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Towards standardised crown condition assessment in poplar plantations

Améliorations en vue d’un suivi standardisé de l’état sanitaire des houppiers en plantations monoclonales de peuplier

Annals of Forest Science volume 66, page 308 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

  • • This work aims at developing new tools for rapid assessment of forest health indicators in poplar plantations.

  • • Crown transparency and discoloration were visually evaluated in all trees of four 15 m-radius sub-plots in 32 poplar clonal plantations, which were chosen according to a factorial scheme with three factors: tree age, site quality and understorey vegetation management. A subset of trees was assessed using digital photos processed with a semi-automatic image analysis system (the CROCO software) in order to compare visual and digital crown transparency estimates.

  • • Poplar crown conditions were better in young stands and rich sites. Harrowing understorey vegetation improved tree health in poor sites. Samples of 20 trees per stand provided the same information about crown transparency and discoloration as 60 trees. Calibration curves of digital crown transparency estimates were successfully fitted against visual crown transparency estimates. The same effects of stand age and site quality could be detected with digital crown transparency as response variable.

  • • The use of digital photos processed with CROCO in ca. twenty trees per stand is therefore recommended to accurately and objectively monitor crown condition in clonal poplar plantations.

Résumé

  • • Une étude a été réalisée pour développer des méthodes rapides et standardisées de suivi de l’état sanitaire des houppiers en plantation de peuplier.

  • • La transparence et la décoloration des houppiers ont été estimées visuellement sur tous les arbres de quatre placettes d’un rayon fixe de 15 m, dans 32 plantations monoclonales de peuplier choisies selon un plan factoriel complet croisant trois facteurs : l’âge des plantations, la fertilité du site et la gestion du sous-bois. La moyenne des notes de transparence et de décoloration des houppiers a été calculée sur un nombre décroissant de placettes par plantation afin de tester l’influence de la taille de l’échantillon sur la qualité de l’estimation. Des photographies numériques du houppier d’un souséchantillon de peupliers ont été également prises puis traitées à l’aide du logiciel CROCO afin de comparer les estimations visuelles et numériques de la transparence du houppier.

  • • L’état sanitaire des houppiers était meilleur dans les jeunes plantations de peupliers et les sites les plus fertiles. Le hersage de la végétation du sous-bois a permis d’améliorer l’état sanitaire des peupliers dans les sites les plus pauvres. Les valeurs moyenne de transparence et de décoloration du houppier par plantation, calculées à partir des données d’une seule placette de 15 m de rayon — soit une vingtaine d’arbres — ne différaient pas significativement de celles calculées à partir des données de trois placettes et permettaient de détecter les mêmes effets des caractéristiques du peuplement et du site. Des courbes de calibration de la transparence du houppier estimée à partir de photos numériques et du logiciel CROCO ont pu être ajustées aux observations de transparence. Les effets de l’âge des plantations, de la fertilité du site et de la gestion du sous-bois ont pu également être détectés avec ces valeurs numériques calculées.

  • • Il peut donc être recommandé d’utiliser des photos numériques traitées à l’aide du logiciel CROCO pour estimer la transparence du houppier d’une vingtaine d’arbres afin d’évaluer rapidement, précisément et objectivement l’état sanitaire des plantations monoclonales de peuplier.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Production and Forest Resources, University of Valladolid, Avenida de Madrid 44, 34004, Palencia, Spain

    Jorge Martín-García & Julio Javier Diez

  2. UMR 1202 Biodiversity, Genes and Communities, Université de Bordeaux, INRA, 33612, Cestas Cedex, France

    Hervé Jactel

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  1. Jorge Martín-García
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  2. Julio Javier Diez
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  3. Hervé Jactel
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Correspondence to Jorge Martín-García.

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Martín-García, J., Diez, J.J. & Jactel, H. Towards standardised crown condition assessment in poplar plantations. Ann. For. Sci. 66, 308 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009006

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Annals of Forest Science

ISSN: 1297-966X