• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.155-158
• /
• 2008

Site index is the essential tool for forest management to estimate the productivity of forest land Generally, site index equation is developed and used by relationship between stand age and dominant tree heights. However, there is a limit to use the site index equation in the application of variable ages, environmental influence, and estimation of site index for unstocked land. Therefore, it was attempted to develop a new site index equations based on various environmental factors including site and topographical variables. This study was conducted to develop regional site index equations based on the relationship between site index and soil factors for Pinus densiflora. Environmental factors that obtained from GIS application, were selected by stepwise-regression. Site index Equation was estimated by multiple regression from selected factors. Four environmental factors were selected in the final site index equations by stepwise regression. It was observed that coefficients of determination for site index equations were ranged from 0.34 which seem to be relatively low but good enough for estimation of forest stand productivity. The site index equations developed in this study were also verified to be useful by three evaluation statistics such as model's estimation bias, model's precision and mean square error type of measure.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.97-106
• /
• 2006

Site index is an essential tool to estimate forest productivity. Generally, a site index equation is developed and used from the relationship between stand age and dominant tree heights. However, there is a limit to the use of the site index equation in the application of variable ages, environmental influence, and estimation of site index for the unstocked forest. Therefore, it has been attempted to develop a new site index equation based on various environmental factors including site, climate, and topographical variables. This study was conducted to develop a site index equation based on the relationship between site index and environmental factors for the species of Pinus koraiensis in Yangpyung-Gun, Gyunggi Province. The influence of climatic factors (temperature and solar irradiation ratio), topographical factors (elevation, slope, ratio of slope to valley and aspect) and soil profiles (soil depth by layer and soil consistency) on site index were evaluated by multiple regression analysis. Five environmental factors were selected in the final site index equation for Pinus koraiensis. The site index equation developed in this study was also verified by three evaluation statistics: model's estimation bias, model's precision, and mean square error of measurement. Based on the site index equation, the number of productive areas for Pinus koraiensis were estimated by applying GIS technique to digitized forest maps. In addition, the distribution of productive areas was compared with the areas of current distribution of Pinus koraiensis. It is expected that the results obtained in this study could provide valuable information about the amount and distribution of productive areas for Pinus koraiensis reforestation.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.315-321
• /
• 2014

Forest timber production potential of any site is oftentimes measured quantitatively by site index, which is defined as dominant height of a particular stand at a specified age. A site index was developed for estimating site quality of monoculture Pinus caribaea plantations in southwestern Nigeria using a base age of 25 years. Dominant height data were collected from 60 Temporary Sample Plots (TSPs) of $20{\times}20m$ in plantations of 15 to 37 years. Linear and non-linear models as been widely applied in quantitative forest measurements were fitted to dominant height-age data and the best site index equation is : $SI=Exp^{(InHd-23.495(A^{-2}-0.04)}$. The site index curves constructed for the three sites (Omo Forest Reserve - OFR (J4), Oluwa Forest Reserve - OLFR and Shasha Forest Reserve - SFR) across the southwestern Nigeria using the chosen equation revealed that a 15 year old Pinus caribaea in the study area attained average dominant heights of 25, 22 and 21 m in OFR (J4), OLFR and SFR respectively. The site index equation and curves proffer veritable insight into better silvicultural options and management practices for the future plantations suitable sites.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.202-206
• /
• 2015

Site index curves were developed for Larix kaempferi and Pinus koraiensis in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces in Korea. For the development of site index, Schumacher and Chapman-Richards model were applied using the data collected from 2012 to 2014. Base age was set to 40 years for Larix kaempferi and Pinus koraiensis in site index of this study. Coefficient of determination and root mean square error of site index models were provided by species, and the models were compared with the previous studies to check the suitability. Overall, site index models developed in this study fitted in the current data well. Thus, the site indexes are considered to be properly used in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.247-254
• /
• 2003

This study was conducted to develop site index equations by main species grown in Gyunggi and Chungcheong provinces using environmental factors obtained from a digital forest site map. For this, 28 environmental factors were regressed on site index by species. Four to five environmental factors by species were selected as independent variables in the best site index equations (coefficients of determination greater than 0.91). For these site index equations, three evaluation statistics, mean difference, standard deviation of difference, and standard error of difference, were applied to the data set. Site index equations by species relationships developed in this study effectively estimate forest productivity in the study area. However, the site index equation of Larix leptolepis showed a larger than expected bias between the estimated and the measured site index. The reason is not clear in this situation, but might be because of the small sample set. It will be necessary, therefore, to conduct more studies to determine the exact reason. It is also expected that the site index equations with a few environmental factors as independent variables could provide valuable information about species well suited to given site conditions. Site index equations for other species should be developed to establish a rational policy about the selection of best species for site conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.29-31
• /
• 2002

