Download (PDF 156 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/15648.pdf
Abstract
We studied a privately owned 156,000-acre oak-dominated forest in the Ozark Highlands of southern Missouri. The forest has been managed by the single-tree selection method since 1952. Using 40 years of continuous forest inventory records, we analyzed the stability of the shape of tree diameter distributions at the forest-wide scale. Results show that for trees ≥5-inches dbh, diameter frequency distributions closely conform to the negative exponential function for the three species groups and three stand density classes compared. Values of the slope coefficient for the negative exponential model, and thus the ratio of number of trees in successive dbh classes (q), were stable at the highest stand density class (>57% stocking) but tended to be unstable at lower stocking levels (
Citation
Wang, Zhiming; Johnson, Paul S.; Garrett, H. E.; Shifley, Stephen R. 1997. Stability of diameter distributions in a managed uneven-aged oak forest in the Ozark Highlands. In: Pallardy, Stephen G.; Cecich, Robert A.; Garrett, H. Gene; Johnson, Paul S., eds. Proceedings of the 11th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-188. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station: 149
