WHITE PAPER F14-SO-WP-SILV-54

Using Mathematics in Forestry :

An Environmental Education Activity 1

David C. Powell; Forest Silviculturist

Supervisor’s Office; Pendleton, OR

Initial Version: MAY 1990 2

Most Recent Revision: OCTOBER 2011

INTRODUCTION
Most jobs require good mathematics skills, and forestry is no exception. Exercises in this
handout will show you some ways that foresters use mathematics in their work.
Foresters usually deal with large land areas. They need to know what kind of trees grow on
their area, how many of them there are, and how big they are. Measuring every tree on a na-
tional forest covering one and half million acres, and containing over 500 million trees, would
not only be time consuming and expensive, but probably impossible!
For these and other reasons, foresters only measure part of a forest, a process called sam-
pling. They assume that a measured (sampled) portion represents a whole area. Data collected
from a sampled portion is expanded to provide information for an unsampled portion.
Suppose we need to know how much usable timber is present in a 100-acre ponderosa pine
stand. The entire stand (all 100 acres) is our population, but we can’t measure every tree be-
cause it would take too much time. So, an efficient way to inventory the ponderosa pine timber
is to sample it, which we’ll do by establishing plots.

1
White papers are internal reports; they receive only limited review. Viewpoints expressed in this paper are those
of the author – they may not represent positions of USDA Forest Service.
2
This paper was prepared in 1990 for Mr. Kevin Steinmetz’s sixth grade class at Humbolt Elementary School in
John Day, Oregon. It has been used many times since then with other school groups.

Using Mathematics in Forestry 1

 Statistics indicate that 20 plots of ¼-acre each will provide reliable information about the
ponderosa pine timber. How can we figure out a plot size? By using some mathematical formu-
las, of course! Previous sampling experience shows that circular plots are easier to use than
square ones.
To lay out a plot in the shape of a circle, we must know its radius, which we’ll figure out by
using this formula:
Area = Pi  Radius2

Note: if you don’t know what pi is, here is a short description. Pi is the number you
get when you divide the distance around a circle (its circumference) by the dis-
tance through its middle (its diameter). The distance around the outside of every
circle is about three times the distance across it. But it’s the “about” part that
creates the puzzle of pi. Mathematicians call pi an irrational number because
when you divide a circle’s circumference by its diameter, the answer comes out in
decimals that go on forever without any apparent pattern. Pi begins as
3.14159265, but it never ends. In 1999, a Japanese scientist used a supercomputer
to calculate pi to about 206 billion digits, and it still goes on from there. All those
digits aren’t really necessary to use pi, of course – using only the first ten decimals,
you can measure Earth’s circumference to within a fraction of an inch. Pi is often
shown in textbooks or in formulas by using this Greek symbol: 

The total area of an acre is 43,560 square feet. Since we want to use a ¼-acre plot, its area is
43,560  4 or 10,890 square feet. We now have enough information to use the formula above
to figure out our plot radius.
Area = Pi  Radius2
10,890 square feet = 3.1416  Radius2
10,890 square feet  3.1416 = Radius²
3,466.39 square feet = Radius²

3,466.39 square feet = Radius

58.9 feet = Radius

Each ¼-acre plot will be a circle with a radius of 58.9 feet. We’ll use a wooden stake as a
plot center, and mark plot boundaries by measuring out a radius in several directions from the
plot-center stake.
Great! We’ve just used our knowledge about geometry of a circle to design plots that will
help us answer our inventory question about ponderosa pine timber.

2 Using Mathematics in Forestry

 Exercise 1: If our circular plot has a radius of 58.9 feet, what is its diameter? [Do you re-
member the relationship between a circle’s radius and its diameter?]
Diameter is: ____________________ feet.
Exercise 2: What is the area (in square feet) and the radius (in feet) for circular plots of the
following sizes? [Don’t forget that 1 acre contains 43,560 square feet.]

