Dry Weight of Several Piedmont Hardwoods

Abstract

Forty-four sample hardwood trees felled on 24 plots were separated into three above-ground components- stem, branches, and leaves--and weighed for dry matter content. Tree, stand, and site variables were tested for significant relationships with dry weight of tree parts. Weight increase of stems was a logarithmic function ,of both stem diameter and height, whereas for branches and leaves, only diameter was significantly related to dry weight. The fact thar hardwood stems and branches have much higha weight values than pine is attributed primarily to higher wood densities of hardwoods. Larger crown/ stem diameter ratios ohserved for hardwoods also help deter relative differences in weight of branchwood. Although not tested rigorously, comparative data on growth rates suggest that loblolly pine produces more usable dry material per unit of land area than upland hardwoods.

Keywords

Dry Weight, Piedmont, hardwoods

Citation

Blackmon, Bobby G.; Ralston, Charles W. 1968. Dry Weight of Several Piedmont Hardwoods. Journal of Forestry 66(5):418-420.