ABSTRACT
The annual crown growth is a little known variable in the forestry field. This important photosynthetic structure for tree growth is in a difficult level-access to the forester and therefore, a little knowing about its development. Then, the objective of this research was to model the annual crown growth using as independent variable the diameter at breast height increment of Cedrela fissilis. By using 22 singular ones, we determined the annual crown growth and the current annual diameter increment for the period of eight years. We demonstrated that the crown development are related with the diameter increment (r=0.53; p<0.0001). However, to predict the annual crown elongation with more precision, the linear mixed model also included the diameter at breast height and the commercial height explaining 70% of the total variation in the crown elongation by total height class.
Keywords:
crown growth; mixed model; covariance structure