Plot Size Plot Area Plot Radius

(Acres) (Square Feet) (Feet)
1/4 10,890 58.9
1/5 ____________ ____________
1/10 ____________ ____________
1/20 ____________ ____________
1/50 ____________ ____________
1/100 ____________ ____________
1/250 ____________ ____________
1/300 ____________ ____________
1/500 ____________ ____________
1/1000 ____________ ____________

If the ground surface near a plot center is absolutely flat, then a plot is a perfect circle with
a radius as it was calculated above. But problems can start when you are working on a hill be-
cause a plot’s radius then depends on a hill’s steepness – plot radius is only slightly longer for
hills that are not steep, but they can be quite a bit longer for very steep hills.
By projecting a plot’s radius on a steep hillside, as is shown in the diagram on the next page,
we see that it becomes oval in shape, not circular.

Using Mathematics in Forestry 3

 On sloping ground, plots have an oval shape with their long axis parallel to the slope (called
‘slope fall line’). Note that a line perpendicular to the slope forms a ‘right angle’ with the slope
fall line. Plots on sloping ground need to have their radius adjusted by using a factor that con-
verts slope distance to what is called horizontal distance.

4 Using Mathematics in Forestry

 How do we adjust plot radius for a sample plot occurring on sloping ground? Well, you
could figure out what an adjusted radius should be by using trigonometry (secants), but most
foresters just carry around something called a slope correction table.
Here is part of the slope correction table for slopes ranging up to 61 percent:
Table 1: Slope correction factors
Slope Percent Correction Factor
0–9 1.00
10 – 17 1.01
18 – 22 1.02
23 – 26 1.03
27 – 30 1.04
31 – 33 1.05
34 – 36 1.06
37 – 39 1.07
40 – 42 1.08
43 – 44 1.09
45 – 47 1.10
48 – 49 1.11
50 – 51 1.12
52 – 53 1.13
54 – 55 1.14
56 – 57 1.15
58 – 59 1.16
60 – 61 1.17

Now, let’s use table 1’s slope correction factors to figure out if some trees near our plot
edge are “in or out” (inside or outside of the plot radius). Trees near a plot edge are referred to
as borderline trees. Here is a way to measure borderline trees:
1. Use an instrument called a clinometer to measure slope percent from the center (side) of a
borderline tree to a plot center (let’s say that it is 30 percent).
2. Find a slope correction factor in table 1 for the slope percent you just measured (correction
factor is 1.04 for 30 percent).
3. Multiply a correction factor by plot radius. This is called a corrected radius. For our ¼-acre
plots, the result is: 58.9 feet  1.04 = 61.26 feet.

Using Mathematics in Forestry 5

4. Measure slope distance from center (side) of a borderline tree to plot center. If measured
distance is less than the corrected radius (61.26 feet in this example), then the tree is in a
plot; if measured distance is more than the corrected radius, the tree is out of a plot.
Exercise 3: Are these trees near a ¼-acre plot in or out? Record slope correction factor (from
table 1) and corrected plot radius for each tree too.
Slope Percent Slope Corrected Distance From
Tree From Tree to Correction Plot Radius Tree to Plot In or
Number Plot Center Factor (Feet) Center (Feet) Out?

1 20 __________ __________ 59.1 ______

2 25 __________ __________ 58.6 ______
3 30 1.04 61.26 62.9 Out
4 35 __________ __________ 62.4 ______
5 45 __________ __________ 63.7 ______
6 50 __________ __________ 59.9 ______
7 60 __________ __________ 60.3 ______

MEASURING CIRCUMFERENCE AND DIAMETER

Now that we know how to figure out which trees are in or out of a plot, we need to learn
how to measure the size of trees that are on a plot. First, we need to find out how big around
each tree is.
There are two main ways we can describe the size of round objects like tree stems:
 We can measure their circumference, which is the distance around the outside of the trunk,
or
 We can measure circumference and convert it to diameter, which is the distance through
the middle of a tree’s trunk.

Foresters use special measuring tapes that show a tree’s circumference on one side, and its
equivalent diameter on the other side. How is that done? Actually, it’s easy to do because cir-
cumference and diameter are closely related:
Circumference = Pi  Diameter
Diameter = Circumference  Pi

[By now, have you noticed that most mathematical

equations pertaining to circles use pi?]

