ObjectiveDeveloping the stand basal area and volume growth model for Quercus and Populus in Henan Province of central China was technical data support for forest sustainable management.

MethodBased on the latest three data of national forest inventory in Henan Province, an optimal basic model was selected from 9 candidate models with biological significance. Taking account of the disturbance from species and site class, the stand basal area and volume growth model with dummy variable was constructed.

ResultThe optimal models of 9 alternative models fitted to the total data were the form of Richards, whose coefficients of determination were all above 0.92. The fitting precision of the stand basal area and volume growth model with species and site class as dummy variable, whose coefficients of determination were 0.98, 0.94, respectively, was enhanced distinctly compared with basic model.

ConclusionThe growth pattern of stand basal and volume for Quercus and Populus in Henan Province was described by the model with species and site class as dummy variable, which reduced the workload of computation, and also provided a method for integrating different forest stand. The limit values of stand basal area and volume for Quercus were higher than those for Populus, but were reversed in growth rate with the same stand density. Furthermore, the growth rates of stand basal area and volume with the same stand density for Quercus and Populus were both decreased with the decrease of site quality.