GEOG 237: FOREST MENSURATION
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS(RATED A+)
seedling - ANSWERa young plant that just came out from a seed which has less
than 1-inch diameter at breast heigh, including seedling with 0 DBH (i.e., not
reaching breast height)
sapling - ANSWERa young tree which has 1-6 inches diameter at breast height
developed from a seedling
tree basic structure - ANSWERcrown (branches and foliage)
main stem
roots
tree (definition) - ANSWERa woody plant with a main stem that can reach at least 5
meters in height
Parameters of interest for timber - ANSWERThe merchantable height is determined
by the Upper Stem Diameter (USD).
If the USD is smaller than a threshold (often set at 6 in) it is not convenient to use
The crown diameter does not have commercial value but it is an important measure
ecologically because it tells how much space a tree takes.
how to measure forests - ANSWERstocking volume of wood in the forest
biomass (carbon storage)
tree density/basal area per ground unit area
habitat quality for wildlife
species composition
stocking volume of wood in forest (def) - ANSWERThis only refers to the volume of
the main stem and main branches, not including the branches less than 6 inches at
the thin end
measured in m3/ha or ft3/ac
biomass (definition) - ANSWERthe total dry weight of all parts of a live tree.
Half of the dry weight is carbon storage in a forest. Usually measured in Mg/ha.
It includes the aboveground part and the below ground parts
DBH structure of a stand - ANSWERa composition of trees in different DBH size
classes, which are discrete bins of DBH sizes
symmetrical for even-aged stands and skewed for uneven-aged stands
basal area - ANSWERa measurement of the cross-sectional area of a tree trunk in
square feet at breast height, uses DBH
Basal area measurement with a prism - ANSWERWhen you look through a prism at
a tree, the tree trunk is shifted to the side due to refraction of light through the glass.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS(RATED A+)
seedling - ANSWERa young plant that just came out from a seed which has less
than 1-inch diameter at breast heigh, including seedling with 0 DBH (i.e., not
reaching breast height)
sapling - ANSWERa young tree which has 1-6 inches diameter at breast height
developed from a seedling
tree basic structure - ANSWERcrown (branches and foliage)
main stem
roots
tree (definition) - ANSWERa woody plant with a main stem that can reach at least 5
meters in height
Parameters of interest for timber - ANSWERThe merchantable height is determined
by the Upper Stem Diameter (USD).
If the USD is smaller than a threshold (often set at 6 in) it is not convenient to use
The crown diameter does not have commercial value but it is an important measure
ecologically because it tells how much space a tree takes.
how to measure forests - ANSWERstocking volume of wood in the forest
biomass (carbon storage)
tree density/basal area per ground unit area
habitat quality for wildlife
species composition
stocking volume of wood in forest (def) - ANSWERThis only refers to the volume of
the main stem and main branches, not including the branches less than 6 inches at
the thin end
measured in m3/ha or ft3/ac
biomass (definition) - ANSWERthe total dry weight of all parts of a live tree.
Half of the dry weight is carbon storage in a forest. Usually measured in Mg/ha.
It includes the aboveground part and the below ground parts
DBH structure of a stand - ANSWERa composition of trees in different DBH size
classes, which are discrete bins of DBH sizes
symmetrical for even-aged stands and skewed for uneven-aged stands
basal area - ANSWERa measurement of the cross-sectional area of a tree trunk in
square feet at breast height, uses DBH
Basal area measurement with a prism - ANSWERWhen you look through a prism at
a tree, the tree trunk is shifted to the side due to refraction of light through the glass.
