CHARACTERISING THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT OF TREES: LET’S GO BEYOND THEIR BASAL AREA!

摘要

© 2021, Ecole Nationale du Genie Rural des Eaux et des Forets. All rights reserved.In forestry, the mean basal area of trees is commonly used to characterise their competitive interactions within a stand. Yet, the theoretical advances of the last two decades have shown that this approach is insufficient, especially as regards competition for light. Theory even shows that in some cases the good performance of basal area could only be coincidental and linked to highly specific conditions. This is what we present and discuss in this short note. We call for the French forestry community to further develop and valorise crown measurements in order to better reflect competition among trees in forest stands.