Ground Monitoring of Crown Condition of Forest Trees in the French Mountains

Alarming reports regarding the health of silver fir (Abies alba Mill., hereafter shortened to “fir”) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst., hereafter shortened to “spruce”) in the Vosges first became available in spring 1983. In fact, foresters had expressed concern about a possible silver fir dieback on the Alsatian slope of the Vosges as early as 1978. However, at that time a field visit by a group of ecologists concluded that damage could mostly be attributed to the impact of droughts, especially that of 1976, on over-mature stands (Becker et al. 1978). There was no consensus on the need or otherwise to launch extensive research in addition to that which was then being carried out into a severe dieback affecting oak in various French regions in the late 1970s.