Relationships of Specific Gravity to Tree Height in Commercially Important Species

The relationships of wood specific gravity to height-in-tree were investigated for 28 commercially important timber species. Data from wood density surveys of the U.S. Forest Service were interpolated to provide equal numbers of points for plotting height-specific gravity curves. Data of western species were plotted at 15-foot intervals; data of southern pines and Maine species were plotted at 10-foot intervals. A trend of decreasing specific gravity with increased height-in-tree, was found in Douglas-fir, western larch, ponderosa pine, Pacific silver fir, grand fir, noble fir, California red fir, the southern pines, red pine, and tamarack. A trend of increasing specific gravity with increased height-in-tree was found for Engelmann spruce, western redcedar, balsam fir, and white spruce. Another trend was found in which specific gravity initially decreased but, later increased with increasing height-in-tree. Species reacting in this manner were the following: Black cottonwood, white fir, sugar pine, western white pine, red spruce, and eastern hemlock. Species showing no distinct trends included lodgepole pine, western hemlock, eastern white pine, and black spruce.

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