Mechanistically based, allometric models to predict tree diameter and height in even-aged monoculture of Eucalyptusregnans F. Muell.
A randomly selected sample of 22 trees was felled in a stand in a 20-year-old monoculture of Eucalyptusregnans F. Muell. in southern Tasmania. One-half of the trees were from a section of the stand that had been heavily thinned 10 years previously, and the remainder were from the unthinned section. The trees were sectioned and the fresh weights of their stems (including bark) and crowns (leaves plus branches) determined. By combining a geometrical argument about the shape of tree stems with a structural argument about their vertical stability, allometric relationships were established relating tree diameter at breast height or tree height to total aboveground weight and the ratio of crown to stem weight. These relationships were found to hold in both the thinned and unthinned sections of the experiment. When combined with a model to predict biomass of individual trees, these models can be used to predict diameter or height of individual trees in E. regnans monoculture.