Minister of State for Agriculture Food and the Marine, Andrew Doyle T.D., with responsibility for forestry, today launched Ireland’s Tree Volume Calculator. This calculator has been developed to allow forest owners and managers to estimate tree volume online, using basic tree information for the main conifer and broadleaf tree species. Tree volume is an important unit of measurement as it details the size of a tree, which can be used to inform forest management decisions. It will also assist in determining the value of a tree or forest.
Commenting on the launch, the Minister said “The availability of this online calculator gives everyone access to a facility that allows the calculation of tree volume using the basic information of tree diameter and height. Availability online will allow people to access the facility at any time.”
The conifer tree information used to create the calculator was obtained from over 38,000 felled trees in experimental plots from 1971 to 2006, while the broadleaf tree information was collected non-destructively using a remote diameter scope from over 4,000 broadleaf trees across Ireland in 2013.
For practical purposes, the calculator provides an opportunity not only for stem volume but also the volume of any segment of a tree stem to be calculated. Another very important feature of the new calculator is the very high accuracy which can be reached for small groups of trees or even for individual trees, where upper stem diameter and stump diameter measurements are incorporated.
The Minister also advised that “By launching this calculator today, we are endeavouring to provide the best available information to all those involved in managing forests and in providing advice to owners. This information on tree size will aid in making an informed decision on whether to fell a forest or retain for a further number of years. At a national level, from a roundwood supply and wood quality perspective, the timing of felling is important to allow the production of sufficient quantities of valuable sawlog-sized material to support an expanding sawmill sector.
