AFI indicators (irregular-forest monitoring)
The French irregular-forest network’s approach — ten permanent plots, growing stock within a productive band, increment against capital, wood-size typology, stem quality and diameter-class transitions.
- For
- Consultant foresters
- Time
- 5 minutes to read
- Where
- Field app — Stand data (AFI); web — Results › Stand data
- Updated
On this page
The Association Futaie Irrégulière (AFI) monitors irregular stands on a small set of permanent plots re-measured over decades. Instead of a target curve, it asks: is the growing stock inside a productive band, how fast is the capital growing (increment : capital), what is the stand’s structure by wood size, and how do trees move between diameter classes?
When to use it
Recommended in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, where the AFI network’s stands are provisional; BDq stays available there. Elsewhere it is listed under methods for other regions — you can still choose it under Methods & targets when you follow AFI practice. The objective is the productive basal-area band — default 15–25 m²/ha, set per stand.
Plots
The layout generator proposes exactly 10 permanent plots for AFI (it searches grid spacings until ten fall in the stand; for odd shapes it falls back to a spatially balanced sample and says so). Regeneration is recorded on three 1.5 m sub-plots per plot (AFI regeneration).
Record in the field
The tree form is the stand-data form: species, DBH, status, height, tag, and the optional stem quality A–D on the bottom 3 m (poles: A future stem … D no future). Tag graded trees so the A+B share of increment can be followed.
Read the result
Results show growing stock against the band, increment : capital and the typology by wood size. The diameter-class flux table — what stayed, passed up, grew in, was recruited, died or was harvested in each class, with annual passage rates — is computed for any stand-data method from tagged trees:
- The AFI defaults (band, typology) await confirmation against the network’s current documents; set your band per stand.
- No AFI demo stand ships, so this guide shows the shared stand-data screens.
Source: Association Futaie Irrégulière (AFI) monitoring network; in Belgium and Luxembourg, Bruciamacchie, Tomasini & Baar (2008) Forêt Wallonne 93 (Wallonia); Pro Silva, AFI network update 2022 (Belgium, Luxembourg); regeneration sub-plots after Etienne (2007).