Practical approaches to calibrating height–diameter relationships for natural sugar maple stands in Ontario

Abstract

Abstract The efficiency of a random parameter approach for calibrating a height–diameter model of trees in natural sugar maple Acer saccharum (Marsh.) stands in Ontario was compared with that of a fixed parameter approach. From a practical point of view, both methods were equally efficient. However, the random parameter model has a theoretical advantage, mostly because random deviations from the mean function can be predicted with known precision levels. The study also produced parameter estimates that can be used for localizing height–diameter curves in natural undisturbed sugar maple stands in southern Ontario. The models had negligible bias. The root mean square of the residuals for tree height, computed for an independent validation data set, was in the order of 1.5 m. The coefficient of determination for the validation data set was around 0.95.