The Association Futaie Irrégulière Research Network

The Association Futaie Irrégulière (AFI) is a group of French private forest managers formed in 1991 to promote the silviculture of irregular forest stands, with an original focus on broadleaved stands. In order to advance this process and to disseminate information, the AFI established a network of research stands to demonstrate how managers were working and what was successful. The methodology of the Network was developed with L’Ecole Nationale du Genie Rural, des Eaux et des Forests (ENGREF), who undertake the mensuration and collate the results from time to time as well as acting as the scientific advisers to the Network. The chief academic is Max Bruciamacchie, a leading authority on irregular silviculture.

A key principle of the Network is that there is no specifically prescribed management; the Network observes and chronicles the operation of experienced practitioners in irregular silviculture in well-structured forests owned by a range of forest owners across a range of site types.

As at the April 2013 there are over a hundred research stands across the network. More than eighty are in France, with seven in Belgium and Luxembourg, three in South West England, seven in Ireland and a further three in Switzerland. Phil Morgan of SelectFor is the International Vice-chairman of the AFI and has been appointed to undertake the expansion of the network in Europe and the USA. Suitable stands have been identified in Germany, Austria, Spain, Wales, Northern Ireland and Maine.

The AFI Network consists primarily of stands with a well-developed structure that are regarded as ‘showcases’. In addition, stands have been added because they are addressing specific silvicultural issues such as the conversion of even-aged coniferous plantations. Normally stands occur on the basis of one research stand per participating forest, each stand being a compartment between 5 and 15 ha in size.

Site-type varies considerably and the Network has specifically been constructed to investigate the AFI’s contention that irregular silviculture is applicable to all site-types. A very wide range of sites is included in the Network both with regard to nutrient status and moisture regime. Climate also varies considerably across the Network, particularly with regard to the summer moisture deficit that can be very severe in Eastern France. Results are therefore also categorised by climate, particularly with regard to the drier site-types where higher deficits have a significant effect on production. Expansion of the Network allows existing results to be affirmed and ‘calibrated’ with regard to climate and site.

The interaction of site, species, climate and management is often subtle and in interpreting the mensurational data, and deriving the silvicultural implications, stands are grouped by site-type and/ or species. The results represent a powerful tool in providing insight and practical management guidance to forest managers.

The data are collected using repeated measurements on permanent sample plots, generally ten in number across each research stand. The plots are nested, with a wider range of measurements, e.g. seedling and sapling regeneration, being taken in the inner plots. The location of all stems measured is plotted so that removals between measurements can be detected. These measurements are repeated on a five yearly basis irrespective of the felling cycle.

Two types of mensurational data are collected:

• overall stand data: the procedure provides stand level information on the size and increment of the growing stock and its components. Measurements include the trees within the main stand (here defined as being over 17.5 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) and the smaller stand elements including poles and regeneration.
  
  
• individual tree data: height; crown dimension, shape and height; quality.

It should be noted here that the management of forests in the Networks strongly directed towards the production of quality timber. Both mensuration and silviculture is focused on this issue and the classification of growing stocks, increment and removals by timber quality class is a key feature of this approach.

In addition to mensurational data, information is also collected about the economic performance of the stands over time. These data cover the revenue account items; timber, sporting and grant income and detailed costs involved with harvesting, tending, maintenance and management as well as other costs such as taxes and insurance. The data is used to generate information on the evolution of the capital value of the stands. The value increment of each species and size category is calculated and this, when combined with a constant discount rate of 4%, produces a measure of the potential value of the stands. These parameters provide is a powerful tool for maximising income from irregular stands.

Biological data is also recorded. A deadwood transect is recorded and specific habitat features present on the sampled trees are recorded and scored. The latter allows the relationship between the economic and biological value of individual trees to be investigated.

In 2005 a second Synthesis Report was published which provided a wealth of data and silvicultural interpretations of the results from the first 15 years of the Network . In the same year the AFI hosted a visit for Andy Poore and Phil Morgan of SelectFor as part of a research project into the irregular silviculture of oak and ash stands, funded by Woodland Heritage. Part 2 of the Report of this project presents the AFI Synthesis Report results in detail and considers their implications for CCF in Britain.)

In 2009 the AFI produced a further publication ‘Management of Irregular Forests’ which describes the silvicultural, economic and biological aspects of the approach and supports this with more data from the research network. The publication has been translated by Phil Morgan of SelectFor and is available for sale here.

For further information on the AFI please contact Phil Morgan.