Wave effect and shyness phenomenon in homogeneous forests of Alnus acuminata

Abstract

The wave effect and the shyness phenomenon in Alnus acuminata (Kunth) are crown parameters rarely studied, but important in the quality of the wood of standing trees, therefore, a morphometric modeling of the crowns of Alnus acuminata in homogeneous forests in the Sierra Norte de Puebla was carried out. In 20 rectangular sites of 1,000 m2, the following were evaluated: total height (TA), normal diameter (ND), crown diameter (CD) and crown cover (CC). The Kruskal Wallis test was applied to data that did not meet the assumption of normality; for those that did, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used, with Tukey mean comparison tests (α ≤ 0.05). The forest value index was 14.99, so its two-dimensional structure is normal based on DN, AT and CC. Its average slenderness index was 93.52, which makes the tree not very stable to mechanical damage. The life-space index was 38.92, which is high indicating that trees with low intraspecific competition developed better. At the canopy level, a pattern following an upward, oscillatory and constant wave effect was observed in groups of 10 trees. The shyness phenomenon showed an average crack opening of 27.39 cm between canopies, so this phenomenon is well defined for the species. It is concluded that in the crowns of Alnus acuminata, the wave effect is observed as a consequence of inequality in the acquisition of resources, and one way to minimize this inequality is through the phenomenon of botanical shyness.