| Abstract: | Although a good correlation has been found between the mean degree of damage and the increment trend of larger Norway spruce collectives, individual spruce trees often betray no relationship between crown damage and the development of the volume increment. Detailed investigations show that stem and crown dimensions, growing space as well as the competition of neighboring stems can substantially outweigh the influence of crown damage on the volume increment. Furthermore, current methods to determine crown parameters and needle loss are in many cases quite error‐prone. Use of more accurate techniques for measuring spruce trees produced a stronger relation between the volume increment per square meter crown surface area and the degree of crown damage (needle loss). |
