One and two-entry tree volume tables for the new-established ash-sycamore forest types at a pre-alpine territory.

Abstract

Ash-sycamore stands have been assuming a considerable territorial importance in Northern Italy over the last decades. According to the National Forest and Carbon Sinks Inventory (INFC), these stands form the type of “sycamore-lime mountain & ash forests” and “Apennine maple forests”. These forests amount to 153904 hectares (88% in the Northern regions) and 23600 hectares, respectively. In the Veneto Region, ash-sycamore are mainly secondary forests and occupy 9258 hectares. These stands spread easily throughout the agriculture set-aside lands thanks to their colonizing ability and to the favourable soil conditions in the pre-alpine region. Experimental thinnings framed into a wider project aimed at producing management guidelines according to a single-tree oriented approach, provided a sample of 385 trees. On the basis of this dataset, the first tree volume tables for these ash-sycamore stands have been elaborated. Data collection and data processing are being described in the paper. A two-entry tree volume table was set up by the stepwise analysis procedure and a one tree volume table was derived from the two-entry tree volume table.

Keywords

• tree volume
• allometry
• new woodland
• ash
• sycamore