Thesis defense by Lucie HEIM

Thesis supervisor: Louis Denaud

Thesis co-supervisors: Eric BADEL, Kévin CANDELIER, Rémy MARCHAL

JURY MEMBERS

Rapporteurs

• Bertrand CHARRIER, University Professor, IPREM, UPPA

• Joris VAN ACKER, University Professor, Woodlab, Ghent University

Examiners

• Antolino GALLEGO, University Professor, IDIE, University of Granada       

• Louis DENAUD, Associate Professor (HDR), LaBoMaP, Arts et Métiers            

• Éric BADEL, Senior Researcher (HDR), PIAF, INRAE                                      

• Kévin CANDELIER, Research Officer, BioWooEB, CIRAD                               

Guests

• Rémy MARCHAL, Professor Emeritus, LaBoMaP, Arts et Métiers                         

• Joffrey VIGUIER, Senior Lecturer, LaBoMaP, Arts et Métiers                     

SUMMARY

Agroforestry trees grow in conditions that differ from those of conventional forestry, particularly due to low planting densities. The growth dynamics and physicochemical properties of three temperate species (hybrid walnut, poplar, and black locust) from agroforestry (AF) and forestry (FC) systems were compared. Agroforestry trees were found to grow faster than their forest counterparts. Differences in chemical composition and physical properties were observed between woods from different silvicultural systems for the same species. Analysis of poplar wood quality applied to peeling, linked to its physical properties, showed that AF poplars had superior mechanical characteristics to FC poplars. These promising results suggest that agroforestry trees could be integrated into the wood industry.

KEYWORDS 

Agroforestry, poplar, walnut, black locust, wood quality, thigmomorphogenesis