FOREST INVENTORY PRACTICAL:

Introduction
Forest inventory is one of the most pivotal activities in the forestry discipline
aiming at gathering information on timber location, quality and quantity as well
as the quantification non timber forest products
Forest inventory can either be intended to assess how much timber is consumed
in respect to its growth rate, or to gather information / data for forest mapping
or to obtain data for continuous/ recurrent monitoring tree growth and increment
Objectives
The major objectives of the inventory are:
 To enable students in using different equipments in obtaining
measurements such as diameter, height of trees and basal area;
 To enable students in making use of information obtained from the forest
stands for estimation of basal area per hectare, volume per hectare and
site class classification.
EQUIPMENTS TO BE USED
 Compass, for transects direction determination
 Suunto Hypsometer, for height measurement
 Calliper, for diameter measurements of a tree at dbh
 Relascope,for basal area estimation
 Distance tape, for radius/ or fixed plot size determination
 Chalks/ or masking tape, for making trees which are in the fixed plot
 Clip board
 Range finder, for horizontal distance determination when measuring tree
height
Reconnaissance survey
Have to be carried out prior to the major inventory so as to:
 Verify boundaries
 Acquaint with terrain
 ascertain variation in the resource
 verify the species found in the stand
Information gathered from reconnaissance survey will be used in determining the
number of sampling units at 95% probability level. An allowable error of 5% will
be used.
Only 10 pilot plots will be enough in establishing and determining basal area per
hectare by using relascope. And the real number of plots will be determined by
using the following relationship:

n= t2c.v2/E2

Inventory design
The inventory work will involve the following activities:
1. Sampling design
Systematic sampling design will be used, because it is a convenient way of
allocating sampling units.
The map representing the area of the stand/compartment will be provided.
 Allocation of sampling units
From the formula below
a=A/n
Where
a=area (ha) for one plot
A= area (ha) for the whole compartment
n=Number of sample plots
The distance between transects and between plots (d) is given by
d=√a
The first plot will be laid at half the standard distance from the boundary.

2. plot shape and size

The size of each plot should be 0.02ha and circular in shape with an
equivalent radius of 7.8m and will be demarcated by using tape measure and
all trees within it, have to be marked using masking tape or chalk
3. sampling intensity
It is obtained by taking the ratio of an area sampled to the total area of the
compartment and is expressed in percent (%)
SI= (sampled area/total area)*100
4. measurements in the plot
The following parameters have to be measured in the plot
 dbh, for all trees taken to nearest cm and numbered by using chalk or
masking tape
 stem quality for all trees
1. straight trees
2. intermediately crooked or forked above 4m
3. crooked or forked below 4m
 dominant height taken from the height of 2 fattest tree
 height of medium and smallest trees
 basal area/ha taken by using relascope
5. data analysis
a) volume determination
 single tree volume
The following volume equation will be used
V=0.000039(D2 H) – 0.006939
Where
V=volume in m3
D=dbh in cm
H=height in m
  volume per hectare
Volume per hectare should be determined by using the total
volume of each plot in relation to the total area and the mean
stand volume per hectare will also be determined.
 stand volume
The total volume of the compartment is the product of
volume/ha and the total area of the compartment in ha.

b) basal area (m2/ha)

c) number of stem per hectare
d) stem quality
e) site class determination

Plot measurement form

Name of compartment…………………………………………………………………………………..
Age……………………………….. Species………………………………………………………………..
Plot number…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Plot area…………….. Basal area count………….. BAF………… G……………………………..
Slope……………… general condition………………………………………………………………….

Dbh Dbh tally Number of stem G(m2/tree) V(m3/tree) G(m2/class) V(m3/class)

range class tree quality

1 2 3

height measuremnt Dbh(cm) Height (m)

Hdom1
Hdom2
Medium
smallest