ESTIMATING THE ALLOMETRY OF TREE BARK

The allometry of bark thickness was estimated both from thickness data taken with a bark gauge only on ridges and from cross-sectional area data based on a contour of the outside bark-surface, together with an estimate of the inside bark-boundary. Three alternatives of the contou r method are presented; they differ in how the outside bark-contour is obtained, in how the inside bark-boundary is estimated and in invasiv eness. Unlike the contour method alternative (CM2) with equivalently l ow invasiveness, the bark gauge method significantly overestimated mea n bark thickness and overestimated it more for larger individuals. Bec ause the bark gauge method led to significantly and inconsistently hig her allometric coefficients than the contour method, the contour metho d is more appropriate for comparative and ecological studies of bark a llometry.