Largest-Crown- Width Prediction Models for 53 Species in the Western United States

Abstract

The mean crown diameters of stand-grown trees 5.0-in. dbh and larger were modeled as a function of stem diameter, live-crown ratio, stand-level basal area, latitude, longitude, elevation, and Hopkins bioclimatic index for 53 tree species in the western United States. Stem diameter was statistically significant in all models, and a quadratic term for stem diameter was requiredfor some species. Crown ratio and/or Hopkins index also improved the models for most species. A term,for stand-level basal area was not generally needed but did yield some minor improvement for a few species. Coefficients of variation from the regression solutions ranged from 17 to 33%, and model R² ranged from 0.15 to 0.85. Simpler models, based solely on stem diameter, are also presented.

Citation

Bechtold, William A. 2004. Largest-Crown- Width Prediction Models for 53 Species in the Western United States. West. J. Appl. For. 19(4):245-251.