Site tree (forestry)

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Site tree refers to a type of tree used in

overstory class.[1] The total height of the tree and age measured at Diameter at breast height of a sample of site trees will be used to determine a site index
, which will show how tall trees of different species can grow on that site in a set amount of time. Sometimes several years are added to the breast-height age to account for time grown below 4.5 feet (1.4 m).

Determining what a site tree should look like in a stand varies with what kind of stand one is standing in. The simplest stand to find a site tree in is an even aged stand of a single

forest plantation
. In this stand almost any dominant or co-dominant tree can be used. Finding a site tree is more difficult in uneven-aged, mixed species, stands.

There are multiple assumptions that are made when a site tree is chosen. Each site tree is assumed to have been a dominant or co-dominant individual its entire life. The site tree is assumed to have never been broken, injured, or suppressed. If the tree had any of these things happen to it the site index, which is derived from the site tree, value will be skewed.

Site trees are chosen by what species is being grown in a particular forest. Different trees on the same site will produce different measurements of a site index. For example, a yellow-poplar (

timber production, harvest operations, or any other forestry silvicultural
management that has specific species regeneration as a goal of the management plan.

See also

References

  1. ^ Site Index Comparisons for Several Tree Species in the Virginia- Carolina Piedmont
  2. ^ Liriodendron tulipifera Fact Sheet Archived 2008-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Quercus alba Fact Sheet Archived 2008-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Site_tree_(forestry)&oldid=1034641545"