Summary
Published in Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33: 2074-2080
The first tree health decline symptoms usually observed are foliar deficiency symptoms, foliage loss, and dieback. To improve the subjective nature and unspecificity of these assessments, we examined sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) radial growth and health to develop an indicator of sugar maple tree health status based on radial growth pattern. We used the basal area increment (BAI) of 328 tree-ring collections from 16 sites located in southern Québec, throughout the sugarbush natural range, that were categorized by defoliation class. BAI of trees with decline symptoms was significantly lower than that of healthy trees in 9 of the 16 stands. BAI trends since 1955 showed an inverse relationship with tree decline class measured in 1989, irrespective of tree age. The results indicate that declining trees in these stands have not recovered based on BAI. They also suggest that the decrease in slope of BAI predated the observed symptoms of sugar maple decline by at least one decade. Results suggest that sugar maple vigor and health can be assessed by measuring tree’s BAI trend, an indicator that may be useful for the diagnosis of sugar maple health and status years before the appearance of visible canopy symptoms.
Sector(s):
Forests
Categorie(s):
Scientific Article
Theme(s):
Ecosystems and Environment, Forest Ecology, Forestry Research, Forests
Departmental author(s):
Author(s)
DUCHESNE, Louis, Rock OUIMET and Claude MORNEAU
Year of publication :
2003
How to get the publication :
Keywords :
Acer saccharum, dépérissement, accroissement en surface terrière, vigueur, dendrochronologie, écologie écosystèmes et environnement, écosystèmes et environnement, decline, basal area increment, vigor, dendrochronology, ecosystems and environment, érable à sucre, sugar maple
