Stocking, Forest Type, and Stand Size Class: The Southern Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit's Calculation of Three Important Stand Descriptors

摘要

The Forest Inventory and Analysis unit of the USDA Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station conducts continuing surveys and reports on the forest resources in seven Midsouth States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas). Data are collected from trees occurring on sample plots spaced across each State on a 3- by 3-mile grid. From these tree data, additional variables are generated that describe the forest stands in which the sample trees are located. The generation of three of these stand-description variables--stocking, forest type, and stand size class--is the focus of the paper. Data from the recent Tennessee survey are used to help illustrate the generation procedures. Stocking will be discussed first because it is essential to the generation of the other two stand-description variables.