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Growth and ecology of the Alep pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) in the Beni-Imloul forest (Aurès, Algeria) Volume 22, issue 1, Janvier-Mars 2011

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Université Hadj-Lakhdar Batna Département des sciences agronomiques Institut des sciences vétérinaires et des sciences agronomiques Avenue Chahid Boukhlouf 05000 Batna Algérie, Université Ferhat-Abbas Sétif Faculté des sciences Département de biologie Cité Maâbouda 19000 Sétif Algérie

Knowledge of the growth response of forest trees to environmental factors is important for forest management and reafforestation by concentrating on sites having desirable environmental characteristics. In the forest of Beni-Imloul (Aurès, Algeria), our study examined the relationship between the site-index represented by the average height of dominant trees at 80 years of age and some simple environmental factors. Such factors include aspect, slope, elevation substrate and species of plants naturally occurring in the area. The relationship between age and dominant height of stands was reconstructed by stem analysis of 51 trees and then adjusted using the Duplat model. Site index curves have been prepared to allow site classification for stands of any age. They provide four levels of productivity. Aspect, slope and substrate seem to be correlated to the site-index, in contrast to elevation and plant species.