The mean annual increment (MAI) or mean annual growth refers to the average growth per year a tree or stand of trees has exhibited/experienced to a specified age. For example, a 20-year old tree that has a diameter at breast height (dbh) of 10.0 inches has an MAI of 0.5 inches/year. MAI is calculated as where Y(t) = yield at time t. Because the typical growth patterns of most trees is sigmoidal, the MAI starts out small, increases to a maximum value as the tree matures, then declines slowly over the remainder of the tree's life. Throughout this, the MAI always remains positive. MAI differs from periodic annual increment (PAI) because the PAI is simply the growth for one specific year or any other specified length of time.
The point where the MAI and PAI meet is typically referred to as the biological rotation age. This is the age at which the tree or stand would be harvested if the management objective is to maximize long-term yield. The proof of this definition is shown by differentiating MAI(t) with respect to t, and is shown by Husch, Miller, and Beers
Famous quotes containing the word annual:
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)