Other resources to: Modeling productivity of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) combining phytocentric and geocentric approaches in northwestern Europe

In this study, we were interested in assessing the potential productivity of a forest species that has so far been neglected by foresters in Western Europe: the silver birch. To achieve this, we combined two approaches: (i) phytocentric and (ii) geocentric. The phytocentric approach aimed at developing the top-height growth curves of birch based on stem analyses, in order to estimate the site index (i.e. the dominant height at a reference age). The geocentric approach aimed at modeling the site index using environmental variables, in order to identify the key factors driving birch growth and to create productivity maps.