The purpose of this study is to estimate height growth patterns and site index cuties (base index age 50 years) for Japanese red cedar trees(Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) grown in southern regions of Korea. The Chapman-Richards growth function was selected for stand height prediction using on the results of stem analysis data sets. Anamorphic base age invariant site index cuties were presented based on this height prediction equation. The resulting site index prediction equation can provide an indication of the productivity of the site quality based on Japanese red cedar trees plantation ages planted in southern regions of Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.101 no.3
• /
• pp.395-404
• /
• 2012

This study was conducted to develop site index equations and to estimate productive areas for major coniferous species in Korea such as Pinus densiflora Sieb. et. Zucc, Pinus densiflora for. erect, Larix leptolepis and Pinus koraiensis using environmental factors. Using the large data set from both a digital forest site map and a climatic map, a total of 43 environmental factors including 15 climatic variables were regressed on site index by tree species to develop site index equations. Six environmental factors by species were selected as independent variables in the final site index equations. The result showed that the coefficients of determination for site index equations by species were ranged from 0.36 to 0.56, which seem to be relatively low but good enough for the estimation of forest stand productivity. The site index equations developed in this study were also verified by three evaluation statistics such as the estimation bias of model, precision of model, and mean square error of measurement. According to the evaluation statistics, it was found that the site index equations by species fitted well to the test data sets with relatively low bias and variation. As a result, it was concluded that the site index equations by species were well capable of estimating site quality. Based on the site index equations, the productive areas by species for all forest areas were estimated by applying GIS technique to the digital forest site map and climate map. In addition, the distribution of productive areas by species was illustrated by using GIS technique.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.102 no.3
• /
• pp.437-445
• /
• 2013

This study was conducted to develop site index equations and to estimate productive areas of Quercus acutissima by ecoprovince in Korea using environmental factors. Using the large data set from both a digital forest site map and a climatic map, a total of 48 environmental factors including 19 climatic variables were regressed on site index to develop site index equations. Four to six environmental factors for Quercus acutissima by ecoprovince were selected as independent variables in the final site index equations. The result showed that the coefficients of determination for site index equations were ranged from 0.30 to 0.41, which seem to be relatively low but good enough for the estimation of forest stand productivity. The site index equations developed in this study were also verified by three evaluation statistics such as the estimation bias of model, precision of model, and mean square error of measurement. According to the evaluation statistics, it was found that the site index equations fitted well to the test data sets with relatively low bias and variation. As a result, it was concluded that the site index equations were well capable of estimating site quality. Based on the site index equations of Quercus acutissima by ecoprovince, the productive areas by ecoprovince were estimated by applying GIS technique to the digital forest site map and climate map. In addition, the distribution of productive areas by ecoprovince was illustrated by using GIS technique.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.111 no.3
• /
• pp.428-434
• /
• 2022

This study was conducted to derive the site index of forest productivity of Robinia pseudoacacia (honey plant) to characterize suitable planting sites and to investigate the effect of the site environmental factors on the site index using the quantification theory I method. The data used in the analysis were growth factors (stand age, dominant height, etc.) of the 6th national forest resources survey and various site environmental factors of a forest soil map (1:5,000). The average site index value of the R. pseudoacacia stand in Korea was 14 (range, 8 to 18). The environmental factors affecting the site index were parent rock, climatic zone, soil texture, local topography, and altitude. The accuracy of the estimation model using quantification theory I was only 33%. However, the correlation between the site index and the site environmental factors was statistically significant at the 1% level. Results of quantification analysis between site index and site environmental factors revealed that metamorphic and igneous rocks received high grades as parent rocks, climate zones received higher grades than central temperate zone, clay loam and silt loam received high grades in soil texture, and hillside received a high grade in local topography. Analysis of the partial correlation between site topographical factors and forest productivity (site index) found that soil class and altitude were partially correlated to x by 0.4129 and 0.4023, respectively, indicating that these factors are the most influential variables.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.110 no.4
• /
• pp.658-664
• /
• 2021

This study aimed to develop accurate status site index curves for C. japonica in Gyeongsang-do that reflect the regional characteristics. The development of high-growth models in Chapman-Richards, Schumacher, and Gompertz for 552 C. japonica growing in Gyeongsang-do. The Gompertz growth function is the most suitable for developing site index curves. The comparative test was analyzed using the F test at a significance level of 5% and the graph. As a result, compared with the national site index curves and site index curves under base age in Jeolla-do, the p-value was 0.05 or higher, and there was no statistically significant difference. The p-value was 0.05 or lower compared with site index curves over stand age in Jeolla-do, indicating a statistically significant difference. Therefore, it was determined that site index curves for C. japonica in Gyeongsang-do can be applied to the national site index curves and site index curves under base age in Jeolla-do, but not to site index curves over base age in Jeolla-do. Hence, based on the results of the study, it is possible to provide basic data on the forest management system for C. japonica in Gyeongsang-do and systematic and reasonable management through high field application reflecting regional characteristics.