6 Using Mathematics in Forestry

 Exercise 4: What are diameters or circumferences of the following trees? (You might be in-
terested to know that these are actual measurements for some of the biggest trees found in
the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon.)
Circumference Diameter
Species (Inches) (Inches)

Subalpine Fir 132 __________

Western Juniper 151 __________
Lodgepole Pine __________ 34.7
Ponderosa Pine 242 __________
Engelmann Spruce __________ 63.3
Grand Fir 218 __________
Quaking Aspen 129 __________
Douglas-fir __________ 65.9

MEASURING TREE HEIGHTS

After measuring a tree’s diameter or circumference, we then need to find out how tall it is.
This can be tricky until you get the hang of it, especially when working on hillsides or sloping
ground.
Foresters measure heights using an instrument called a clinometer (short for an “incline me-
ter”). Many clinometers are based on percent, which means they are designed to be used at a
distance of 100 feet from the tree. Let's look at an example on flat ground:
A (+ A + B = TREE HEIGHT
) RE
ADI (WHEN HORIZONTAL DISTANCE
NG
= 70% IS 100 FEET)

LEVEL = O%

B DING = 5%
B (–) REA

100 FEET

The A (+) readings on a clinometer mean that you are looking up; the B (–) readings mean
you are looking down. Level (not up or down) readings are 0 on a clinometer. In our example

Using Mathematics in Forestry 7

above, the A reading (70) was looking up at the top of a tree; the B reading (5) was looking
down at its base (where its trunk meets the ground). To get this tree’s total height, you add the
top (70) and bottom (5) readings together: 70 + 5 = 75 feet tall for our example tree.
Now, let’s look at a situation where measuring tree height is a little more complicated.
When using a clinometer on sloping ground (hillsides), you must apply a slope correction factor
just like we did when checking whether borderline trees were in or out of the plot area. Here’s
a height measurement example for sloping ground:

A (+) RE A + B = TREE HEIGHT

ADING =
19%
A
LEVEL = O%

T
EIGH
B TO EYE H
40% 82%
IN G=
AD
) RE
B (–

100 FEET

Here is the process you’d use to measure this tree’s height:

1. Use the clinometer to measure the slope percent from you to your ‘eye height’ on the tree
trunk (this sighting is a line that’s parallel to the ground surface). In our example, the ‘eye
height’ slope percent is 40.
2. Find a slope correction factor in table 1 for the slope percent you just measured (1.08 is the
slope correction factor for 40 percent).

Note: many clinometers show slope correction factors on the same scale as the slope per-
cent values, which is handy because then you don’t have to look them up in a table.

3. Multiply the slope correction factor by the baseline distance. In our example with a 100-foot
baseline, the result is: 100 feet  1.08 = 108 feet. This means that on a 40 percent slope, you
must be 108 feet away from a tree to get the same answer as if you were 100 feet away on
flat (level) ground.
4. Back up to 108 feet from the tree before taking clinometer readings of its top and base.
5. Take clinometer readings of the tree’s top and base, and add them together to come up
with a total height. In our example, the result is: 19 + 82 = 101 feet.

8 Using Mathematics in Forestry

Exercise 5: What are the heights of these trees?

Slope Slope Corrected Clinometer Total

Percent Correction Baseline Readings: Height
Tree to Tree Factor (Feet) Up (A) Down (B) (Feet)
1 35 ________ ________ 96 32 _______
2 40 1.08 108 19 82 101
3 45 ________ ________ 43 8 _______
4 50 ________ ________ 78 16 _______
5 55 ________ ________ 91 27 _______
6 60 ________ ________ 66 35 _______

Next we’ll look at another situation where measuring tree height is more complicated than
usual. It is often hard to measure heights from 100 feet away if thick brush or downed logs hide
your view of a tree’s base. In these cases, you’ll need to measure height from someplace other
than 100 feet away and adjust clinometer results accordingly. Here is our example tree:

A (+) RE
ADING =
32%
A
LEVEL = O%

T
EIGH
B TO EYE H
30% 74%
IN G=
AD
) RE
B (–

60 FEET

Here is what you’d do to measure this tree’s height:

1. Use a clinometer to measure slope percent to eye height on a tree (30 percent in this exam-
ple).
2. Get a slope correction factor from table 1 (1.04 for 30 percent).
3. Multiply the slope correction factor by your baseline distance: 60 feet  1.04 = 62.4 feet.
4. Back up to 62.4 feet before taking clinometer readings of a tree’s top and base.

