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Converting Tree Diameter Measured at Root Collar to Diameter at Breast

Height

Article  in  Western Journal of Applied Forestry · January 1999

DOI: 10.1093/wjaf/14.1.14

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 Technical Note

Converting Tree Diameter Measured at

Root Collar to Diameter at Breast Height
David C. Chojnacky, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Forestry SciencesLaboratory, 860 N. 1200 E., Logan, UT 84321, and Paul Rogers,
USDA Forest Service,RockyMountain ResearchStation, Forestry Sciences
Laboratory, 507 25th St., Ogden UT 84401.

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Pinyon
pine(Pinus
edulis),
Utahjuniper
(Juniperscated when
osteosperma), andGambeloak (Quercusgarnbelii)aredry-
land tree speciesoften measuredfor diameterat the root
collar(drc) neargroundline(Figure 1). This measurement
pointis belowmostmainstembranchingtypicalof dryland
species.The drc measurementstandardhasworkedwell for
field inventorybut presentsa problemwhen resultsare
comparedto diameterdataof treesmeasuredat breastheight
dbh (1.37 m abovegroundline).Basalareacalculationand
otherstanddiametercomparisons, for example,arecompli-
No•: David C. Chojnackyis thecorresponding authorandcanbe reached
at (202) 205-0820; Fax: (202) 205-1012; E-mail: guestem2/wo@fs.fed.us.
tree data include mixtures of trees measured at
dbh and drc. Because drc is measured more than 1 m lower
thandbhona treebole,drcmeasurements tendto yieldlarger
numbersthandbhfor the sametree.It may be preferableto
convertall diameterdatato acommonmeasurement pointfor
analysesinvolvingbasalarea,diameterdistributions,
ordata
in diameter classes.
Herein we providean equationfor convertingdrc to dbh
for three dryland speciesin westernColorado. We also
discussan applicationof equationuse.
Trees were sampledat 17 locationsalong a convenient
travelpathin westernColorado(Figure2). Treeswerechosen
to representall sizes of pinyon pine, Utah juniper, and
Gambeloak foundin westernColorado.This was doneby
examiningdiameterdistributions from datacollectedby the
ForestHealthMonitoringProgram(FHM) in Coloradodur-
ing 1992 and 1993 (USDA ForestService1997). FHM ts a
nationwideinitiativeto monitorecologicalstructure,trends,
and health of the nation's forests.
From threeto sixtreesfor eachspecieswereselectedfrom
four size rangescorresponding to quartilesof the spectes'
diameterdistribution(lst to 25th, 26th to 50th, 51st to 75th,
and76thto 100thpercentiles
fromFHM data).BecauseUtah
juniper commonlybranchesat groundline,single-stem at

*Rangely
Colorado
dbh
•/4,0 = + 10.5'+ 6,1'
= 12,8
ß*Colorado
Springs

drc --•
#Teguride
' Utahjunipe•
(8)
--V 18.6' + 8J•' X ß PinYOnpine (4):
=,. 20.5 'x •ambeloak
Figure 1. Diameter for multiple-stem juniper and other shrub-like
trees is often measured atthe root collar (drc) and then calculated
from individual stem measurements. Likewise, diameter at breast Figure2. Diameter data were collectedat 17 locationsin western
height (dbh) can be calculated from individual stem Colorado. A single specieswes measured et each Iocetion, but in
measurements. some cases different species were sampled close together.

