Site Productivity Assessment in Rain Forests: An Objective Approach using Indicator Species

Site productivity assessment is a prerequisite for growth prediction and yield forecasting. Site index (top height at an index age) is not suitable in rain forests where tree height is difficult to measure and tree age is impossible to determine. This paper reports a study which ranked 80 permanent plots according to potential diameter increment, and established equations which allow site productivity to be determined from the presence or absence of several tree species or from geological maps and Landsat TM data