Peitsa Mikola. (1938). Kuusen latvus- ja runkomuodosta Maanselän lumituhoalueella. Silva Fennica no. 47 article id 4546. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a9071

English title: Crown and stem form of Norway spruce in the snow damage areas of Maanselkä in Northern Finland.

Original keywords: kuusi; Picea abies; latvusmuoto; lumituho; runkomuoto

English keywords: Norway spruce; northern Finland; Lapland; stem form; stem diameter; snow damage; crown form; crown shape; crown width

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Finnish tree species have adapted differently to heavy snow loads that occur especially in fell areas in Kuusamo and Salla as well as Maanselkä area in Sotkamo and Rautavaara in Northern Finland. Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst. L) is adapted better than Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The aim of this study was to investigate how crown and stem form of Norway spruce in the snow damage area of Maanselkä area differ from other areas in the same region.

Relatively broad crown at the base of the stem, quickly tapering crown and narrow and even upper crown were typical for trees growing in the snow damaged areas. The higher the altitude is, the stronger tapering the crown is. The tapering begins usually in a height of 4-5 meters. Even the stem diameter begins to taper strongly at this height. In the areas where heavy snow does not cause snow damage, top of crown is broader. Also, in the snow damage areas the damaged trees seem to have broader crown shape than the trees with little damages.

Height of the trees decreases in the snow damage areas compared to forests in lower altitudes, which can be caused both by wind and snow load.

The article includes a German summary.

Mikola, E-mail: pm@mm.unknown

Category : Research article

article id 386, category Research article

Jouni Kalliovirta, Timo Tokola. (2005). Functions for estimating stem diameter and tree age using tree height, crown width and existing stand database information. Silva Fennica vol. 39 no. 2 article id 386. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.386

Keywords: forest inventory; modeling; crown diameter; stem diameter

Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The aim was to investigate the relations between diameter at breast height and maximum crown diameter, tree height and other possible independent variables available in stand databases. Altogether 76 models for estimating stem diameter at breast height and 60 models for tree age were formulated using height and maximum crown diameter as independent variables. These types of models can be utilized in modern remote sensing applications where tree crown dimensions and tree height are measured automatically. Data from Finnish national forest inventory sample plots located throughout the country were used to develop the models, and a separate test site was used to evaluate them. The RMSEs of the diameter models for the entire country varied between 7.3% and 14.9% from the mean diameter depending on the combination of independent variables and species. The RMSEs of the age models for entire country ranged from 9.2% to 12.8% from the mean age. The regional models were formulated from a data set in which the country was divided into four geographical areas. These regional models reduced local error and gave better results than the general models. The standard deviation of the dbh estimate for the separate test site was almost 5 cm when maximum crown width alone was the independent variable. The deviation was smallest for birch. When tree height was the only independent variable, the standard deviation was about 3 cm, and when both height and maximum crown width were included it was under 3 cm. In the latter case, the deviation was equally small (11%) for birch and Norway spruce and greatest (13%) for Scots pine.

Kalliovirta, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Resource Management, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: jk@nn.fi
Tokola, University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Resource Management, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: timo.tokola@helsinki.fi

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