Theses and Dissertations
Issuing Body
Mississippi State University
Advisor
Poudel, Krishna P.
Committee Member
Himes, Austin J.
Committee Member
Ma, Qin
Date of Degree
5-13-2022
Document Type
Graduate Thesis - Open Access
Major
Forestry
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.)
College
College of Forest Resources
Department
Department of Forestry
Abstract
Anticipated climate change and increasing wood demand require dependable diameter growth models for adaptive forest management. We used a mixed-effects modeling approach with Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data to fit diameter growth models for loblolly pine, other softwood species (slash pine, shortleaf pine, and longleaf pine), sweetgum, and other hardwood (southern red oak, red maple, and water oak) species. Climatic variables coupled with individual tree attributes and competition factors improved climate insensitive models. Growth of loblolly pine and sweetgum was positively correlated with mean temperature of the coldest month. Mean temperature of the warmest month negatively influenced diameter growth of loblolly pine and other hardwood species. Growing season precipitation and summer precipitation balance had negative effects on the growth of softwood and hardwood species, respectively. Inclusion of FIA plot as random effect improved model fit statistics and residual distribution of climate sensitive models. These findings will be useful to managers for recalibrating diameter growth models resulting in improved biomass yield and volume estimates that will better inform decisions.
Recommended Citation
Subedi, Sujan, "Climate sensitive diameter growth models for major tree species in Mississippi" (2022). Theses and Dissertations. 5447.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/5447
Included in
Forest Biology Commons, Forest Management Commons, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences Commons