Tree and Forest Measurement

Softcover  167 pp, 17 illus  ISBN 3540403906      £23.00

Trees and forests are large and complex, but even something as difficult as the amount of wood they contain can be measured with quite unsophisticated equipment. Everyone, from professional foresters to the layperson, who works with forests and needs to measure them no matter where in the world, will appreciate this book. It summarises modern forest measurement techniques and describes why forests are measured, how to measure them, and the basis of the science behind these techniques. Professor Phil West has been a forest scientist for over 30 years. His research speciality is the mathematical modelling of forest growth behaviour. He is presently a forestry consultant and teaches forest measurement in the forestry school of Southern Cross University in northern New South Wales, Australia.

Contents

INTRODUCTION.- Scope of this book.- Scale of measurement.- Why measure forests?.- MEASUREMENTS.- Measuring things.- Accuracy, bias and precision.- 2.3 Bias, precision and the value of measurements.- STEM DIAMETER.- Basis of stem diameter measurement.- Stem cross-sectional shape.- Measuring stem diameter.- Tree irregularities and stem diameter.- Bark thickness.-TREE HEIGHT.- Basis of height measurement.- Measuring height.- STEM WOOD VOLUME.- Reasons for volume measurement.- Volume by xylometry.- Volume by sectional measurement.- Volume by importance or centroid sampling.- STEM VOLUME AND TAPER FUNCTIONS.- Principles.- Stem volume functions.- Taper functions.- Developing stem volume and taper functions.- TREE BIOMASS.- Reasons for biomass measurement.- Biomass by direct measurement.- Biomass estimation functions.- STAND MEASUREMENT.- Stands and why they are measured.- Measurements in stands.- Age.- Basal area.- Stocking density.- Quadratic mean diameter.- Dominant height.- Site productive capacity.- Volume.- Biomass.- Stand growth.- MEASURING POPULATIONS.- Forest inventory and sampling.- Subjective versus objective sample selection.- Population statistics.- Calculating the population statistics.- SAMPLING THEORY.- Sampling techniques and their efficiency.- Sampling with varying probability of selection.- Stratified random sampling.- Model-based sampling.- Choosing the sampling technique.- CONDUCTING AN INVENTORY.- Objectives.- Stratification.- Forest area.- Conduct of the inventory.- Fixed-area plot and point sampling.- Systematic sampling.- Measuring plots.- Conclusion.- THE PLANE SURVEY.- Mapping.- An example.- Conducting the survey.- Calculating the survey results.- Plotting the surveyed area as part of a map.- Area of a surveyed region.- Global positioning system.- REFERENCES.- APPENDIX 1. GLOSSARY.- APPENDIX 2. CONVERSION FACTORS.- APPENDIX 3. THE GREEK ALPHABET.- APPENDIX 4. BASIC TRIGONOMETRY.- INDEX