14 WJAF14(1)1999
drc) and multiple-stemgrowth forms were sampledsepa- tiple-stem
trees.Thesedifferences
werereasonably
described
rately.PinyonandGambeloakweresampledwithoutspecial byusinga singlemodelwithdummyvariables toaccount
for
regardfor growthform, and somemultiple-stemtreeswere dissimilarities. This was done because the 95% confidence
includedaccordingto naturaloccurrenceat samplesites. intervalsof meanpredictedvaluesfor separate
species
equa-
A total of 224 trees were measured for diameter, total tionsmostlyoverlapped with oneanother,indicatinglittle
height,andcrowndiameter(Table 1). Treesrangedin size supportfor separatemodels.
from 2.5 to morethan40 cm at drc. About half thejuniper Includingheightand crowndiameterin the regression
diameterclasseshad a single stemat drc, but more than modelslightlyimprovedmodelfit butnotenoughtowarrant
half of theseforkedat dbh.Most pinyonpineandGambel theiradditionto themodel.Also,heightandcrownvariables
oak had a single stem at drc, but abouthalf of the larger are not widely measuredso includingthem would limit
pinyon branchedto multiple stemsat dbh. Most Gambel modelapplicationin somecases.
oak maintaineda singlestemat bothdrc anddbh. Residualgraphswereusedto "finetune"a finalmodelfit
We calculateddiametersdrcanddbh(Figure1) to normal- from the data.The final model (Table 2) includedintercept
lze multiple- and single-stem trees in a similar metric ([•0)andslope([•1)parameters commonfor all species, anda
(MeeuwigandBudy 1981,Batcheler1985):

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diameter=
where
chameter = drc or dbh
n = number of stems at drc or dbh with diameter 2.5
cm or larger
di = diameterof all stems(live or dead)at drcor dbh
thatare2.5 cm or larger
All live and dead tree stems that were at least 2.5 cm in
diameter were included in drc and dbh calculations.
Data Analysis and Results
In a previousstudy for Gambel oak, a simple linear
regression
model(dbh= [•o+ [•drc) wasusedfor convert-
ingdrctodbh(Chojnacky1992).Graphicexaminationof this
and othermodelsshowedthat the simplelinear regression
modelwasadequatefor the Coloradodata.
Furtheranalysisshowedsmalldifferencesin thedrcto dbh
relationshipamongspeciesand betweensingle-and mul-
parameter ([•2)for multiple-andsingle-stem treesalsocom-
mon to all species.Individualspecieseffectswere repre-
sentedby parameters ([•3,[•4for pinyon;[•5,[•6for Gambel
oak)thatmodifiedthecommoninterceptandslope.If only
thecommonparameters ([•0, [•1,[•2)are used,themodelis
uniqueto juniper.
Formodelvalidation, nosimilarpinyon-juniper datafrom
other stateswere available, but there was a comparable
conversion equationfor Gambeloakin Arizona(Chojnacky
1992).Comparison of thismodelto Coloradodatashowed
underpredictionof dbhfor trees10 cm drc andlarger.This
comparison, however,wascomplicated by inconsistent
di-
ameterdefinitions.In theArizonadata,onlythelargeststem
wasmeasuredat dbh,whichmeansdbhwasprobablyunder-
estimated(by Coloradodefinition)for multiple-stemtrees.
Inventorydatafor the 1.3millionhaGila NationalForest
in New Mexico were used to examine the effect of the
diameter conversionmodel in a regional assessment.As
expected,datasummaryfor pinyon-juniperandoakforest
typesshowedreducednumbersfor analysesby diameter
classes.Surprisinglytheponderosa
pineforesttype(which
includessomepinyon,juniper,andoaktrees)showed10 to
25% reductions in basal area when all tree diameters were
consideredat dbh (Figure3). Similaranalysisfor pinyon-
juniperandoakforesttypesexhibited25 to 50% basalarea
reductionswhenconvertingfrom drc to dbh.

Table 1. Summary of 224 trees measured in western Colorado.

