A METHODOLOGY FOR THE EXPLORATION OF FRUIT TREE STRUCTURES

This paper presents the methodology that we developed for measuring, exploring and analyzing fruit tree structures.
We consider tree architecture to be a key factor for understanding growth strategies and evaluating fruiting and branching habits.
We first describe how individual structures are measured and represented in a computer.
The representation of structures may contain different types of information, at least their topology, possibly geometric data and time information.
These structures can be explored using any combination of these data as extraction criteria.
Tree topology may be used to construct samples according to particular locations, e.g., branching order, rank or age.
The data extracted can have a structure directly derived from the plant structure (e.g., the sequential structure of axes naturally leads to a consideration of sequences of events). The different stages of this methodology are illustrated with examples dealing with the evaluation of branching and fruiting habits of apple trees with a distinction made between the exploration of populations (varieties) and individual structures (hybrids).

VI International Symposium on Integrated Canopy, Rootstock, Environmental Physiology in Orchard Systems

E. Costes, C. Godin, Y. Guédon

plant architecture, apple tree, cultivars, hybrids, modeling

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.451.85