Site Quality

 Site Quality is defined as the separation of forest land into the various classes of productivity based on average total height of the dominant trees  The average total height is the height of the tree at 100 years  Referred to as the Site Index

Site Index  Grouped into 5 different classes  Roman numerals are used in the index  Site I: 200 ft in 100 years  Site II: 170 ft in 100 years  Site III: 140 ft in 100 years  Site IV: 110 ft in 100 years  Site V: 80 ft in 100 years

Site Index  Various combinations of physical characteristics go into determining the site class.  Soil, drainage, rainfall, temperature, altitude, slope and aspect  Soil is the major determiner of the site class

Site Indicators  Plants that dominate a certain site class  Help foresters determine site class  For example: bigleaf maple and sword fern indicate a site class of I; Poison oak and white oak indicate a site class of V