Table 1 Stand, tree, and branch attributes

A

Age. All the trees were sampled in even-aged stands

years

Cg (or Dg)

Quadratic mean girth (or diameter) at 1.30 m height

cm

Hg

Mean height

m

H₀

Top height

m

HLWg

Mean height to the lowest live whorl

m

CRg

\( = {100}\frac{{Hg - HLWg}}{{Hg}} \) (mean crown ratio which accounts for competition within the stand)

%

Hg/Dg

Ratio of Hg (m) to Dg (m) which accounts for competition within the stand

N

Number of trees per hectare

ha⁻¹

S

\( = {100}\frac{{Hg - HLWg}}{{Hg}} \) (Hart-Becking relative spacing index)

%

H₅₀

Site index which refers to the top height of the stand at age 50

m

G

Basal area per hectare

m²

C (or D)

Girth (or diameter) at 1.30 m height

cm

H

Total height

m

H/D

Ratio of H (m) to D (m) which accounts for the competitive status of the tree within the stand

HLW

Height of the lowest living whorl (i.e., the first whorl from the ground with at least one living branch inserted into each of the four quarters of the girth)

m

HLWrel

Relative height of the lowest live whorl ( = 100 HLW) / H)

%

CL

Crown length ( = H – HLW)

m

CR

Crown ratio ( = 100 CL / H)

%

MBH

Insertion height of the highest branch of the annual shoot on the trunk

m

MBD

Diameter of the highest branch of the annual shoot

mm

SL

Shoot length ( = height to the highest branch of the shoot – height to the highest branch of the previous annual shoot)

m

NB

Number of branches in the annual shoot

BD

Branch diameter

mm

BS

Branch status (0: dead; 1: alive)

BH

Height to the insertion point of the branch on the trunk

m

DT

Distance of the branch from the top of the tree ( = H − BH)

m

DTrel

Relative distance of the branch from the top of the tree ( = 100 DT / H)

%

DSrel

Relative depth in annual shoot (relative distance of the branch from the highest branch of the shoot) (= (height of the highest branch of the shoot – branch height)/annual shoot length)