Single- Mean Single- Mean

Drc No. of Mean stem at stems Mean stem at stems Mean
class trees drc drc at drc dbh dbh at dbh Mean crown
Species (cm) (no.) (cm) (%) (no.) (cm) (%) (no.) height diameter
............
(m) ...........
Utahjuniper 2.5-10 23 5.9 61 1.5 1.0 35 0.7 1.4 1.0
10-20 31 15.0 58 2.1 9.2 26 3.6 3.3 2.4
20-40 27 29.4 59 1.9 24.1 15 5.9 4.4 3.9
40+ 25 53.9 48 2.5 49.3 24 6.0 6.2 5.8

Pinyonpine 2.5-10 13 6.4 85 1.2 2.1 69 0.8 1.9 1.3

10-20 20 14.4 90 1.1 11.1 45 2.1 3.8 2.7
20-40 18 28.3 100 1.0 25.1 50 1.9 5.9 4.8
40+ 9 53.1 100 1.0 49.1 56 1.8 7.9 7.7

Gambel oak 2.5-10 34 5.9 100 1.0 3.7 85 1.1 2.9 1.4
10-20 20 14.8 100 1.0 12.4 90 1.2 6.4 2.9
20-40 4 26.9 75 1.3 23.5 50 1.5 6.1 3.9

WJAF14(1)1999 15
 Table2 Parametersand equationI to convertdrcto dbh for pinyonpine,Utah juniper,and Gambeloak
Measurement Parameter estimates No. of Fit statistics

units •0 [•1 [•2 [•3 [•4 [•5 [•6 trees R2 CV(%)

English -2.6843 1.0222 0.7433 0.7469 -0.0399 1.2244 -0.0689 224 0.98 13
Metric -6.8180 1.0222 1.8879 1.8971 -0.0399 3.1100 -0.0689 224 0.98 13

1 Conversion
equation:

dbh= •0 + •1 drc+ •2 stm+ •3 Pied+ •4drcp+ •õ Ouga+ •sdm0

where

dbh = diameter at 1.3m above groundlineof all live and dead stems 2.5 cm and larger (cm or in.)
drc = diameter at root collar above groundlineof all live and dead stems 2.5 cm and larger (cm or in.)

diameter =

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number of live and dead stems at dbh or drc with diameter 2.5 cm or larger
stem diameter (cm or in.)

I for trees with one stem (n = 1) at din, 0 otherwise

Pied = I for pinyon pine species, 0 otherwise

drcp -- drc for pinyon pine species,0 otherwise

Ouga = I for Gambel oak species, 0 otherwise

drcO = dm for Gambel oak species, 0 otherwise

Ponderosa Pine Forest Type Theconversion equation

provideda waytoexpress diameter
dataat dbhfor threespecies.
Ecosystem assessments
needsuch
a commonmeasurement pointfor all Ixeediameters,
regardless
E of species,
to properlyevaluaterelationships
betweenspecies
anddiameterclasses.
We advisecaution,however,in usingth•s
conversionequationoutsideof Colorado.Becausedataw•th
similar measurement standards were unavailable for validation
elsewhere,sometestdatashouldbe collectedandcomparedto
the modelto checkits suitabilityfor usein otherstates.

Literature Cited

B^TCHELœ1•,
C.L. 1985. Note on measurementof woody plant diameter
distributions. N. Z. J. Ecol. 8:129-132.
• i•P • ? • • • • • Diameter CHoJtq^Cl(¾,
D.C. 1992.Estimatingvolumeandbiomass for drylandoaks P
155-161 in Ecologyandmanagement of oakandassociated woodlands,
Ffolliott,P.F.,et al. (eds.).USDA For. Serv.Gen.Tech.Rep.RM-218
Figure3. Basalarea is reduced10to 25% in ponderosapineforest MEœuwm, R.O., ^rqD J.D. BUD¾.1981.Pointandline-intersect samphngm
type when diameters for pinyon-juniper and oak specieswithin pinyon-juniper woodlands. USDAFor.Serv.Gen.Tech.Rep.INT-104
thetype are converted to dbh. Data are from 1993-1994 inventory 38p.
of the Gila National Forest, New Mexico. USDA Foe,
esySœawce. 1997.Foresthealthmonitoring1997field methods
guide.USDA For. Serv.,NationalForestHealthMonitoringProgram,
ResearchTrianglePark,NC.

16 WJAF14(1)1999
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