Calibrating a Segmented Taper Equation with Two Diameter Measurements

Abstract

Abstract Recent advances in laser technology help make possible accurate and affordable measurements of upper-stem diameters. These measurements can be used to calibrate results from a taper equation to improve the accuracy of diameter predictions along the tree bole. Felled-tree data from a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation were used to evaluate two methods for calibrating outputs from a segmented taper equation with parameters either obtained from the data in this study or originally published by <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B5-2124">Max and Burkhart (1976</xref>, Segmented polynomial regression applied to taper equations, For. Sci. 22:283–289). For outside-bark diameters, although a simple calibration for dbh gave desirable results, a better calibration involving both dbh and an upper-stem diameter provided significant improvements in predicting tree taper. Results varied depending on where the diameter was measured, with optimum gains obtained when the upper-stem diameter was measured at the midpoint between breast height and the tree tip. For inside-bark diameters, the calibration for inside-bark dbh actually produced inferior predictions, whereas the calibration based on both dbh and an upper-stem diameter offered only modest improvements over the unadjusted predictions.