To Bruce and anyone else interested in Dendrometer Bands,
Sorry about the long reply, but I am a long-winded hillbilly sort of
person and FINALLY someone asked a question about something that I
know a little about.
I used dendrometer bands extensively for a portion of my research in
South Carolina, USA and have compiled a short list of articles
concerning dendrometer bands (attached below). In some cases you can
observe daily changes in the circumference of trees using dendrometer
bands. If you attach a linear variable differential transformer or a
potentiometer to the band and connect it to a data logger you can
record hourly circumference changes and get very nice traces of
diurnal fluctuations. I read 700 dendrometer bands in a day on a
weekly basis for three years, so once the bands are installed they are
very easy to read. Rather than construct a vernier on the band, I
inscribed a line next to the collar and then measured the distance the
line moves away from the collar to represent the change in
circumference using a hand held ruler.
Some of my dendrometer bands were in use on the trees for a period of
5 years. I am not sure how long the bands give accurate data. It
would seem that with new bark growth under the bands the accuracy may
become suspect after many years. Actually that would be a very good
project for some student if they had access to trees with old bands
(say at least 5 years old) and could install new bands and then
compare the results.
All of my bands have been made of stainless steel, although aluminum
bands seem to be more common. I chose stainless steel because I read
too many accounts of animal damage to aluminum bands. Just make sure
that the stainless steel bands are not too thick and resistant to
bending. If memory serves, the stainless steel bands have less
thermal expansion than aluminum (but you may want to check that out).
Invar bands have the least thermal expansion but have to be coated so
they don't rust. If you want to use electric dendrometer bands I
would suggest something like invar. Otherwise stick to aluminum or
stainless steel. Source of stainless steel spring - Good question. I
looked in the Thomas Register which lists just about all of the
business in the United States by the type of product they produce.
Under Stainless Steel (or perhaps it was Stainless Steel Springs) I
found a few companies that I called and got cost estimates. I would
suggest that you use springs that are about 5 cm long. Mine were
shorter and that became a problem after the bands had been on the
trees for several years. Some fast growing trees can take up the
slack in a short spring very quickly. Also, make sure that you leave
plenty of free band (the running end) past the collar before you
attach the spring. I had several bands reach their maximum expansion
before the end of my study. At least 20-30 cm should be good.
As to the potential problem of using only basal area growth versus
including height or leaf area index, I believe it depends on what you
are trying to do with the data. For some things basal area growth is
sufficient, but for others you would probably need more information.
Basal area increment will not provide sufficient information on
biomass increase, but is probably sufficient for looking at a response
to some stimuli.
I am just submitting a paper relating tree growth to water level
fluctuations on a weekly basis to the American Journal of Botany. I
got very good cross-correlations between tree growth and belowground
water level fluctuations. It would be great to see some more papers
relating frequent measurements of tree growth (daily or weekly for
example) to soil moisture or water levels. I am particularly
interested in such studies in forested wetland ecosystems.
I have never had problems with bark die-back, however, if you place
the bands on stems that are too small (< 10 cm dbh in my experience)
the band may stimulate deformed growth and give unreliable
measurements.
How to choose the number of trees and which trees to choose depends on
what you are trying to do, what the forest structure is, what the
local topography is, etc. Also be aware that some trees may show no
growth. I had several swamp tupelo trees that achieved no growth over
a 5 year period. The trees appeared to be quite healthy, but they
just did not grow any in circumference. To realistically determine
the number of trees you will need to measure you will need to have
some estimate of the variability in growth expected and then talk to a
statistician. I didn't know how many trees to include so I banded 100
canopy and 100 subcanopy trees of each species for a study of seasonal
growth patterns (study just out in the new issue of the Canadian
Journal of Forest Research - sorry but I don't have reprints yet and
don't know the volume or page numbers).
Hope this answers most of your questions. If you need more info feel
free to contact me at the below address.
List of Dendrometer related papers.
dendrometer measures a single radius measurements
dendrometer bands measures circumference
Auchmoody, L.R. 1976. Accuracy of band dendrometers. U.S. Forest
Service Research Note NE-221, 4pp.
Bormann, F.H., and Kozlowski, T.T. 1962. Measurement of tree
growth with dial gauge dendrometers and vernier tree ring bands.
Ecology 43: 289-294.
Bouchon,J (1985): An improved Christen dendrometer. OT: Un
dendrometre de Christen ameliore. Revue Forestiere Francaise
37(4), 311. (3 ref., 1 pl)
Bower, D.R., and Blocker, W.W. 1966. Accuracy of bands and tape
for measuring diameter increments. J. For. 64: 21-22.
Brand,DG; Flannigan,MD; Janas,PS (1988): Using datalogger systems
for environmental monitoring in forest research: an overview and
case study. In: Information report. Vol. PI-X-81. (: ) Petawawa
National Forestry Institute, Canadian Forestry service, 26 pp.
Cameron, R.J., and Lea, R. 1980. Band Dendrometers or Diameter
Tapes? J. For. 78: 277-278.
