Matti Leikola

The influence of environmental factors on the diameter growth of forest trees : Auxanometric study

Leikola M. (1969). The influence of environmental factors on the diameter growth of forest trees : Auxanometric study. Acta Forestalia Fennica no. 92 article id 7610. https://doi.org/10.14214/aff.7610

Abstract

The influence of various environmental factors on the diameter growth of trees has been studied based on data collected by following daily increment of trees and various environmental factors during the growing season in 1964–1967. The field work was carried out in two experimental stands, a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand and a mixed stands growing birch (Betula sp.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) and Scots pine, in Southern Finland.

The results show that the temperature sums preceding the beginning of diameter growth were of the same magnitude in the years studied, which indicates dependence in the relationship. Formation of new xylem cells took place in the pine stem ca. every third day when the diameter growth was most active. No summer growth inhibition was detected in diameter growth.

None of the cumulative temperature sums tried determined the time of cessation of diameter growth. In several cases, positive correlation was found between the length of the growing season and the width of the annual ring formed. When studying the relationships between the diameter increment and the environmental factors, it was found that diameter increment was totally masked in the records by the hydrostatic changes in the stem. Relationships between the diameter increment and the environmental factors of the second day preceding growth were found to be poor. In studying the deviations of the recorded daily increments from the regression surface, no clear general trend was seen for pine and spruce, but clear diminishing trend toward the end og the growing season could be seen for birch in 1967.

Keywords
Pinus sylvestris; Norway spruce; birch; Picea abies; Scots pine; temperature sum; environmental factors; temperature; diameter increment; Betula sp.; xylem; daily increment

Published in 1969

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