Construction of a stand growth model utilizing photosynthesis and respiration relationships in individual trees

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1027-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Risto Sievänen ◽  
Thomas E. Burk ◽  
Alan R. Ek

A discrete growth model for an individual tree in a forest stand is presented. The model is based on simplified photosynthesis and respiration relationships. Implementation of the model also requires functions for change in live crown ratio and stems per unit area. Tree growth predictions are expressed in terms of biomass and basal area. A preliminary evaluation of the model is made using data from the literature on the growth of even-aged stands of red pine (Pinusresinosa Ait.). The model produced both short- and long-term trends consistent with stand growth data. The evaluation suggests further possibilities for model component refinement.

1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1139-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Weber ◽  
Alan R. Ek ◽  
Terry D. Droessler

Long-term projections (100 years) were made using the deterministic and stochastic mortality algorithms of the STEMS individual tree based stand growth projection model. Deterministic versus averaged stochastic projection results showed no practical differences in mean stand values for number of trees, basal area, volume, or diameter distributions. The deterministic approach also eliminates the need for making repeated stochastic runs and averaging the results where interest lies only in mean projected values.


1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Moeur ◽  
Alan R. Ek

A distance-independent, individual tree based growth model (the multipurpose forest projection system (MFPS)) was used to project changes in stand structure on aspen, red pine, and jack pine cover types in northern Minnesota for 37 years. Individual 0.058-ha plot projections, projections of plots aggregated within stands, and projections of plots aggregated within cover types were compared with each other and with observed plot conditions. Actual plot observations were available for up to 17 years. Individual plot, stand, and cover-type aggregations produced very similar projections in terms of number of trees, average diameter, basal area, and biomass. Plot by plot projections were most accurate in comparison with observed conditions, followed by stand and then cover-type aggregations. Differences from actual values and among projections generally increased with longer projections.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2297
Author(s):  
Jonathon J. Donager ◽  
Andrew J. Sánchez Meador ◽  
Ryan C. Blackburn

Applications of lidar in ecosystem conservation and management continue to expand as technology has rapidly evolved. An accounting of relative accuracy and errors among lidar platforms within a range of forest types and structural configurations was needed. Within a ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona, we compare vegetation attributes at the tree-, plot-, and stand-scales derived from three lidar platforms: fixed-wing airborne (ALS), fixed-location terrestrial (TLS), and hand-held mobile laser scanning (MLS). We present a methodology to segment individual trees from TLS and MLS datasets, incorporating eigen-value and density metrics to locate trees, then assigning point returns to trees using a graph-theory shortest-path approach. Overall, we found MLS consistently provided more accurate structural metrics at the tree- (e.g., mean absolute error for DBH in cm was 4.8, 5.0, and 9.1 for MLS, TLS and ALS, respectively) and plot-scale (e.g., R2 for field observed and lidar-derived basal area, m2 ha−1, was 0.986, 0.974, and 0.851 for MLS, TLS, and ALS, respectively) as compared to ALS and TLS. While TLS data produced estimates similar to MLS, attributes derived from TLS often underpredicted structural values due to occlusion. Additionally, ALS data provided accurate estimates of tree height for larger trees, yet consistently missed and underpredicted small trees (≤35 cm). MLS produced accurate estimates of canopy cover and landscape metrics up to 50 m from plot center. TLS tended to underpredict both canopy cover and patch metrics with constant bias due to occlusion. Taking full advantage of minimal occlusion effects, MLS data consistently provided the best individual tree and plot-based metrics, with ALS providing the best estimates for volume, biomass, and canopy cover. Overall, we found MLS data logistically simple, quickly acquirable, and accurate for small area inventories, assessments, and monitoring activities. We suggest further work exploring the active use of MLS for forest monitoring and inventory.


1991 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Terry R. Clason

Abstract A hardwood suppression treatment applied to a 7-year-old, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation enhanced projected productivity through a 35-year rotation that included three commercial thinnings. By age 22, growth data showed that hardwood removal treatments had larger pines and smaller hardwoods than check treatments. Fifteen-year pine basal area and merchantable volume growth on hardwood removal plots exceeded the check plots by 25 and 27%. Projected growth between ages 22 and 35 indicated that 28 years after early hardwood removal thinned plantation merchantable volume yields improved by 840 ft³ per acre. South. J. Appl. For. 15(1):22-27.


