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Tree Growth Response of Pinus oocarpa Along Different Altitude in Dedza Mountain Forest Plantation

Received: 20 January 2015     Accepted: 29 January 2015     Published: 6 February 2015
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Abstract

Understanding of the effects of altitude on tree growth is central to forest management, especially in the establishment of seed source stands. A study was conducted to investigate the effect of altitude on the growth height, diameter at breast height (dbh) and volume of Pinus oocarpa in Malawi. Stands of Pinus oocarpa at the altitude of 1500m, 1700m and 1900m above the sea level (asl) were measured for total height, dbh and volume at the age of 18 years. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance. The results shows that there were significant (P<0.001) differences in total mean height, dbh and volume among the different altitudes. Higher mean height (19.2m), dbh (24.5cm) and volume (0.417m3) was observed at 1500m asl, while total mean height, dbh and volume at 1700m asl and 1900m asl were 17.1m, 22.9cm, 0.322m3 and 15.4m, 20.8cm, 0.243m3 respectively. Total mean height, dbh and volume decreased with an increase of altitude. This was attributed to differences in supply of soil nutrients and specific leaf area. It is therefore, recommended that seed sources stands for Pinus oocarpa in Malawi and the surrounding countries should be established at 1500m to 1600m above the sea level for better genetic growth parameters.

Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 4, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15
Page(s) 24-28
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Total Height, Diameter at Breast Height, Volume, Specific Leaf Area

References
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[17] Arce M., and Isaza N., 1996, Producción de semillas por cono en cuatro especies del género Pinus en Colombia. Informe de investigación No. 173. Investigación Forestal. Smurfit Cartón de Colombia.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Anderson Ndema, Edward Missanjo. (2015). Tree Growth Response of Pinus oocarpa Along Different Altitude in Dedza Mountain Forest Plantation. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 4(1), 24-28. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15

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    ACS Style

    Anderson Ndema; Edward Missanjo. Tree Growth Response of Pinus oocarpa Along Different Altitude in Dedza Mountain Forest Plantation. Agric. For. Fish. 2015, 4(1), 24-28. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15

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    AMA Style

    Anderson Ndema, Edward Missanjo. Tree Growth Response of Pinus oocarpa Along Different Altitude in Dedza Mountain Forest Plantation. Agric For Fish. 2015;4(1):24-28. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15,
      author = {Anderson Ndema and Edward Missanjo},
      title = {Tree Growth Response of Pinus oocarpa Along Different Altitude in Dedza Mountain Forest Plantation},
      journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1},
      pages = {24-28},
      doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20150401.15},
      abstract = {Understanding of the effects of altitude on tree growth is central to forest management, especially in the establishment of seed source stands. A study was conducted to investigate the effect of altitude on the growth height, diameter at breast height (dbh) and volume of Pinus oocarpa in Malawi. Stands of Pinus oocarpa at the altitude of 1500m, 1700m and 1900m above the sea level (asl) were measured for total height, dbh and volume at the age of 18 years. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance. The results shows that there were significant (P<0.001) differences in total mean height, dbh and volume among the different altitudes. Higher mean height (19.2m), dbh (24.5cm) and volume (0.417m3) was observed at 1500m asl, while total mean height, dbh and volume at 1700m asl and 1900m asl were 17.1m, 22.9cm, 0.322m3 and 15.4m, 20.8cm, 0.243m3 respectively. Total mean height, dbh and volume decreased with an increase of altitude. This was attributed to differences in supply of soil nutrients and specific leaf area. It is therefore, recommended that seed sources stands for Pinus oocarpa in Malawi and the surrounding countries should be established at 1500m to 1600m above the sea level for better genetic growth parameters.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Tree Growth Response of Pinus oocarpa Along Different Altitude in Dedza Mountain Forest Plantation
    AU  - Anderson Ndema
    AU  - Edward Missanjo
    Y1  - 2015/02/06
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15
    T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    SP  - 24
    EP  - 28
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5648
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20150401.15
    AB  - Understanding of the effects of altitude on tree growth is central to forest management, especially in the establishment of seed source stands. A study was conducted to investigate the effect of altitude on the growth height, diameter at breast height (dbh) and volume of Pinus oocarpa in Malawi. Stands of Pinus oocarpa at the altitude of 1500m, 1700m and 1900m above the sea level (asl) were measured for total height, dbh and volume at the age of 18 years. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance. The results shows that there were significant (P<0.001) differences in total mean height, dbh and volume among the different altitudes. Higher mean height (19.2m), dbh (24.5cm) and volume (0.417m3) was observed at 1500m asl, while total mean height, dbh and volume at 1700m asl and 1900m asl were 17.1m, 22.9cm, 0.322m3 and 15.4m, 20.8cm, 0.243m3 respectively. Total mean height, dbh and volume decreased with an increase of altitude. This was attributed to differences in supply of soil nutrients and specific leaf area. It is therefore, recommended that seed sources stands for Pinus oocarpa in Malawi and the surrounding countries should be established at 1500m to 1600m above the sea level for better genetic growth parameters.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Forestry, Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife, Dedza, Malawi

  • Department of Forestry, Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife, Dedza, Malawi

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