Don, I understand your argument. It is just that in the discussions of longest limb in the past, we could not reach a consensus of not only what we were trying to measure with the concept, and the methodology of what should be measured. The discussion died out once different people each expressed their opinion. So there is no standardized method of measuring longest limb.
Ed Frank http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ http://primalforests.ning.com/ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=709156957 ----- Original Message ----- From: DON BERTOLETTE To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 3:35 PM Subject: RE: [ENTS] Re: Rucker Spread Index? Ed- Limb or branch length is almost self-explanatory (starts from the pith of the trunk that the limb/branch is attached to, or alternatively, from the 'imagined' surface of the trunk, where the pith would imaginably pass through the trunk on its way to the trunks pith). The role the limb/branch plays in crown spread is another story and another measurement. -don ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ENTS] Re: Rucker Spread Index? Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:17:36 -0500 The best method in my opinion is the spoke method, where a series of shots are made from the crown tips to the edge of the tree trunk in a spoke like pattern. 2X the average of these spokes is the average crown spread of the tree. Maximum crown spread is the greatest distance from branch tip to branch tip and may not pass directly through the trunk. The specifics for the measurement for the longest limb is still being debated. One argument suggests it should be horizontal offset from the outermost branch to the projection above the center of the tree, one suggests it should be the horizontal offset from the outermost branch tip to the collar of the limb where it attaches to the trunk, and a third has suggested it should be the path length from the outermost tip along the branch itself to the collar at the base of the branch. http://www.nativetreesociety.org/measure/longlimbs/longest_limbs.htm Ed Frank
