You can measure the growth of individual trees over time by measuring their diameter. ... Trees tend to grow irregularly at the base, so to determine a more accurate measure of diameter, foresters will measure the diameter of the tree at 4.5 feet above the ground
Woodland Info
MenuSkip to content
Search for:
Home > Blog > Tracking Changes to Your Trees and Woods: Measuring growth
Using a Biltmore stick to gauge height
Tracking Changes to Your Trees and Woods: Measuring growth
September 4, 2014RecreationKris Tiles
tweetshareemail
In previous posts, we recommended that landowners get out into their woods to keep an eye on any changes that might be taking place, whether that be changes to the health of your trees or boundary problems. We also suggested you keep track of physical changes to your trees by watching them grow and change over time. First we gave you some tools to identify the trees in your woods. This month’s post will introduce ways you can measure the growth of individual trees.
You can measure the growth of individual trees over time by measuring their diameter. Many of us learned to count the rings of a tree to determine how old they are. The other secret in the rings of our trees is how wide they are. Generally, healthy, not crowded trees will put on more growth in diameter over time; thus, the rings will be wider when they are healthy. If you are astute, you may be asking how in the heck you measure the diameter of solid wood. That is where a handy tool comes into play, called the diameter tape. With this tool, you are technically using the circumference of the tree, and the number on the tape has markings that indicate the diameter (circumference divided by Pi (3.14)). You can purchase a diameter tape (D-tape) from forestry suppliers, or you can make your own using a simple length of rope or ribbon using the method shown in this publication . Trees tend to grow irregularly at the base, so to determine a more accurate measure of diameter, foresters will measure the diameter of the tree at 4.5 feet above the ground. When you record the diameter of trees, you can follow the growth of those trees over time, and you can calculate other important measures of your woods. As a reminder, healthy trees will grow faster (and fatter) in diameter each year than trees that are crowded and unhealthy.
