Timo Kuuluvainen , Markku Kanninen, Juha-Pekka Salmi

Tree architecture in young Scots pine: properties, spatial distribution and relationships of components of tree architecture.

Kuuluvainen T., Kanninen M., Salmi J.-P. (1988). Tree architecture in young Scots pine: properties, spatial distribution and relationships of components of tree architecture. Silva Fennica vol. 22 no. 2 article id 5347. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15504

Abstract

The architecture of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) was studied in an eight-year-old progeny test. The measurements included characteristics of crown structure, spatial distribution of shoots and yield components. The spatial distribution of shoots showed striking between-tree differences, and two extreme distribution patterns were detected. One represented a non-layered structure with a vertically relative even shoot distribution, and the other a layered structure with a vertically highly uneven shoot distribution.

Close correlations existed between several components of tree architecture and it is suggested that changes in the phenotypic architecture in Scots pine follow an epigenetic pattern, which enables the prediction of adaptational changes in structural components. The structural characteristics related to high above-ground biomass were a long crown, high total shoot length, high number of branches per whorl and big shoots of low needle density occupying a big share of the crown volume.

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Keywords
Pinus sylvestris; crown architecture; biomass production; branching pattern; tree ideotype

Published in 1988

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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15504 | Download PDF