Southern Research Station

Title: Estimation of Reineke and Volume-Based Maximum Size-Density Lines For Shortleaf Pine

Author: Lynch, Thomas B.; Wittwer, Robert F.; Stevenson, Douglas J.

Date: 2004

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–71. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 226

Description: Maximum size-density relationships for Reineke's stand density index as well as for a relationship based on average tree volume were fitted to data from more than a decade of annual remeasurements of plots in unthinned naturally occurring shor tleaf pine in southeaster n Oklahoma. Reineke's stand density index is based on a maximum line of the form log(N) = a + b(log(D)) where N is trees per acre, D is quadratic mean diameter, and a and b are constants. Reineke (1933) proposed a value of b = -1.6 for many tree species. However, he obtained a steeper slope for shor tleaf pine (b = -1.8). The -3/2 power law is based on a maximum line in the form log(V) = a' + b'log(N), where V is mean tree volume and a' and b' are constants. A value of -3/2 has been postulated for the slope parameter b' for many plant species (Yoda and others 1963). Drew and Flewelling (1977) applied this equation to forest populations and noted the relationship to Reineke's maximum size-density equation. Intercept values a and a' for each of the approaches are species dependent. The two maximum size-density lines were fitted to the shor tleaf pine plot data from unthinned plots in shortleaf pine natural stands. These lines can be used to calculate Reineke's stand density index and to evaluate the likelihood of competition-induced mortality for shortleaf pine forests.

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Citation

Lynch, Thomas B.; Wittwer, Robert F.; Stevenson, Douglas J.  2004.  Estimation of Reineke and Volume-Based Maximum Size-Density Lines For Shortleaf Pine.   Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–71. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pp. 226