Mortality simulations in Pinus radiata plantations in the Tarawera Valley regimes trial

Mortality (due to individual tree competition) was modelled using a first-order autoregressive function. The decay parameter, a from the mortality function, was observed to increase with a decreasing initial stocking, which complies with expectation. This dependence of a on the initial stocking means that, given experimental plots with an even spread of initial stockings over some range, it would be possible to estimate mortality by purely defining the initial stocking. The data used in this study were from one site, which would mean that the mortality model was site specific.