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Distance-independent tree basal area growth models for Norway spruce, Douglas-fir and Japanese larch in Southern Belgium

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Abstract

This paper presents new harmonized distance-independent individual tree basal area growth models for Norway spruce, Douglas-fir and Japanese larch in pure even-aged stands in Southern Belgium. The selected model was originally developed for Norway spruce and Douglas-fir in neighboring France. New formulations are proposed for some of the model components in order to lower the number of fitted parameters and facilitate the fitting procedure. The resulting models integrate the most recent corresponding top-height growth models and use four simple and usually collected explanatory variables: stand age, top-height, total basal area and tree girth at breast height. The modified formulations maintain similar fitting performances and make it easier to interpret the influence of the explanatory variables on tree growth. Parameters estimates were fitted on thousands of growth measurements gathered from several monitoring plots, forest management inventories and silvicultural field experiments that represent the wide range of site conditions and of forest management scenarios applied to coniferous stands in Southern Belgium. Cross-validation of the models revealed no bias and highlighted their consistent behavior over the entire range of girth at breast height, age, top-height, site index and density represented in our dataset. Combining utility and robust performances, these models represent useful forest management tools, purposely ideal for forest simulation software development. Moreover, the flexibility and generic capabilities of the model formulation should make it easily adjustable for other species in even-aged stands.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the support provided by the Walloon Region—DGRNE through the “Accord-Cadre/Forest Research” project. We would like to address a special thanks to Ir. Hugues Lecomte from the Permanent Regional Forest Inventory of Wallonia (IPRFW) as well as to Dr. Quentin Ponette and Dr. José Genon of the Earth and Life Institute of the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL—ELIE) who provided some of the data used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Resources Management (GRF), Department of Biosystems Engineering (BIOSE), Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (GxABT), University of Liege (ULG), 2 Passage des Déportés, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Jérôme Perin, Hugues Claessens, Philippe Lejeune & Jacques Hébert

  2. Applied Statistics, Computer Science and Mathematics (SIMa), Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (GxABT), University of Liege (ULG), 2 Passage des Déportés, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Yves Brostaux

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  1. Jérôme Perin
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  2. Hugues Claessens
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  3. Philippe Lejeune
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  4. Yves Brostaux
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  5. Jacques Hébert
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Correspondence to Jérôme Perin.

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Communicated by Aaron R. Weiskittel.

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Perin, J., Claessens, H., Lejeune, P. et al. Distance-independent tree basal area growth models for Norway spruce, Douglas-fir and Japanese larch in Southern Belgium. Eur J Forest Res 136, 193–204 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-016-1019-y

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