Steen Magnussen , René I. Alfaro, Paul Boudewyn

Survival-time analysis of white spruce during spruce budworm defoliation

Magnussen S., Alfaro R. I., Boudewyn P. (2005). Survival-time analysis of white spruce during spruce budworm defoliation. Silva Fennica vol. 39 no. 2 article id 382. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.382

Abstract

Mortality and defoliation (DF%) in 987 white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) trees were followed from 1992 to 2003 during an outbreak of the spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) in 15 white-spruce-dominated uneven-aged stands in the Fort Nelson Forest District near Prince George, British Columbia. Four stands were aerially sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Defoliation and mortality levels were elevated in non-sprayed stands. The relationship between defoliation and survival-times was captured in a Cox proportional hazard model with a defoliation stress index (DSI), diameter (DBH), crown class (CCL), a random stand effect, Bt-treatment, and number of years of exposure to stand-level defoliation (DYEAR) as predictors. The DSI, optimized for discrimination between survivors and non-survivors, is the discounted sum of five lagged DF% values. Survival probabilities were predicted with a maximum error of 0.02. Hazard rates increased by 0.06 for every one point increase in DSI. CCL and random stand effects were highly significant. Bt-treatment effects were fully captured by DSI, CCL, and DYEAR.

Keywords
mortality; hazard rates; defoliation stress index; Cox proportional hazard regression; Choristoneura fumiferana

Received 13 August 2004 Accepted 18 March 2005 Published 31 December 2005

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