Diameter distribution in a Brazilian tropical dry forest domain: predictions for the stand and species

Abstract

Currently, there is a lack of studies on the correct utilization of continuous distributions for dry tropical forests. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the diameter structure of a brazilian tropical dry forest and to select suitable continuous distributions by means of statistic tools for the stand and the main species. Two subsets were randomly selected from 40 plots. Diameter at base height was obtained. The following functions were tested: log-normal; gamma; Weibull 2P and Burr. The best fits were selected by Akaike's information validation criterion. Overall, the diameter distribution of the dry tropical forest was better described by negative exponential curves and positive skewness. The forest studied showed diameter distributions with decreasing probability for larger trees. This behavior was observed for both the main species and the stand. The generalization of the function fitted for the main species show that the development of individual models is needed. The Burr function showed good flexibility to describe the diameter structure of the stand and the behavior of Mimosa ophthalmocentra and Bauhinia cheilantha species. For Poincianella bracteosa, Aspidosperma pyrifolium and Myracrodum urundeuva better fitting was obtained with the log-normal function.

Dynamic Patterns of Trees Species in Miombo Forest and Management Perspectives for Sustainable Production—Case Study in Huambo Province, Angola

“…However, the dynamic patterns of most species begin more vigorous growth at around the age of 20, with a DBH of 20 to 30 cm (Table 3). Some species displayed a narrow inverted-J distribution, which represents a typical distribution for uneven-aged forests [93][94][95][96]. A U-shaped distribution was observed for species like P. angolensis and E. abyssinica, which suggests that forest stand dynamics are primarily controlled by competition ( Figure 5C,E,F).…”

Carbon Content in Shrub-tree Species of the Caatinga

“…Green aerial biomass samples were collected in order to determine the C% in the compartments of stem, leaves, thick branches (circumference > 6 cm) and thin branches (≤ 6 cm circumference) of the eight species. Collections were performed based on the amplitude of circumferences found in the study area (Alves et al, 2017).…”

Plant diversity in traditional fruit gardens (munaans) of Benuaq and Tunjung Dayaks tribes of West Kutai, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

“…This diameter distribution shape is similar to that of natural primary forest. This is a typical feature for uneven-aged and multispecies stands in tropical rainforests as studied by Kang et al (2014), Nguyen et al (2014), De Lima et al (2016) and also in logged forest (Kuswandi and Murdjoko 2015).…”