Precision dendrometers are logging high-quality data for Mpilo’s Ph.D.

Post authored by Ph.D. candidate Mpilo Khumalo

Dendrometers are frequently used instruments in ecological and forest science research, and are used to measure the diameter of the trees. High-precision dendrometers are one type of sensor in use in Ph.D. candidate Mpilo Khumalo’s ongoing research.

We recently installed high-precision dendrometers (see images above), which are a type of dendrometer that provide more than just diameter measurements (Drew and Downes, 2009). They show a detailed time-series outlining fluctuations in water storage as well as radial growth by trees throughout the day, seasons and years.

We installed this equipment on each tree in our main multi-species trial in the middle of May and they are already logging good quality data. This data will be used by our new Ph.D. candidate, Mr Mpilo Khumalo in his research that is linking ecophysiological processes to variations in wood properties.

See the EucXylo ‘projects’ page to learn more about this and other ongoing projects.