Relationships Between Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Some Stand Properties in Turkish Red Pine and Black Pine stands

OZBAYRAM, ALI KEMAL/0000-0002-5922-1751WOS: 000410058500009Leaf are index (LAI) which is commonly used for analyzing of canopy cover and a direct measurement of active leaf area is closely related to forest and site productivity. Various methods have been developed for the estimation of LAI. Recent years, hemispherical photograph that is one of the methods of LAI estimation has been used frequently. This study investigates the relationships between LAI and stand age, mean diameter, density, top height, green tree height, basal area and litter in Turkish red pine and black pine stands in Bozdag region, Denizli. The measurements were carried out in 39 systematic sampling plots 24 of which in Turkish red pine and 15 in black pine stands. LAI values which calculated via the hemispherical photographs ranged between 0.77 and 2.56 m(2) m(-2) and between 0.78 and 4.66 m(2) m(-2) in Turkish red pine and black pine stands respectively. Regression analysis results revealed there are positive correlations between LAI value and stand age, mean diameter, top height, green tree height, basal area and litter in Turkish red pine whereas LAI value in black pine stand has negative correlation with stand age and mean diameter. Based on our results, changes of stand type are nearly effect on LAI and the correlations between LAI and some stand properties vary according to the species