Modeling top height growth of red alder plantations

Weiskittel, Aaron R.; Hann, David W.; Hibbs, David E.; Lam, Tzeng Yih; Bluhm, Andrew A.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.04.029

Cited by 29 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Among silvicultural treatments, thinning is one of the most common and effective silvicultural practices for regulating competition between individual trees, and gives an advantage to the selected remaining trees (Pretzsch 2009). Previous thinning studies have demonstrated a strong effect on the individual tree diameter and volume growth with decreasing stand density (M€ akinen & Isom€ aki 2004;Kim et al 2016), and weak effect on height growth (Weiskittel et al 2009). Forest stand diameter and height, which are important variables in forest growth modeling, can be defined either as mean or dominant stand diameter and height (Tarmu et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the effects of thinnings in scots pine plantations in Mongolia: a comparative analysis of tree growth and crown development based on dominant trees

Ganbaatar

Tsogtbaatar

Gradel³

et al. 2021

Forest Science and Technology

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The post-thinning stand density and spacing in forest plantations influence individual tree growth and crown development, and the changes detected in dominant tree growth are a good indication of the thinning effect. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different thinning intensities on diameter and height growth in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) plantation. The field measurements were carried out between 2016 and 2020 on a Scots pine plantation, growing in Selenge province of northern Mongolia. Following this, experimental thinnings were carried out with different intensities. Thinning treatments comprised thinning with very low, low, medium, and high intensities, as well as an unthinned control stand. Stem analyses were performed to calculate the annual and cumulative diameter, height, and volume growth. For tree crown measurements several parameters were analyzed: crown diameter, crown projection area, and crown index. A total of 300 trees (5 treatments Ã 3 replications Ã 20 dominant trees from each plot) were subjected to the comparative analyses. This study revealed that thinning showed a stronger positive effect on diameter and volume growth of dominant trees in the plantation. Our results showed a gradual increase in diameter, basal area, and volume growth depending on the thinning intensity. An ANOVA test for growth analyses of dominant trees showed a significant difference in diameter (p < 0.0001) and height (p < 0.0001) growth performance following experimental felling with different thinning intensities. Finally we elaborated linear mixed effect models (LMM) for tree growth between 2016 and 2020 of selected dominant trees. With the help of the LMM we analyzed and described the thinning impact on DBH, BA, height, volume and crown diameter. The models confirmed that higher thinning intensity triggered growth of the response variables except for height. A greater height growth was found in very low (10%) and low (15%) intensity treatments. Due to reduction of competition and optimization of the distance between individuals, thinnings contributed to a relatively faster development of the tree crown in radial directions. Based on our analysis results and comparative graphs representing post-thinning dominant tree growth in diameter, height, basal area, and volume, we recommend medium-(30%) and high-intensity (45%) thinnings as at the beginning stage of plantation establishment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the effects of thinnings in scots pine plantations in Mongolia: a comparative analysis of tree growth and crown development based on dominant trees

Ganbaatar

Tsogtbaatar

Gradel³

et al. 2021

Forest Science and Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Dominant stand height, which is suggested to be a better measure of site productivity, is widely used in other countries (van Laar & Akça, 1997;Burkhart & Tomé, 2012) and could also be an alternative for Estonia. A primary prerequisite in using dominant height as a site index productivity measurement, instead of mean height, is that the height growth of dominant trees is not so greatly influenced by stand density (Weiskittel et al, 2009). Therefore, the use of dominant height should be a more precise way of evaluating stand growth (Burkhart & Tomé, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mean height or dominant height – what to prefer for modelling the site index of Estonian forests?

2020

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The availability of a large amount of data from reliable sources is important for forest growth modelling. A permanent plot where trees are repeatedly measured provides a clearer picture of stand alterations. Various factors, including forest management, affect forest growth and accuracy of its assessment. In Estonia, mean height as a regression height prediction at mean square diameter is commonly used in forest management practice. Alternatively, dominant height can be used. The main advantage of using dominant height instead of mean height is that the growth of dominant trees is not so strongly affected by stand density (thinning). The aim of our research was to investigate the difference between mean height and dominant height when used as stand height. The research was based on the Estonian Network of Forest Research Plots (ENFRP). As a result, we found that the average mean height change was significantly greater in the case of thinning when compared to undisturbed stand development, whereas, the average dominant height change in the case of thinning compared to undisturbed development was less significant. As a side result, we developed a regression model that can be used for calculating the dominant height of the main tree species using stand attributes (mean height, quadratic mean diameter and density) with a residual standard deviation of 0.466 m.

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“…Besides, PSPs are usually created for experimentation, which is mainly done in sites with better conditions for tree growth. In the case of national forest inventory (NFI) data, the results from permanent sample plots are usually representative of large areas rather than local site conditions [14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Method for the Development of Dynamic Site Index Models Using Height–Age Data from Temporal Sample Plots

Socha¹,

Tymińska-Czabańska²

2019

Forests

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Knowledge of the potential productivity of forest sites is fundamental for making strategic decisions in forest management. Site productivity is usually evaluated using the site index, and therefore the development of site index models is one of the crucial tasks in forest research and forest management. This research aims to develop an effective method for building top-growth and site index models using data from temporary sample plots (TSP). Exploiting the advantages of the generalised algebraic difference approach (GADA), the proposed method overcomes the limitations of the guide curve method that has been to date used in site index modelling using TSPs data and allows to obtain only a set of anamorphic site index curves. The proposed approach enables the construction of dynamic site index models with polymorphism and variable asymptotes. Such models better reflect local, site-specific height growth trajectories and therefore allow more appropriate site index estimation. We tested the proposed method using data collected from 5105 temporary sample plots in Poland. Our results indicate that growth trend estimates using height–age measurements of TSPs may be valuable data for modelling top height growth. For these reasons, the proposed method can be very useful in forest management.

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Modeling top height growth of red alder plantations

Cited by 29 publications

References 27 publications

Assessment of the effects of thinnings in scots pine plantations in Mongolia: a comparative analysis of tree growth and crown development based on dominant trees

Assessment of the effects of thinnings in scots pine plantations in Mongolia: a comparative analysis of tree growth and crown development based on dominant trees

Mean height or dominant height – what to prefer for modelling the site index of Estonian forests?

A Method for the Development of Dynamic Site Index Models Using Height–Age Data from Temporal Sample Plots

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