Crown dieback & conditions

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Stagiaire
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:29 pm

Crown dieback & conditions

Post by Stagiaire » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:03 pm

Hello everyone,

I have a question about the entry of my data in one of my i-tree eco project. I am currently importing data that contains only ash trees (managing EAB). In this datasheet, the metadata that I have are ID, land use, DBH, date/time, treeazin treatment as well as a remarks field which contains recommendations.

I’ve noticed that the owner of the woodlot didn’t include the total tree height, the crown size, the crown light exposure nor the crown health which includes the % dieback of each tree.

Due to this lack of information, I am forced to use the most basic information required (ID & DBH). The output results generated with this minimal information is not representative of the proportion of dead trees currently found and measured in his woodlot.
In order to improve the quality of the result generated in the report, I wanted to use the crown health criteria and create conditions that are as close to reality as possible. I would greatly appreciate your feedback on the following 3 conditions to quantify crown health.

Condition 1: Fair (18%). To justify this percentage, all the ash trees in this area are in regulated areas where the Emerald Ash Borer is present. It is safe to consider that they have been in contact with the bug. When assessed and inventoried, they didn’t present any visible signs of degradation or damage.

Condition 2: Poor (30%). This is given to a good proportion of trees that have been treated with treeazin. They have been treated as per the recommended protocol which is when the trees have reached a dieback of 30% (BioForest, 2012).

Condition 3: Dead (100%). Since they have been cut they are no longer present.

Are the above ideas logical and plausible?

Thanks
Jason.Henning
i-Tree Team
Posts: 340
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:45 am

Re: Crown dieback & conditions

Post by Jason.Henning » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:31 am

I think your condition classes sound reasonable. If you want to see the default mapping in i-Tree Eco you can check that out by clicking on the "Project Configuration" tab and selecting "Dieback". The default "Fair" condition ranges from 10-25%, the default poor from 25-50%, and the default dead is 100%.
One thing about your idea with the dead trees being 100% dieback, this will cause carbon storage to still be estimated for those trees because this is generally used for standing dead trees. Trees that are no longer standing would not be included in a typical i-Tree Eco project. You'll have to decide if that carbon storage estimate is appropriate for your project.
For more information about how crown health (another name for condition class) impacts the i-Tree Eco outputs you may be interested in this document, http://www.itreetools.org/resources/man ... ations.pdf.
Thanks for your questions.
-Jason
A member of the i-Tree Team
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