Calculate Planting Density



Calculate Planting Density

Frequently, the planting density of a stand to be surveyed for seedling survival is unknown. In cases where planting density is known, it is a good idea to use either of the two methods described here to determine planting density to double-check for accuracy. Using the wrong planting density will negatively effect any seedling survival assessment for a stand.

There are two simple methods to determine the existing planting density of a stand. In either case, in-the-field measurement of the distances between seedlings in a row and the distances between rows will be required.

The first step in determining density is to identify the direction of the InRow planting. Using a measuring tape, hip chain, or other device, measure the distance between several seedlings in a row(between 3 and 5), and divide by the number of seedlings. You may be limited by the length of your measuring device, in which case repeated measurements down the row may be taken, until a minimum of five trees have been measured. Use the average distance of these measurement to determine the InRow Spacing.

Warning! Some trees may no longer be present, but they should still be counted in determining average row spacing!

Similar to the previously described method, measure the distance between the rows for a minimum of five BetweenRow distances. This will be your average BetweenRow Spacing.

Calculate the planting density using the following formula:

43560 / (X * Y) = Trees per Acre

Where:

X = InRow Spacing

Y = BetweenRow Spacing

Alternately, use the InRow and BetweenRow spacings to find the most closely related seedling spacing from the following chart.

Common Spacing for Reforestation.

|Spacing by Feet |Trees per Acre |

|6 X 10 |726 |

|6 X 12 |605 |

|7 X 10 |622 |

|7 X 12 |519 |

|8 X 8 |680 |

|8 X 10 |544 |

|8 X 12 |454 |

|9 X 9 |538 |

|9 X 10 |484 |

|10 X 10 |435 |

Common Spacing for Wildlife.

|Spacing by Feet |Trees per Acre |

|10 X 10 |435 |

|10 X 12 |363 |

|12 X 12 |302 |

|13 X 13 |258 |

|14 X 14 |222 |

|15 X 15 |194 |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download