Using Mathematics in Forestry 9

5. Take clinometer readings of the top and base, and add them together. In our example, the
result is: 32 + 74 = 106.
Does this mean that the tree is 106 feet tall? No, it does not! Do you remember that a cli-
nometer is designed to be used with a 100-foot baseline (see page 7)? Any time that you
are not 100 feet away from a tree (slope-corrected distance), clinometer readings must be
adjusted to account for a different baseline distance.
In our example, the slope-corrected baseline distance was only 60 feet, not 100.
6. Calculate a baseline adjustment factor by dividing your baseline distance by 100:
60 feet  100 = 0.6.
7. Multiply the sum of clinometer readings (see step 5 above) by the baseline adjustment fac-
tor to finally get a total height for your tree: 106  0.6 = 63.6 feet.

Exercise 6: What are the heights of these trees?

Baseline Baseline Clinometer Total
Distance Adjustment Readings: Height
Tree (Feet) Factor Up (A) Down (B) (Feet)

1 40 ________ 89 47 _______
2 50 ________ 73 26 _______
3 60 .6 32 74 63.6
4 65 ________ 68 29 _______
5 75 ________ 52 11 _______
6 90 ________ 64 26 _______

Now, let’s pull some of our information together. We began sampling the 100-acre ponder-
osa pine stand last week and three plots are done so far. Here is the sample data at this point:

PLOT 1 (¼ acre)
Diameter
Tree Species (Inches) Height (Feet) Age (Years)
1 Ponderosa Pine 32.6 109 196
2 Ponderosa Pine 27.4 101 173
3 Grand Fir 18.9 88 93
4 Douglas-fir 29.4 106 204
5 Grand Fir 12.3 72 79
6 Quaking Aspen 8.6 66 58

10 Using Mathematics in Forestry

 Diameter
Tree Species (Inches) Height (Feet) Age (Years)
7 Western Larch 14.2 91 87
8 Ponderosa Pine 9.6 48 54
9 Ponderosa Pine 15.2 68 74
10 Western Larch 16.9 96 86
Average ________ ________ ________
How many trees per acre? ________

PLOT 2 (¼ acre)
Diameter
Tree Species (Inches) Height (Feet) Age (Years)
1 Ponderosa Pine 33.9 111 194
2 Ponderosa Pine 30.7 108 188
3 Douglas-fir 26.9 98 147
4 Ponderosa Pine 27.8 102 156
5 Douglas-fir 21.6 92 106
6 Ponderosa Pine 28.9 103 129
Average ________ ________ ________
How many trees per acre? ________

PLOT 3 (¼ acre)
Diameter
Tree Species (Inches) Height (Feet) Age (Years)
1 Ponderosa Pine 26.2 98 114
2 Grand Fir 22.9 95 102
3 Ponderosa Pine 36.8 109 149
4 Douglas-fir 42.9 113 196
5 Lodgepole Pine 12.6 74 82
6 Ponderosa Pine 28.4 100 121
7 Ponderosa Pine 22.9 91 106
8 Grand Fir 18.7 89 97
9 Douglas-fir 27.6 99 112
Average ________ ________ ________
How many trees per acre? ________

Using Mathematics in Forestry 11

Exercise 7: Here’s what you need to do now:
1. Calculate average diameter, height, and age for each of the 3 plots, and record it in the ta-
bles (calculate an arithmetic average by summing the values in each column and then divid-
ing by the total number of sample trees).
2. Calculate the number of trees per acre that each plot represents, and record your answers
in the tables.
How can you do this? Remember that each plot samples exactly ¼ of an acre. If you count
the number of trees that are “in” on your plot, and then multiply by 4 to expand the sample
to a whole acre, you will know how many trees per acre are represented by your sample.

Note: when you sample (measure) a fraction of an acre, and then later want to expand the
sample data so it represents a whole acre, the sample values must be multiplied by the de-
nominator of plot size. For a 1/5-acre plot, each sample tree represents 5 trees (the denom-
inator value); for a 1/20-acre plot, each sample tree represents 20 trees; and so forth.

