Vegetation Data, Eucalyptus obliqua, Biomass Determination, Warra Tall Eucalypt SuperSite, 2003

Destructive sampling of 47 Eucalyptus obliqua trees was carried out to determine a range of biomass measures that can be used to inform allometric equations. Method Step Description The same sequence of activities was followed for each tree harvested in this study: a) Selection of trees: the trees were selected by personnel from State Forests of NSW and Forestry Tasmania to reflect as closely as possible the range and quality of trees that are harvested during a commercial harvesting operation in that area. b) Measurement of tree DBH. c) Felling of the tree using a chainsaw. d) Measurement of the length of the tree and stump height. e) Transport of the logs and crown from the forest to the log dump by an excavator. f) Weight of the crown: the crown was lifted by the excavator and placed on a platform placed on top of the weight bars to allow measurement of material shorter than the span between the weigh bars. g) Weight of full-length log (still with the bark on): the logs were placed on top of hardwood beams placed on the weigh bars to optimise load sharing. Some logs exceeded the capacity of the weigh bars; in those cases, they were either split or shortened and each component measured separately. h) Debarking of the log (by the excavator). i) Weight of the main log (debarked), as in “g”. j) Sampling of the log: disks were cut at both ends of the log for laboratory analyses, after the outermost sections were discarded. The disks were put in sealed plastic bags. k) Grading and cutting of the log into log products. The log product categories used were: sawlog, veneer logs and pulp. l) Measurement of length and diameters at both ends of each log product. m) Weight of each log product as in “g”. n) Sampling of crown: random samples were cut with the chainsaw and placed in sealed plastic bags. A visual assessment was undertaken to estimate any losses (crown material and bark) that may have occurred during to transport of each crown and log from the forest to the log dump.