How we measure forests David W. MacFarlane Dept. of Forestry MSU

Why measure the forest? We want to know the current status of the forest. Size of trees, density and area covered by forests Species Composition = Biodiversity Value of forest products (wood and non-wood) Age, health and vigor of trees Etc.. How is the forest changing over time?

Basic tree measurements dbh = stem diameter at breast height 4.5 ft. (1.3 m) ? Digital caliper slope

Measuring dbh C = π d d 4.5 ft. Logger’s tape

Measuring height of standing trees (Trigonometry is useful) D= Distance from tree θUθU θLθL θ L = Angle from eye to tree bottom θ U = Angle from eye to tree top H 1 = D*TAN θ U Height = H 1 + H 2 H1H1 H2H2 Use a hypsometer

Lidar: Measuring canopy height remotely Aircraft mounted laser

How many trees in Michigan? Michigan = 36.4 million acres *19.4 million acres of forested land Census? We usually express number of trees as: Tree Density = # trees / unit area (e.g., 400 trees per acre)

Sampling Select smaller areas to sample Count # of trees to per sample unit area (= density) Project to larger area = 13.5 billion trees on forest lands (+ or - ?)

Year = 2000 From US Forest Service, Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA) Program

dbh = 2” dbh = 6”7.6 billion trees 1.4 billion trees On Michigan Forest Lands in 2000

Species groups # Trees Other white oaks1.28E+05 Yellow-poplar5.09E+06 Black walnut5.29E+06 Tupelo and blackgum5.39E+06 Other eastern hard hardwoods4.20E+07 Hickory4.54E+07 Other yellow pines4.89E+07 Other red oaks1.23E+08 Basswood1.28E+08 Eastern hemlock1.39E+08 Select white oaks1.55E+08 Yellow birch1.74E+08 Beech1.94E+08 Select red oaks2.61E+08 Jack pine3.39E+08 Eastern white and red pine6.36E+08 Eastern noncommercial hardwoods7.25E+08 Ash8.20E+08 Other eastern soft hardwoods1.01E+09 Other eastern softwoods1.20E+09 Sugar Maple (+hard)1.41E+09 Red Maple (+soft)1.67E+09 Cottonwood and aspen1.80E+09 Spruce and balsam fir2.59E+09 Total1.35E+10

What kind of tree is it? Problem 1: How can we identify tree species? Take: FOR 204 Forest Vegetation! Reproduced from National Arbor Day Foundation

Measuring Biodiversity Richness = # spp. in an area Relative Density = (density of spp.) / (density of all species) = % abundance Relative Dominance = (area covered spp.) / (total area.) = % area covered Contains spp. A, B and C Richness = 3 AB C RichnessRelative Dominance A A A A A A A A A A AA A A A A B C B B C C C C Relative Density

Dominance vs. Density Area defined Density A = 2 per area Density B = 20 per area = spp. B = spp. A Area dominated

Merchantable Volume ($$$) (Wood products are important!) Scaling Cylinder Volume of a cylinder = V = Area*Length r Area = π r 2 d L = log Length r = d/2 How many Boards per unit volume?

Species group Board feet Other white oaks1.01E+07 Tupelo and blackgum2.52E+07 Other eastern hard hardwoods5.96E+07 Black walnut1.05E+08 Yellow-poplar2.87E+08 Other yellow pines4.23E+08 Hickory5.23E+08 Jack pine1.16E+09 Beech1.45E+09 Yellow birch1.66E+09 Other red oaks2.26E+09 Select white oaks2.29E+09 Basswood2.35E+09 Ash2.81E+09 Other eastern soft hardwoods3.07E+09 Eastern hemlock3.42E+09 Spruce and balsam fir3.53E+09 Select red oaks5.41E+09 Cottonwood and aspen7.54E+09 Other eastern softwoods8.00E+09 Red Maple (+soft)8.35E+09 Sugar maple (+hard)1.00E+10 Eastern white and red pine1.36E+10 Total7.83E Billion Board feet on forested lands in MI, in 2000

Michigan forest statistics for 2000 *13.5 Billion trees / 19.4 million acres = 696 trees per acre on forested land in Michigan *78 Billion Board feet / 19.4 million acres of forest land = 4,020 Bd. ft. per acre on forested land in Michigan ~$0.10 to $3.00 per Bd. ft. *78 Billion board feet / 132 million feet around the Earth = Make a 590 feet wide ring around the Earth!

Measuring change over time CFI = Continuous Forest Inventory *USDA Forest Service (Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) *USDA Forest Service (Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) *State Forest Inventories / Health Monitoring Programs *University Researchers / Scientific Foundations *Private Forestland Inventories (e.g., Mead-WestVaco) Year 1Year 2Year 3

Remote Sensing of Forest Dynamics October 19, 2000April 13, 2001July 2, 2001 Landsat Satellite Images in Area of Traverse City, MI