Abstract: A total of 1139 trees from 8 clear-cut stands dominated by fir, spruce, and pine in the Changbai Mountains were selected to study the relationships between the coefficient of variation of diameter and height and the competition index of the three main coniferous tree species in the Mountains. For the test tree species, the variation of height vs. diameter class was relatively small, while the variations of diameter and height vs. age class were larger, with the largest coefficient of variation of diameter vs. age class. The traditional height-diameter models could better reflect the real growth of trees, whereas the diameter-age or height-age models were not good enough. Competition was the main factor inducing the variations of tree diameter and height, suggesting that incorporating the competition index to the traditional models of tree growth and height could improve the model accuracy significantly.

Key words: basal area of larger tree, coefficient of variation, sample tree, precision, Changbai Mountains, data assimilation, ecological process model, remote sensing., water and carbon fluxes