Tree biophysical relationship in the Ampang forest reserve

Meranti (Shorea Spp) is one of the most widely-used tropical timbers due to its high timber value, vertical stability and moderately durable. Monitoring the distribution and inventory of this species is deemed necessary so as to assist the timber producers and forest personnel in their effective growth analysis and forest management daily activities. Unfortunately, detailed of tree biophysical measurement for inventory purposes are often constrained by inaccessibility to site locations, costly and time-consuming. The advancement in remote sensing technology such as the provision of active airborne LiDAR allows for accurate acquisition of tree biophysical parameters and overcome the constrained assemble of tree inventory attained through traditional practices. This paper focuses on defining the allometric relationship for Meranti tree species and depicts the watershed segmentation algorithm approach to delineate tree canopy in a heterogeneous (Ampang) forest. The results have indicated that there is high correlation between tree height and crown diameter for Meranti whereby R² for linear model is 0.738. The findings point to the fact that accurate delineation of tree parameters contributes to the accurate allometric relationship analysis which would be able to support sustainable forest development especially for forest management personnel.