Tree and forest measurement

R W . WES T

R W . Wes t

Tree and Forest Measurement

2

nd Edition

With 33 Figures and 11 Tables

Springe r

P.W. West

School of Environmental Science and Management

Southern Cross University

Lismore, NSW 2480

Australia

and

SciWest Consulting

16 Windsor Court

Goonellabah, NSW 2480

Australia

ISBN: 978-3-540-95965-6 e-ISBN: 978-3-540-95966-3

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-95966-3

Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008944019

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009

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Cover Photo: Virgin jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest in southwest Western Australia

Cover design: WMX Design GmbH. Heidelberg, Germany

Printed on acid-free paper

Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

To Mickie, for sharing so much

Prefac e

Since the first edition of this book was published in 2004, two areas of forest

measurement have advanced considerably. Concerns about global warming and

recognition that forests remove the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide from the atmos￾phere and sequester it have led to a flourishing of research on the measurement

of forest biomass. Also, substantial technological developments have been made

with instruments capable of measuring trees and forests remotely, at scales from

individual trees on the ground to large scale images of forests from satellites.

Whilst neither of these developments alters the principles of tree and forest measure￾ment fundamentally, both offer new opportunities to take better and/or more cost￾effective measurements of forests to describe better their role in the world. New

discussion of both these areas has been added to this edition.

The aim of the book remains to present an introduction to the practice and techniques

of tree and forest measurement. It should serve the forestry student adequately in

the undergraduate years and be useful as a guide in his or her subsequent professional

life. It should allow practising professional foresters to keep themselves abreast of

new developments. It aims also to be accessible to landholders and farmers who

own and manage forests on their properties, but have no formal forestry education;

they may be able to take basic forest measurements and understand the principles of

more advanced measurements, which professionals take for them.

I have continued to discuss the biological principles which lead to many of the

measurements which are made in forests. I believe this will help readers appreciate

better why emphasis is placed on the measurement of particular things in forests.

Substantial portions of the text have been little altered. However, I have been using

the book with my undergraduate forestry students and have made some modifica￾tions, where my teaching experience suggests material might be better presented.

I am indebted to Prof. H. Wiant for valuable discussion about the new appro￾aches to 3P sampling, as described in Chap. 10. Prof. N. Coops kindly reviewed

Chap. 13.

Australia P.W. West

January 2009

vii

Content s

1 Introduction I

1.1 This Book 1

1.2 What Measurements are Considered? 2

1.3 Scale of Measurement 3

2 Measurements 5

2.1 Measuring Things 5

2.2 Accuracy 5

2.3 Bias 7

2.4 Precision 8

2.5 Bias, Precision and the Value of Measurements 8

3 Stem Diameter 11

3.1 Basis of Diameter Measurement 11

3.2 Stem Cross-Sectional Shape 12

3.3 Measuring Stem Diameter 13

3.4 Tree Irregularities 14

3.5 Bark Thickness 15

4 Tree Height 17

4.1 Basis of Height Measurement 17

4.2 Height by Direct Methods 18

4.3 Height by Trigonometric Methods 18

4.4 Height by Geometric Methods 20

5 Stem Volume 23

5.1 Reasons for Volume Measurement 23

5.2 'Exact' Volume Measurement 24

5.3 Volume by Sectional Measurement 25

Contents

5.3.1 Sectional Volume Formulae 26

5.3.2 Tree Stem Shape ZZZZZZZ 2 7

5.3.3 Sectional Measurement of Felled Trees

2 8

5.3.4 Sectional Measurement of Standing Trees

2 9

5.4 Volume by Importance or Centroid Sampling 30

6 Stem Volume and Taper Functions 33

6.1 The Functions 33

6.2 Volume Functions 33

6.2.1 Volume from Diameter and Height 34

6.2.2 Volume from Diameter, Height and Taper 36

6.2.3 Merchantable Stem Volume 38

6.3 Taper Functions 39

6.3.1 Examples of Taper Functions 39

6.3.2 Using Taper Functions 41

7 Biomass 47

7.1 Reasons for Biomass Measurement 47

7.2 Measuring Biomass 47

7.2.1 Branches and Foliage 48

7.2.2 Stems 50

7.2.3 Roots 50

7.2.4 Carbon Content of Biomass 52

7.3 Above-Ground Biomass Estimation Functions 52

7.4 Biomass Estimation Functions for Tree Parts 58

7.4.1 Allometric Functions 59

7.4.2 Biomass Expansion Factors 60

7.4.3 Leaves 61

7.4.4 Roots 63

8 Stand Measurement 65

8.1 Stands and Why They are Measured 65

8.2 Measurements Taken in Stands 65

8.3 Age 66

8.4 Basal Area 67

8.4.1 Plot Measurement 68

8.4.2 Point Sampling 68

8.4.3 Plot Measurement Versus Point Sampling 71

8.4.4 Practicalities of Point Sampling 72

8.5 Stocking Density 73

8.6 Quadratic Mean Diameter 74

8.7 Dominant Height 75