Pascal's recurrence relation and even-aged-forest stand dynamics

Abstract

A common method of modelling forest stand dynamics is to use permanent growth plot remeasurements to calibrate a whole-stand growth model expressed as an ordinary differential equation. To obtain an estimate of future conditions, either the differential equation is integrated numerically or, if analytic, the differential equation is solved in closed form. In the latter case, a future condition is obtained simply by evaluating the integral form for the age of interest, subject to appropriate initial conditions. An older method of modelling forest stand dynamics was to use a normal or near-normal yield table as a density standard and calibrate a relative density change equation from permanent plot remeasurements. An estimate of a future stand property could be obtained by iterating from a known initial relative density. In this paper we show that when the relative density change equation has a particular form, the historical method also has a closed form solution, given by a sequence of polynomials with coefficients from successive rows of Pascal's arithmetic triangle.