Inside and outside bark volume models for jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and black spruce (Picea mariana) plantations in Ontario, Canada
Accurate estimates of tree stemwood volume are a fundamental requirement for sustainable forest management. As jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and black spruce (Picea mariana Mill. BSP) are the primary species harvested in boreal Ontario, Canada, inside and outside bark tree volume models were dev...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Institute of Forestry
2019-05-01
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| Series: | The Forestry Chronicle |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2019-009 |
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| Summary: | Accurate estimates of tree stemwood volume are a fundamental requirement for sustainable forest management. As jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and black spruce (Picea mariana Mill. BSP) are the primary species harvested in boreal Ontario, Canada, inside and outside bark tree volume models were developed for these species grown in plantations. Data used in this study came from stem analysis of 1135 jack pine and 1189 black spruce trees sampled from 25 even-aged monospecific plantations in the boreal forest region of northern Ontario. Three alternative model forms were considered and the final model was selected based on fit statistics, predictive accuracy, and logical consistency. A tree volume model is considered logically consistent if it produces volume estimates greater than zero and, regardless of tree size, outside bark tree volume exceeds inside bark volume. A nonlinear mixed-effects modelling approach was used to address the three-level (plantation, plot, and tree) hierarchical error structure. However, plantation and plot scale random effects were not significant in the regression. A weighted (power function) was used to address heteroscedasticity in the data. The modified form of the dimensionally compatible volume model outperformed the other two models in terms of fit statistics, predictive accuracy, and logical consistency. Therefore, this model was selected as the inside and outside bark volume model for both species. |
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| ISSN: | 0015-7546 1499-9315 |