Periodic annual increment

Periodic annual increment (PAI), is a forestry term that describes the change in the size of a tree between the beginning and ending of a growth period, divided by the number of years that was designated as the growing period (Avery, 339). For sigmoid growth, the graph of PAI increases rapidly and then quickly declines, approaching zero. PAI may go negative if a tree loses volume due to damage or disease. Periodic annual increment is commonly used instead of current annual increment as a basis for computing growth per cent. Growth per cent indicates the rate of increase with relation to the wood capital required for its production, this is usually based on a single year's growth (Chapman, 315).