## 3 Results
### Trees' Thermal and LAI Patterns  
A total of 543 infrared images (representing one image per tree) were collected during the infrared thermography (IRT) procedure, alongside 1086 LAI values (two measurements per tree). The recorded trees exhibited a mean trunk temperature of 16.7 \(\pm\) 5.2 \({}^{\circ}\)C, with a minimum temperature of 15.9 \(\pm\) 3.5 \({}^{\circ}\)C and a maximum temperature of 19.2 \(\pm\) 4.7 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Their thermal patterns, as described by the thermal interquartile range (T\({}_{\rm IQR}\)) and the thermal outer percentile range (T\({}_{\rm OPR}\)), exhibited mean values of 0.6 \(\pm\) 0.4 \({}^{\circ}\)C and 0.9 \(\pm\) 0.4 \({}^{\circ}\)C, respectively. The examination of thermal patterns using Welch ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences among the five tree species for both trunk thermal indices [T\({}_{\rm IQR}\): F (4, 180.86) = 28.49, \(p<\) 0.05; T\({}_{\rm OPR}\): F (4, 179.18) = 31.68, \(p<\) 0.05]. Further analysis using the Games-Howell test for multiple comparisons showed significant differences in the mean T\({}_{\rm IQR}\) values between the following species: (a) _R. pseudoacacia_ (T\({}_{\rm IQR}\) = \(-\)0.37 \(\pm\) 0.56) and _O. europeaa_ (T\({}_{\rm IQR}\) = 0.23 \(\pm\) 0.82) (\(p<\) 0.05, 95% C.I. = \(-\)0.89, \(-\)0.33), (b) _R. pseudoacacia_ and _P. bratia_ (T\({}_{\rm IQR}\) = 0.54 \(\pm\) 1.26) (\(p<\) 0.05, 95% C.I. = \(-\)1.21, \(-\)0.63), (c) _M. alba_ (T\({}_{\rm IQR}\) = \(-\)0.39 \(\pm\) 0.64) and _O. europeaa_ (\(p<\) 0.05, 95% C.I. = \(-\)0.96, \(-\)0.29), (d) _M. alba_ and _P. bratia_ (\(p<\) 0.05, 95% C.I. = \(-\)1.29, \(-\)0.60), (e) _M. azadarach_ (T\({}_{\rm IQR}\) = \(-\)0.49 \(\pm\) 0.67) and _O. europeaa_ (\(p<\) 0.05, 95% C.I. = \(-\)1.09, \(-\)0.35), and ( f) _M. azadarach_ and _P. bratia_ (\(p<\) 0.05, 95% C.I. = \(-\)1.41, \(-\)0.66) (Figure 3a). Similarly, the differences in T\({}_{\rm OPR}\) values among the five species followed the same pattern as T\({}_{\rm IQR}\), with the additional observation of a difference between _O. europeaa_ and _P. bratia_ (\(p<\) 0.05, 95% C.I. = \(-\)0.85, \(-\)0.06) (Figure 3b). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Phenotypic Traits**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{_R. pseudoacacia_} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{_M. alba_} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{_M. azadarach_} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{_O. europeaa_} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{_P. bratia_} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 174)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 65)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 48)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 80)**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**(N = 176)**} \\ \cline{2-11}  & **Mean** & **SD** & **Mean** & **SD** & **Mean** & **SD** & **Mean** & **SD** & **Mean** & **SD** \\ \hline H (m) & 6.15 & 1.65 & 7.57 & 3.06 & 8.22 & 3.12 & 7.25 & 2.74 & 14.04 & 4.18 \\ DBH (cm) & 41.01 & 9.70 & 40.23 & 11.33 & 28.68 & 10.67 & 74.41 & 15.45 & 37.15 & 9.94 \\ CR & 0.66 & 0.12 & 0.74 & 0.08 & 0.71 & 0.12 & 0.65 & 0.09 & 0.35 & 0.10 \\ CA (m\({}^{2}\)) & 33.47 & 13.76 & 25.45 & 11.37 & 23.72 & 14.55 & 51.78 & 24.69 & 46.36 & 33.8 \\ Cavities (ratio) & 0.02 & 0.03 & 0.03 & 0.03 & 0.03 & 0.06 & 0.05 & 0.04 & 0.03 & 0.04 \\ VD (cm) & 15.14 & 13.38 & 13.41 & 11.15 & 6.82 & 8.50 & 12.88 & 11.23 & 36.07 & 39.56 \\ HD (cm) & 37.91 & 44.56 & 21.84 & 22.59 & 21.12 & 30.48 & 18.56 & 13.31 & 9.06 & 8.64 \\ ID (cm) & 14.25 & 13.89 & 13.00 & 13.82 & 6.87 & 9.77 & 14.1  
Regarding the trunk thermal indices of trees classified into the three categories based on the presence or absence of defects, the Welch ANOVA also revealed statistically significant differences [T\({}_{\text{IQR}}\): F (2, 310.93) = 160.13, \(p\) < 0.05; T\({}_{\text{OPR}}\): F (2, 289.86) = 130.87, \(p\) < 0.05].