs conséquences sur la mise en place de fourches ont été analysés. Les hêtres étaient alors âgés de 17 ans et de hauteur comprise entre 1,5 et 9 m. Parmi toutes les densités de plantation testées seule la plus faible (625/ha) présentait un impact fort et diversifié du gel. Trois niveaux d’intensité croissante de dégâts immédiats sur la pousse terminale en élongation ont pu être distingués : (1) aucune trace de gel, (2) feuilles roussies (3) pousse gelée. L’intensité des dégâts visibles sur la pousse terminale est apparue très dépendante de la hauteur du plant justifiant notre approche expérimentale originale centrée sur l’évaluation individuelle des dégâts. La quasi totalité des hêtres de hauteur inférieure à 4 m avaient gelé et tous ceux de hauteur supérieure à 7 m étaient indemnes. Les fourches imputables au gel ont été inventoriées fin 1997 selon une définition objective basée sur des critères dendrométriques et sur un critère d’âge. Le dégât de gel le plus intense a eu pour conséquence une augmentation significative du risque de fourchaison (71,7 % de plants fourchus). Avec un risque relatif de fourchaison en présence de pousse gelée égale à 2,15 et une fraction du risque attribuable de 0,36 on peut conclure que le gel tardif observé contribue notablement à la dégradation de la forme du hêtre touché par le gel et à la qualité globale du peuplement
Forking is a frequent flaw in beech which can adversely affect the formation of high quality logs. Even though the hypothesis that late frosts increase forking is widely accepted by forest managers, it remains to be proved and quantified experimentally. Damage caused by a late frost on 15 May 1995 to young beech trees in an experimental site at Lyons-La-Forêt (France) and the consequences on the development of forking were analysed. The beech trees were 17 years old with heights between 1.5 and 9 m. Of all the plantation densities tested only the lowest density (625/ha) showed various and severe frost damage. Three levels of immediate damage to the growing terminal shoot were observed, with increasing intensity from: (1) no trace of frost damage, (2) reddened leaves and (3) frost-nipped shoots. The intensity of visible damage to the terminal shoot appeared to be very dependent on the height of the plant which justified our original experimental approach, based on an evaluation of the damage for each individual. Almost all of the beech trees less than 4 m high suffered frost damage and all those taller than 7 m were unaffected. Three-year-old forks due to frost which occurred in May 1995 were recorded at the end of 1997 using an objective definition based on dendrometric and age criteria. The worst frost damage resulted in a significant increase in the risk of fork emergence (71.7% of the plants were forked). With a risk related to forking in the presence of frost-nipped shoots equal to 2.15 and a fraction of the attributed risk of 0.36 it was concluded that the late frost observed played a significant role in the degradation of the shape of the beech affected by frost and the overall quality of the stand
Due to the fact that forest ecosystems can potentially mitigate the impact of climate change, the carbon balance of managed forests has caught the attention of a large scientific community. Some ...authors conclude that extending rotation lengths would actually favour the climate change mitigation effect since more carbon would be stored in the biomass on the average. However, when the occurrence of catastrophic disturbances such as windstorms is not considered, the advantage of extending the rotation length might be overestimated for some species. In this study, we addressed this issue by coupling a growth model, a windstorm damage model and a carbon assessment tool. The evolution of an even-aged European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stand was simulated under three different rotation lengths. Simulations including stochastic windstorm events were run and compared with deterministic simulations with no catastrophic disturbance. Our results indicate that when disturbances caused by storms were not taken into account, the carbon balance was actually overestimated in some cases and that this overestimation increased with the rotation length. In our case study, omitting windstorm damage resulted in an overestimation as large as 8% for the longer rotation length. Nevertheless, when windstorm damage was taken into account in the simulation, the longer rotation length still stored more carbon on the average than shorter rotation lengths. However, the marginal gain in carbon storage induced by the increase of the rotation length was reduced.
Due to the fact that forest ecosystems can potentially mitigate the impact of climate change, the carbon balance of managed forests has caught the attention of a large scientific community. Some ...authors conclude that extending rotation lengths would actually favour the climate change mitigation effect since more carbon would be stored in the biomass on the average. However, when the occurrence of catastrophic disturbances such as windstorms is not considered, the advantage of extending the rotation length might be overestimated for some species. In this study, we addressed this issue by coupling a growth model, a windstorm damage model and a carbon assessment tool. The evolution of an even-aged European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stand was simulated under three different rotation lengths. Simulations including stochastic windstorm events were run and compared with deterministic simulations with no catastrophic disturbance. Our results indicate that when disturbances caused by storms were not taken into account, the carbon balance was actually overestimated in some cases and that this overestimation increased with the rotation length. In our case study, omitting windstorm damage resulted in an overestimation as large as 8% for the longer rotation length. Nevertheless, when windstorm damage was taken into account in the simulation, the longer rotation length still stored more carbon on the average than shorter rotation lengths. However, the marginal gain in carbon storage induced by the increase of the rotation length was reduced.
Responses of cambial growth and wood properties to winds Badel, Eric; Fournier, Meriem; Moulia, Bruno ...
2013; International Symposium on Wood Structure in Plant Biology and Ecology , Naples, ITA, 2013-04-17-2013-04-20,
2013
Conference Proceeding
The mechanical environment is a significant factor that controls tree growth. Growth response to mechanical stress inhibits primary growth, stimulates radial growth and produces acclimated wood. That ...results in trees designed at their proper limit of mechanical stability with a low margin. Several regionalized models under IPCC scenarios predict that winter storm frequency in Europ may increase, while chronic winds speed, that is responsible of growth acclimation, may decrease. As this biomechanical response is scarcely invoked when discussing forest vulnerability and acclimation to global change, assuming implicitly that other environmental effects are more significant, we will discuss its ecological relevancy, from observations of forest tree growth in natural both dried and windy conditions (Pinus halepensis in Spain) and models of tree mechanical stability related to tree size and allometry of growth. Then, wood responses to mechanical constraints include reaction and flexure woods, that differ from “normal” wood by their cellular and cell wall structure, with great consequences on wood properties. Wood acclimation to mechanical constraints should have feedback effects on carbon and water balance at the organ or whole tree level: for instance, reaction wood anatomy could induce a lower hydraulic conductivity that could result in lower stomatal conductance. We present some results from greenhouse experiments about how controlled mechanical stimuli modify local secondary growth rate and wood mechanical and hydraulical properties. We discuss how this acclimation of wood properties could change the margin of mechanical safety of trees, stating the whole complexity of the problem involving many feedback loops.
PDF