1970 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram Prasad Sharma

Relationship between crown diameter and stem diameter of individual trees can be translated into mathematical model, and used to generate information of growing space requirement for individual trees and crown competition index for growth models. Nine different crown diameter prediction models were developed using inventory data of Alnus nepalensis trees from a part of Parbat and Syanja districts in Nepal. Among those developed, a non-linear three parameter-based model (W = β0 {1 – exp( - β1D)}β2) explained the greatest proportion of variations of crown diameter (R2adj = 0.78), and showed desirable behaviour of flexibility and robustness. An individual tree growing space model was then derived from crown model to generate important information of shocking limits and stand basal area density for monoculture plantation or natural stands of Alnus nepalensis. Because of its flexibility, crown model is seemed potentially useful for extrapolation purpose also. However, the model cannot be applied for buttressed, wolfed and malformed trees. Key words: Alnus nepalensis; crown model; growing space model; stocking limit; basal area density Banko Janakari Vol.16(2) 2006 pp.30-36


1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 621-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Hökkä ◽  
Arthur Groot

A basal area growth model was developed to predict the growth of individual trees in second-growth black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) stands on northeastern Ontario peatlands. The data were derived from stem analysis trees collected in 1985 and 1986 from stands harvested 47-68 years earlier. For a period starting from the date of data collection and going back to 10 years from the harvesting, tree basal area growth, diameters, and stand characteristics were retrospectively calculated at 5-year intervals. To estimate previous mortality, self-thinning relationships for black spruce were applied. In the model, 5-year basal area growth of a tree was expressed as a function of tree diameter, stand-level competition, tree-level competition, and peat thickness. There was considerable change in the growth-size relationship over time. A random parameter approach was applied in model construction to account for the spatial and temporal correlations of the observations. The proposed model explicitly incorporates factors normally included in a "random error" term and, therefore, should provide more sensitive tests of the contributions of the various factors to growth prediction. The estimated model showed only slight bias against the modeling data and the predicted stand basal area development was comparable with that given in other studies.


2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1767-1778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuula Jaakkola ◽  
Harri Mäkinen ◽  
Pekka Saranpää

The effect of thinning intensity on growth and wood density in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) was investigated in two long-term thinning experiments in southeastern Finland. The stands were approaching maturity, and their development had already been studied for 30 years. The intensities of thinning were low, normal, and high (i.e., the stand basal area after the thinning was, on average, 40, 27, and 24 m2·ha–1, respectively, in Heinola, and 30, 28, and 17 m2·ha–1 in Punkaharju, respectively). Compared with the low thinning intensity, the normal and high thinning intensities increased the basal-area increment of individual trees by 52% and 68%, respectively. Normal and high thinning intensities resulted in a relatively small reduction (1%–4%) of mean ring density compared with low thinning intensity. The random variation in wood density between and within trees was large. About 27% of the total variation in wood density was related to variation between rings. Our results indicate that the prevailing thinning intensities in Norway spruce stands in Fennoscandia cause no marked changes in wood density. At least, the possible reduction in wood density is low compared with the increase in individual tree growth.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Murphy ◽  
Michael G. Shelton

Tree basal area growth has been modeled as a combination of a potential growth function and a modifier function, in which the potential function is fitted separately from open-grown tree data or a subset of the data and the modifier function includes stand and site variables. We propose a modification of this by simultaneously fitting both a growth component and a modifier component. The growth component can be any function that approximates tree growth patterns, and the logistic function is chosen as the modifier component. This approach can be adapted to a variety of stand conditions, and its application is demonstrated using data from an uneven-aged loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) study located in Arkansas and Louisiana.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
John-Pascal Berrill ◽  
Kevin L. O’Hara

Estimating site productivity in irregular structures is complicated by variations in stand density, structure, composition in mixed stands, and suppression experienced by subordinate trees. Our objective was to develop an alternate to site index (SI) and demonstrate its application in models of individual-tree and stand growth. We analyzed coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (Lamb. ex D. Don) Endl.) tree and stand growth in a grid of 234 permanent sample plots covering a 110 ha study area in north coastal California. Partial harvesting created a mosaic of densities and openings throughout the 60-year-old redwood-dominated forest. Redwood SI was a poor predictor of volume increment (VI) per hectare among redwood in each plot over two decades after harvest. A new index of redwood basal area increment (BAI) productivity, calculated using inventory data for all stems in even-aged stands and the oldest cohort of multiaged stands, was a stronger predictor of VI. Diameter increment of individual redwood trees correlated strongly with stand density and the new BAI index. Forest managers should expect widely divergent responses following partial harvesting in crowded even-aged stands, with the greatest response coming from dominant redwoods with long crowns retained in areas with low residual stand density and high BAI index.


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