Comparison of diameter-distribution-prediction, stand-table-projection, and individual-tree-growth modeling approaches for young red alder plantations

A red alder planting spacing study was used to compare three modeling approaches that have been successfully used for other tree species. These three approaches predict stand structure and dynamics in plantations that are 7 to 16 years old, with planting densities of 976 to 13 899 trees/ha. The diameter-distribution-prediction approach tended to over-predict the diameter at breast height (dbh) for larger trees in stands planted at low density and to under-predict dbh for smaller trees in stands planted at high density. This approach may be useful for comparing planting densities when a tree list is not available. The stand-table-projection approach tended to under-predict dbh for smaller trees in young stands planted at low density and to over-predict dbh for smaller trees in young stands planted at high density. This approach, however, provided consistency between stand- and tree-level growth projections, and should be useful for comparing planting densities when a tree list is available. The individual-tree-growth approach provided the best representations of observed diameter distributions at all planting densities, stand ages, and growth intervals. This approach may be best suited for stands that have been thinned, stands with mixtures of species, and stands with heterogeneous size classes.