Table 1 Stand and climatic characteristics of the four experimental sites from the network GIS Coop. Longitude and latitude are below the site name. Relative density index (RDI) was based on the last measurement campaign (Montrichard: 2011; Parroy and Grosbois: 2012; Réno-Valdieu: 2013). RDIc, relative density index class (acronym used in the text). For Ho (m) (i.e., site index at 30 years, see Trouvé et al. 2019) and Dg (cm): range of values per site. Dates of thinning (from below) for each site. For climatic data, averages, minimum, and maximum range (inside parentheses) per site over the 1997–2012 period. Mean T and VPD are the yearly mean values while annual P is the yearly sum value. Winter T is the mean value of December, January, and February. Summer P, HB and ED are the sum values of June, July, and August. Soil water holding capacity (SWHC) for a soil down to a depth of 100 cm (see text for details). The sites have been sorted according to the HBc (wet, mesic, and dry)
Site | Stand characteristics | Climatic variables (3) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RDI treatment | Actual RDI values | RDI class (RDIc) | Ho (m) | Dg (cm) | Dates of thinning (from below) | SWHC (mm) | Annual values | Winter | Summer | Water balance class (HBc) | |||||
T (°C) | P (mm) | VPD (hPa) | T (°C) | P (mm) | HB (mm) | ED (mm) | |||||||||
Parroy (6.6554–48.6701) | 1 | 1.11 | High | 12 to 17 | 12 to 24 | No thinning | 174 | 10.4 (9.2–11.1) | 856 (579–1031) | 2.9 (2.6–4.3) | 2.6 (0–4.5) | 227 (122–410) | − 96 (− 218 and 91) | 48 (0 and 142) | Wet |
Increasing | 0.2 | Low | 1996, 2004, 2012 | ||||||||||||
Grosbois (2.9933–46.5022) | 0 | 0.12 | Low | 8 to 12 | 8 to 16 | 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 | 120 | 11.3 (10–12.2) | 749 (633–881) | 3.4 (2.9–5.0) | 3.7 (1.2–6.4) | 224 (128–350) | − 122 (− 218 and 16) | 76 (4 and 159) | Mesic |
0.5 | 0.51 | Medium | 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 | ||||||||||||
Decreasing | 0.95 | High | 2008, 2012 | ||||||||||||
Réno-Valdieu (0.6757–48.5289) | 0.25 | 0.39 | Low | 16 to 18 | 13 to 17 | 1997, 2001, 2009, 2013 | 150 | 10.6 (9.5–11.4) | 827 (653–1071) | 2.7 (2–3.8) | 4 (1.0–6.2) | 185 (123–335) | − 129 (− 196 and 31) | 67 (2 and 111) | Mesic |
0.5 | 0.48 | Medium | 1997, 2005, 2009, 2013 | ||||||||||||
1 | 0.99 | High | No thinning | ||||||||||||
Montrichard (1.1789–47.3748) | 0 | 0.1 | Low | 7 to 11 | 5 to 14 | 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 | 194 | 11.6 (10.4–12.3) | 698 (450–837) | 2.9 (2–4) | 4.6 (1.7–7.0) | 161 (89–253) | − 182 (− 254 and − 80) | 109 (40 and 172) | Dry |
0.5 | 0.6 | Medium | 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 | ||||||||||||
1 | 1.1 | High | No thinning | ||||||||||||