3. Calculate an average, for the 3 plots combined, by filling in the table below:
Average
Diameter Average Average Age Trees Per
Plot (Inches) Height (Feet) (Years) Acre

1 ________ ________ ________ ________

2 ________ ________ ________ ________
3 ________ ________ ________ ________
Stand Average ________ ________ ________ ________

4. What proportion of the sample trees, on the 3 plots combined, were ponderosa pines
(don’t forget that we are interested in how much ponderosa pine timber we have on the
100-acre tract)? __________ percent.

5. Fill in the blanks in this summary of our results so far. “After completing three plots, we can
now say that the sampled area has an average of __________ trees per acre, with an aver-
age diameter of __________ inches, an average height of __________ feet, and an average
age of __________ years. The proportion of ponderosa pines on the 3 plots was
__________ percent.”

12 Using Mathematics in Forestry

 Since this summary is for 3 plots only, the data will almost certainly change after all 20 sam-
ples are completed!

LET’S SUMMARIZE
What have you learned from this exercise?
 How to figure out the radius of a circular plot after being given its area.
 How to adjust a plot radius to account for sloping ground.
 That many mathematical formulas involving circles use pi, a special constant that we round
off to 3.1416.
 How to measure circumference and diameter of trees.
 How to use a clinometer to measure tree heights on either flat or sloping ground.

Using Mathematics in Forestry 13

APPENDIX: SILVICULTURE WHITE PAPERS
White papers are internal reports, and they are produced with a consistent formatting
and numbering scheme – all papers dealing with Silviculture, for example, are placed in a
silviculture series (Silv) and numbered sequentially. Generally, white papers receive only
limited review and, in some instances pertaining to highly technical or narrowly focused
topics, the papers may receive no technical peer review at all. For papers that receive no re-
view, the viewpoints and perspectives expressed in the paper are those of the author only,
and do not necessarily represent agency positions of the Umatilla National Forest or the
USDA Forest Service.
Large or important papers, such as two papers discussing active management consider-
ations for dry and moist forests (white papers Silv-4 and Silv-7, respectively), receive exten-
sive review comparable to what would occur for a research station general technical report
(but they don’t receive blind peer review, a process often used for journal articles).
White papers are designed to address a variety of objectives:
(1) They guide how a methodology, model, or procedure is used by practitioners on the
Umatilla National Forest (to ensure consistency from one unit, or project, to another).
(2) Papers are often prepared to address ongoing and recurring needs; some papers have
existed for more than 20 years and still receive high use, indicating that the need (or is-
sue) has long standing – an example is white paper #1 describing the Forest’s big-tree
program, which has operated continuously for 25 years.
(3) Papers are sometimes prepared to address emerging or controversial issues, such as
management of moist forests, elk thermal cover, or aspen forest in the Blue Mountains.
These papers help establish a foundation of relevant literature, concepts, and principles
that continuously evolve as an issue matures, and hence they may experience many it-
erations through time. [But also note that some papers have not changed since their ini-
tial development, in which case they reflect historical concepts or procedures.]
(4) Papers synthesize science viewed as particularly relevant to geographical and manage-
ment contexts for the Umatilla National Forest. This is considered to be the Forest’s
self-selected ‘best available science’ (BAS), realizing that non-agency commenters would
generally have a different conception of what constitutes BAS – like beauty, BAS is in
the eye of the beholder.
(5) The objective of some papers is to locate and summarize the science germane to a partic-
ular topic or issue, including obscure sources such as master’s theses or Ph.D. disserta-
tions. In other instances, a paper may be designed to wade through an overwhelming
amount of published science (dry-forest management), and then synthesize sources
viewed as being most relevant to a local context.
(6) White papers function as a citable literature source for methodologies, models, and pro-
cedures used during environmental analysis – by citing a white paper, specialist reports
can include less verbiage describing analytical databases, techniques, and so forth, some
of which change little (if at all) from one planning effort to another.

