Interim Taper and Cubic-Foot Volume Equations For Young Longleaf Pine Plantations in Southwest Georgia

Abstract

Outside bark diameter measurements were taken at 0, 0.5, 2.0, 4.5, 6.0, 16.6 and 4 foot height intervals above 6 foot to a 2 inch dob top diameter on 42 longleaf pine trees selected from intensively managed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) plantations in Dougherty and Worth Counties in southwest Georgia. Trees were sampled from unthinned, cutover stands in their 11^th and 14^th growing season that are currently part of an existing growth and yield study. Sample trees ranged from 2 to 7 inches in diameter and from 18 to 40 feet in total height. Parameters for a segmented polynomial taper and compatible cubic foot volume equation were simultaneously estimated using a seemingly unrelated nonlinear fitting procedure to volumes based on a generalized Newton formula and an overlapping bolt methodology. Resultant taper and volume functions were compared to published equations for longleaf plantations in the West Gulf physiographic region.

Citation

Brooks, John R.; Martin, Stacey; Jordan, Jeff; Sewell, Chris. 2002. Interim Taper and Cubic-Foot Volume Equations For Young Longleaf Pine Plantations in Southwest Georgia. In: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–48. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. pg. 467-470