Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Legacy tree data: A national database of detailed tree measurements for volume, weight, and physical properties

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Forest mensurationists in the United States have expended considerable effort over the past century making detailed observations of trees’ dimensions. In recent decades efforts have focused increasingly on weights and physical properties. Work is underway to compile original measurements from past volume, taper, and weight or biomass studies for North American tree species. To date, taper records have been recovered from over 150,000 trees, and biomass records from another 22,000. Upon completion the database will serve many purposes including the development and testing of taper, volume, and biomass estimators for about thirty U.S. tree species that comprise roughly two-thirds of the Nation’s growing stock. The work is going very well, especially for eastern species that currently make up a majority of the collection to-date. Work will continue in the East, but a major emphasis going forward will be the collection of data sets from western species.

Parent Publication

Citation

Radtke,P.J.; Walker, D.M.; Weiskittel, A.R.; Frank, J.; Coulston, J.W.; Westfall, J.A. 2015. Legacy tree data: A national database of detailed tree measurements for volume, weight, and physical properties. In: Stanton, Sharon M.; Christensen, Glenn A., comps. 2015. Pushing boundaries: new directions in inventory techniques and applications: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) symposium 2015. 2015 December 8–10; Portland, Oregon. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-931. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 25-30.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/50166