Cattelino, P.J., C.A. Becker and L.G. Fuller. 1986. Construction
and installation of homemade dendrometer bands. Northern Journal
of Applied Forestry 3: 73-75.
Daubenmire, R.F. 1945. An improved type of precision dendrometer.
Ecology 26: 97-98.
** dendrometer
Dobbs, R.C. 1969. An electrical device for recording small
fluctuations and accumulated increment of tree stem
circumference. For. Chron. 45: 187-189.
** Electric dendrometer bands.
Fedyukov,VI (1990): Electronic dendrometer for selecting
resonance wood. Derevoobrabatyvayushchaya Promyshlennost' 7,
30-31.
Fritts, H.C. 1961. An evaluation of three techniques for
measuring radial tree growth. Bull. Ecol. Soc. 42: 54-55.
** Mechanical magnification dendrometer
Fuller, L.G., Cattelino, P.J., and Reed, D.D. 1988. Correction
Equations for Dendrometer Band Measurements of Five Hardwood
Species. North. J. Appl. For. 5: 111-113.
Hall, R.C. 1944. A vernier tree-growth band. J. For. 42: 742-
743.
Impens, I.I. and J.M. Schalck. 1965. A very sensitive electric
dendrograph for recording radial changes of a tree. Ecology 46:
183-184.
** Electric dendrometer
Lassoie, J.P. 1973. Diurnal dimensional fluctuations in a
Douglas-fir stem in response to tree water status. For. Sci. 19:
251-255.
Kawalec,A; Krupinski,S (1985): A new Polish dendrometer. 1.
Review of selected dendrometers. OT: Nowy polski przyrzad
dendrometryczny (1). Przeglad wybranych przyrzadow
dendrometrycznych. Las Polski 3, 10-12.
Kawalec,A; Krupinski,S (1985): A new Polish dendrometer. 2. The
cylinder dendrometer. OT: Nowy polski przyrzad dendrometryczny
(2). Dendrometr bebnowy. Las Polski 4, 7-8.
Keeland, B.D. and R.R. Sharitz. 1993. Accuracy of tree growth
measurements using dendrometer bands. Can. J. For. Res. 23: 2454-
2457.
Kinerson, R.S., Jr. 1973. A transducer for investigations of
diameter growth. Forest Science 19: 230-231.
** Electric dendrometer
Komiyama,A; Yamada,Y; Nakajima,N; Ishikawa,T (1983): Deciduous
broadleaved forests in the Hida District. (I) Birch forest and
the application of the aluminum band type dendrometer. Research
Bulletin of the Faculty of Agriculture, Gifu University 48,
277-285. (6 ref)
Kozlowski, T.T. and C.H. Winget. 1964. Diurnal and seasonal
variation in radii of tree stems. Ecology 45: 149-155.
** Fritts and Fritts mechanical magnification dendrometer
LaPoint, G. and K. Van Cleve. 1971. A portable electronic
multichannel dendrograph and environmental factor recording
system. Can. J. For. Res. 1: 273-277.
** Electric dendrometer
Liming, F.G. 1957. Homemade dendrometers. J. For. 55: 575-577.
Mesavage, C. and W.S. Smith. 1960. Timesavers for installing
dendrometer bands. J. For. 58: 396.
Palmer,J; Ogden,J (1983): A dendrometer band study of the
seasonal pattern of radial increment in kauri (Agathis
australis). New Zealand Journal of Botany 21, 121-126.
Phipps, R.L. and G.E. Gilbert. 1960. An electric dendrograph.
Ecology 41: 389-390.
** Electric dendrometer.
Phipps, R.L. and W.M. Yater, Jr. 1974. Three types of remote-
reading dendrographs. Ecology 55: 454-457.
** Electric and mechanical magnification dendrometers.
Ravart,M (1982): The Suunto PM-5/1520 P dendrometer and
variations. OT: Le dendrometre Suunto PM-5/1520 P (et options).
In: Document, -Station-de-Sylviculture-et-de-Production, -CNRF,
-France. Vol. 82/01. (: ),, 10pp. (3ref)
Reineke, L.H. 1932. A precision dendrometer. Journal of Forestry
30: 692-697.
** Dendrometer
Reineke, L.H. 1948. Dial gauge dendrometers. Ecology 29: 208.
** Dendrometer
Schirone,B; Giordano,E; Pierangeli,E (1987): A highly sensitive
automatic band dendrometer to measure increment. OT: Un
dendroauxografo meccanico di elevata sensibilita. Italia
Forestale e Montana 42(2), 83-98. (34 ref)
Walker,LR; Whiteaker,LD (1988): Rust prevention on dendrometer
bands. Biotropica 20(4), 336-337. (6 ref)
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# Bob Keeland, Ph.D. FOREST ECOLOGIST #
# NBS, Southern Science Center PHONE: (318) 266-8663 #
# 700 CajunDome Blvd. FAX: (318) 266-8592 #
# Lafayette, LA 70506 INTERNET: keelandb@nwrc.gov #
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