[CANUFNET] Tree Growth Factors Question

[Darren Platakis via CANUFNET]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping to be enlightened with regards to tree growth factors and
estimated tree age. I am not a arborist by trade so be gentle with me.

I'm trying to apply growth factors to an inventory of trees to estimate age
but some things do not make sense.

By way of example, the growth factor for a Norway maple is noted as being
4.5 so in essence, a Norway maple with a diameter of 20 inches is estimated
to be 90 yrs old - Diameter X Growth Factor (this number doesn't seem right
to me).

However, there are several charts available that provide this information,
such as one released by The Morton Arboretum that state a Norway maple of
20 inches in diameter is estimated to be 52 years old. This would be a
growth factor of 2.6 (Estimated age / diameter = Growth Factor). My
question is, why the big discrepancy? Am I missing a step somewhere?

This is an exercise that I may like to take into a classroom but with the
wide chasm of results I'd be wary of doing so.

Thanks in advance,

Darren Platakis
BSC., GIS(PG), FRCGS
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