Individual Oak Tree Growth in Southern Bottomland Hardwood Stands (Preliminary Results)

Abstract

Southern bottomland hardwood forests are an important natural resource. Silvicultural practices in them are often intended to provide suitable growing conditions to selected individual trees of valuable species by employing crop-tree management. Research on crop-tree management, however, has been considerably less than the research regarding stand-level management. In this study, trees from three bottomland hardwood sites were measured to perform regression analysis on d.b.h. growth and basal area growth of selected red oak group trees. The new variable score for direct sunlight from above and from the sides accounted for more variability in the growth models than other variables and indices from the literature. The new crown-class score is visually determined and requires only a simple calculation, which should make it useful for practitioners and researchers interested in predicting the growth of individual trees from the red oak group.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 12th biennial southern silvicultural research conference

Citation

Dimov, Luben D.; Lockhart, Brian Roy; Chambers, Jim L. 2004. Individual Oak Tree Growth in Southern Bottomland Hardwood Stands (Preliminary Results). Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–71. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 292-295