Dear All Who Have Worked With Dendrometer Bands,
I have a question: what is the minimum diameter of stem on which you have attached a dendrometer? Below a certain cut-off diameter the dendroband doesn't fit snugly against the tree (because of the spring and the clips it becomes 'square' and sticks out even if the stem isn't irregular) and also below a certain cut-off the spring can't exert enough tension for the band to work as it should. At the moment, the RAINFOR-GEM manual doesn't specify what this cut-off is.
I always thought that the cut-off was at about 20 cm diameter and that you can't attach dendrobands to stems smaller than that. I think I applied this minimum in the SAFE Fragment E plot. However I have a colleague (outside GEM) who is taking a cut-off of 30 cm GBH (i.e. 9.6 cm DBH). I asked her if she's sure she can go that small and she said not sure but she's going to try.
Preassembled dendrometers claim they can be installed on stems down to 8 cm DBH (e.g. http://www.ictinternational.com.au/brochures/manualbanddendrometer_en_1.0.pdf ). Apparently, Cattelino et al. (1986) suggested a cut-off of 10 cm (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/saf/njaf/1986/00000003/00000002/art00012?crawler=true ) but for me I just don't believe this. I can't believe these would really be stable on the stem under heavy rain and/or high winds.
So: in your experience, what's the smallest stem you've managed to attach a dendrometer to?
Best,
Toby
Hi Erika,
Basically: it's a cost issue. Also, clipping the metallic band is much more difficult than the plastic band and often has to be done back at the lab rather than in the field.
Toby