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  1. Stand Density and Canopy Gaps

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    Author(s): Boris Zeide
    Date: 2004
    Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–71. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 179-183
    Publication Series: General Technical Report (GTR)
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    Description

    Estimation of stand density is based on a relationship between number of trees and their average diameter in fully stocked stands. Popular measures of density (Reineke’s stand density index and basal area) assume that number of trees decreases as a power function of diameter. Actually, number of trees drops faster than predicted by the power function because the number depends, in addition to tree size (diameter), on the area of gaps between tree crowns. The gaps are inevitable even in dense even-aged stands with sizeable crown overlap. Taking both factors of self-thinning (increasing tree size and gap area) into account improves estimation of stand density and clarifies several other issues.

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    Citation

    Zeide, Boris. 2004. Stand Density and Canopy Gaps. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–71. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 179-183

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