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Crown distance scoring system

Scoring system for crown distance adapted from International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests, 2010).

The guidance recommends starting with the tree standing closest to the sample tree. In a clockwise procedure, score values are averaged. Dead trees are taken into account as long as they are in the crown condition sample. 

Calculation: (Score 1 + Score 2 + Score 3 + Score 4)/4=CDRD

Scoring system for crown distance
Score Class Definition
1 Cramped Canopies overlap
2 Closed Crowns touch one another
3 Loose spread Gap between crowns up to one-third of average crown diameter
4 Spread Gap between crowns up to two-thirds of average crown diameter
5 Distant Gap between crowns from two-thirds up to one whole of average crown diameter
6 Very distant Gap between crowns > 1/1 of average crown diameter
Download an Excel workbook containing tree assessment tables found in the stormwater manual.