Development of Mature Natural Even-Aged Stands of Loblolly Pine in the Piedmont
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In 1949 a loblolly pine growing-space study was established on the Hitchiti Experimental Forest outside Macon, GA. It consisted of 72 plots varying in age from 18 to 88 years old. Of these plots, 20 were part of an embedded thinning study with 2 replications on each of 2 sites and 4 treatments plus a control. Multiple thinnings were conducted, though none in the last 39 years. Diameter, height, and volume increased while the number of trees per acre decreased and stand density index regressed toward a mean value. Generally, these trends are accelerated on plots with higher site indices. Although a density-limiting relationship is suggested by our data, we found that the slope parameter should be -2 rather than -1.605 as suggested by Reineke. This result suggests that basal area alone is a sufficient estimator of stand density.