Experience with basal area estimation by prisms in lodgepole pine.

Abstract

Estimation of basal area by prisms offers intriguing possibilities for reducing time and effort in making stand inventories. Increased inventory efficiency is a particular need in stands that are relatively low in value due to small stems, predominance of low value species or heavy defect. In the Pacific Northwest, lodgepole pine characteristically forms dense low-volume stands with many small stems. Accordingly, during the course of a 1956 survey of lodgepole pine stands in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon, data were collected to compare prism estimation of basal area with a conventional plot tally by diameters. The study was made by the Blue Mountain Research Center in cooperation with the Pilot Rock Lumber Company.

Citation

Trappe, James M. 1957. Experience with basal area estimation by prisms in lodgepole pine. PNW Old Series Research Notes No. 145, p. 1-6