14 Using Mathematics in Forestry

(7) White papers are often used to describe how a map, database, or other product was de-
veloped. In this situation, the white paper functions as a ‘user’s guide’ for the new prod-
uct. Examples include papers dealing with historical products: (a) historical fire extents
for the Tucannon watershed (WP Silv-21); (b) an 1880s map developed from General
Land Office survey notes (WP Silv-41); and (c) a description of historical mapping
sources (24 separate items) available from the Forest’s history website (WP Silv-23).
These papers are available from the Forest’s website: Silviculture White Papers
Paper # Title
1 Big tree program
2 Description of composite vegetation database
3 Range of variation recommendations for dry, moist, and cold forests
4 Active management of Blue Mountains dry forests: Silvicultural considerations
5 Site productivity estimates for upland forest plant associations of Blue and Och-
oco Mountains
6 Blue Mountains fire regimes
7 Active management of Blue Mountains moist forests: Silvicultural considerations
8 Keys for identifying forest series and plant associations of Blue and Ochoco
Mountains
9 Is elk thermal cover ecologically sustainable?
10 A stage is a stage is a stage…or is it? Successional stages, structural stages,
seral stages
11 Blue Mountains vegetation chronology
12 Calculated values of basal area and board-foot timber volume for existing
(known) values of canopy cover
13 Created opening, minimum stocking, and reforestation standards from Umatilla
National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan
14 Description of EVG-PI database
15 Determining green-tree replacements for snags: A process paper
16 Douglas-fir tussock moth: A briefing paper
17 Fact sheet: Forest Service trust funds
18 Fire regime condition class queries
19 Forest health notes for an Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Pro-
ject field trip on July 30, 1998 (handout)
20 Height-diameter equations for tree species of Blue and Wallowa Mountains
21 Historical fires in headwaters portion of Tucannon River watershed
22 Range of variation recommendations for insect and disease susceptibility
23 Historical vegetation mapping
24 How to measure a big tree
25 Important Blue Mountains insects and diseases
26 Is this stand overstocked? An environmental education activity
27 Mechanized timber harvest: Some ecosystem management considerations
28 Common plants of south-central Blue Mountains (Malheur National Forest)
29 Potential natural vegetation of Umatilla National Forest

Using Mathematics in Forestry 15

Paper # Title
30 Potential vegetation mapping chronology
31 Probability of tree mortality as related to fire-caused crown scorch
32 Review of “Integrated scientific assessment for ecosystem management in the in-
terior Columbia basin, and portions of the Klamath and Great basins” – Forest
vegetation
33 Silviculture facts
34 Silvicultural activities: Description and terminology
35 Site potential tree height estimates for Pomeroy and Walla Walla Ranger Dis-
tricts
36 Stand density protocol for mid-scale assessments
37 Stand density thresholds related to crown-fire susceptibility
38 Umatilla National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan: Forestry direc-
tion
39 Updates of maximum stand density index and site index for Blue Mountains var-
iant of Forest Vegetation Simulator
40 Competing vegetation analysis for southern portion of Tower Fire area
41 Using General Land Office survey notes to characterize historical vegetation con-
ditions for Umatilla National Forest
42 Life history traits for common Blue Mountains conifer trees
43 Timber volume reductions associated with green-tree snag replacements
44 Density management field exercise
45 Climate change and carbon sequestration: Vegetation management considera-
tions
46 Knutson-Vandenberg (K-V) program
47 Active management of quaking aspen plant communities in northern Blue Moun-
tains: Regeneration ecology and silvicultural considerations
48 Tower Fire…then and now. Using camera points to monitor postfire recovery
49 How to prepare a silvicultural prescription for uneven-aged management
50 Stand density conditions for Umatilla National Forest: A range of variation anal-
ysis
51 Restoration opportunities for upland forest environments of Umatilla National
Forest
52 New perspectives in riparian management: Why might we want to consider ac-
tive management for certain portions of riparian habitat conservation areas?
53 Eastside Screens chronology
54 Using mathematics in forestry: An environmental education activity
55 Silviculture certification: Tips, tools, and trip-ups
56 Vegetation polygon mapping and classification standards: Malheur, Umatilla,
and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests
57 State of vegetation databases for Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman Na-
tional Forests
58 Seral status for tree species of Blue and Ochoco Mountains

16 Using Mathematics in Forestry

REVISION HISTORY
October 2011: First version of this white paper was prepared for use with Mr. Kevin
Steinmetz’s elementary school class in John Day, Oregon. It had minor revisions many
times since 1990 as it was used for other environmental education activities, such as
outdoor schools. It was designed to show students how mathematics skills are used in
one particular profession (forestry in this instance). For the October 2011 revision, it
was modified to add an appendix describing a white-paper system, and a white-paper
header and formatting was also implemented.

Using Mathematics in Forestry 17