Growth and Biomass Production of Ailanthus triphysa in Nilambur, Kerala, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55863/ijees.2026.0940Keywords:
Halmaddi, Species trial plot, Mean annual increment in GBH, Tree age-Tree GBH allometry, Aboveground biomassAbstract
Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston is a multipurpose tree with strong potential for restoring or rehabilitating degraded forests and for improving farm forestry and agroforestry systems. However, information on its girth, height, and aboveground growth increments has been limited. In this study, we periodically recorded GBH (girth at 1.37 m above ground) and height of 18- to 38-year-old trees in a species trial plot. Mean GBH increased from 63.1 cm at 18 years to 121.3 cm at 38 years, while mean height increased from 24.3 to 33.3 m over the same period. Tree GBH showed significantly greater structural diversity than tree height. Total aboveground biomass increased linearly with age, from 167.6 kg tree-1 at 18 years to 892.4 kg tree-1 at 38 years. We developed an allometric equation to predict tree age using GBH as the independent variable: Tree age (years) = 0.3403 × GBH (cm) – 3.4804 (R² = 0.9915). This equation provides a reliable tool for estimating the age of A. triphysa trees.
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