A short method of determining leaf area and volume growth in pine trees

Baker, F

A short method of determining leaf area and volume growth in pine trees

Author

Frederick S. Baker

Author Affiliations

Frederick S. Baker was Professor of Forestry and Silviculturist in the Experiment Station.

Publication Information

Hilgardia 18(8):335-356. DOI:10.3733/hilg.v18n08p335. August 1948.

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Abstract

Abstract does not appear. First page follows.

Summary

The determination of leaf area, leaf increment, and wood increment, and their interrelations, give a valuable insight into the basic conditions of tree growth. The methods of analysis used to date have been so expensive in time and labor that investigations of this type have been discouraged.

The chosen median twig method is described as a means of determining leaf area, leaf volume, and wood increment of twigs at a reasonable expenditure of time and a satisfactory degree of accuracy. In this method, the needle-bearing twigs of the entire crown are removed and are stratified in the following three stages:

Upper crown, midcrown, and lower crown

Age (the twigs being cut at annual nodes)

Size

In each final stratified class an average twig is selected from a small group centering upon the median value of the class. It is shown that the twig so selected tends to be larger than average in linear dimensions, but that, since the desideratum is the twig of mean wood volume which varies with the square of the diameters, the errors come close to balancing and the chosen median twig is actually very nearly the twig of mean volume.

The leafless branches and the bole present less complex problems in sampling, and volume increment is determinable by standard methods without excessive labor.

Introduction

Many basic problems of forest growth could be approached advantageously through studies of leaf efficiency—determining the amount of solid substance produced annually per unit of photosynthetic area.

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