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Georgia Growing-Stock Mortality by Damage Agent and Species

Overview

This query calculates average annual mortality of growing-stock trees (at least 5 inches d.b.h.) on timberland in Georgia, grouped by damage agent and species. It uses the growing stock timber components from TREE_GRM_COMPONENT table to focus on merchantable timber mortality.

Key Components

Tables Used

  • POP_STRATUM - Statistical strata and expansion factors
  • POP_PLOT_STRATUM_ASSGN - Links plots to strata
  • PLOT - Plot locations with previous plot linkages
  • PLOTGEOM - Plot geometry (required for join)
  • COND - Condition data
  • TREE - Tree measurements with damage agent codes
  • TREE_GRM_BEGIN, TREE_GRM_MIDPT - Growth period tree data
  • TREE_GRM_COMPONENT - Mortality components with growing stock focus
  • REF_SPECIES - Species reference data

Key Fields

  • AGENTCD - Damage agent code (0-99)
  • SUBP_TPAMORT_UNADJ_GS_TIMBER - Unadjusted mortality for growing stock timber
  • SUBP_SUBPTYP_GRM_GS_TIMBER - Subplot type for growing stock
  • SUBP_COMPONENT_GS_TIMBER - Component type (filtered for MORTALITY%)

Damage Agent Categories

  • 0: No serious damage
  • 1-19: Insect
  • 20-29: Disease
  • 30-39: Fire
  • 40-49: Animal
  • 50-59: Weather
  • 60-69: Vegetation (competition)
  • 70-79: Unknown/other
  • 80-89: Logging/human
  • 90-99: Physical

Filters

  • Growing stock timber components only (_GS_TIMBER columns)
  • Mortality components only (COMPONENT LIKE 'MORTALITY%')
  • Georgia state (rscd = 33)
  • 2023 GRM evaluation (evalid = 132303)

Results Summary

Total Annual Growing Stock Mortality by Damage Agent

Damage Agent Trees per Year Species Count % of Total
Insect 12,456,468 23 35.1%
Disease 8,584,680 49 24.2%
Vegetation 7,880,108 50 22.2%
Weather 5,516,640 45 15.6%
Fire 1,474,835 26 4.2%
Animal 344,485 10 1.0%
Unknown/other 74,005 3 0.2%

Total: ~36.3 million growing stock trees per year

Key Species Mortality (Insect damage)

  • Loblolly pine (SPCD 131): 7.9 million trees/year - dominant mortality
  • Slash pine (SPCD 111): 2.4 million trees/year
  • Shortleaf pine (SPCD 110): 601,286 trees/year
  • Longleaf pine (SPCD 121): 525,138 trees/year

Notes

  • Insect damage is the leading cause of growing stock mortality (35.1%)
  • Pine species dominate insect mortality, particularly southern pine beetle impacts
  • Disease affects more species (49) but lower total mortality than insects
  • Vegetation competition is significant (22.2%), reflecting dense forest conditions
  • Weather-related mortality (15.6%) includes drought, wind, and ice damage
  • The query uses growing stock specific columns (_GS_TIMBER) to focus on merchantable timber

Query Translation Notes

Oracle to DuckDB changes:

  • LPAD(SPCD, 4, '0') → printf('%04d', SPCD)
  • LEAST() function adapted for range comparisons
  • Complex nested joins maintained for GRM table relationships
  • Schema prefix FS_FIADB. removed for DuckDB