Growth and leaf area development of Eucalyptus saligna trees in whole tree chambers at the Hawkesbury Forest Experiment

Full description

This dataset contains tree measurements including periodic growth measurements: Tree heights for each of the 12 trees in whole tree chambers were measured each fortnight using a height pole from May 2007 to March 2009 when they were harvested. Tree diameter was measured at 30 cm intervals up the major stems each fortnight using a diameter tape. Branch numbers were counted and the diameter and length of selected branches were measured at fortnightly intervals. Final harvest: The trees were harvested in March 2009. The canopy was separated into 6 vertical layers. Five branches from each layer were selected at random and harvested separately then the remaining branches from each layer were harvested as a bulk sample. Fresh masses of leaf, wood <1cm diameter, wood >1cm diameter were measured. Tissue was oven dried and dry mass measured. Discs were taken from the main stem in each canopy layer to determine wood density. Leaf area determination: The number of leaves on each tree was counted in May 2008 along with a range of individual leaf sizes in order to estimate total leaf area at that time. Total leaf area of each tree at the time of harvest was calculated from the total dry mass of leaves and the specific leaf area derived from a sub-sample. Leaf area in the interval between the two measurements was interpolated using the biweekly height growth to provide dynamics. Most data are raw data. Some files are time series data (eg. Height, leaf area over time) containing interpolated values generated using R scripts.