Needle demography and growth pattern of Corsican pine

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Abstract
A study of the demography of the needles and the growth pattern of Corsican pine is presented in relation to other studies of foliage dynamics. The construction of life tables is explained and applied to populations of Corsican pine needles. Needles from different trees as well as from different parts of trees had different survivorship. Leader needles had a much lower survivorship than all other needles. The frequency distribution of shoot lengths was log-normal, with the leader as the longest shoot. Climatic variations, tree age, apical dominance, and growth pattern appeared to be some of the factors involved in needle survivorship. Possible causes of needle senescence are considered with respect to an "activity schedule" derived from the work of other authors.