Multi-Species Stand Classification: Definition and Perspectives

Ana Cristina Goncalves

A chapter in Forest Ecology and Conservation from IntechOpen

Abstract: The increasing demands for products and services from forests enhanced new approaches to stand composition, structure, and management, which encompass multiple use systems, frequently mixed either even aged or uneven aged. Stand classification is frequently based on one density measure (number of trees, basal area, volume or crown cover). As no standard criteria exist, the direct comparison between the different stand classifications is difficult. This created a need for a stand classification that incorporates not only the forest species and composition but also their horizontal and vertical arrangements. The four criteria stand classification incorporates the number of species and their proportion, their horizontal and vertical distribution. The application of this methodology enables an integrated approach, bridging the gap between composition and stand structure. Its use in the National Forest Inventories and in research studies is simple, as shown in the two cases of study presented. It also allows the evaluation of stands in a certain moment in time and their dynamics.

Keywords: density measures; composition; mixture degree index; horizontal distribution; vertical distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/54384 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ito:pchaps:112150

DOI: 10.5772/67662

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from IntechOpen
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Slobodan Momcilovic ().