Sustained mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) plantation heartwood increment

In a search for an increment-based rotation for plantation mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King), heartwood volume per tree was regressed on DBH (trunk diameter outside bark at 1.4 m above the ground) and merchantable height measurements. We updated a previous study [Wadsworth, F.H., González González, E., Figuera Colón, J.C., Lugo Pérez, J., 2003. Fifty-nine year performance of planted big-leaf mahogany (S. macrophylla King) in Puerto Rico. In: Lugo, A. Figueroa Colón, J.C., Alayón, M. (Eds.), Big-leaf Mahogany, Genetics, Ecology, and Management. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 343–357] and determined heartwood volume increment in a plantation between the 40th and 69th years. Although DBH growth rate declined with age, that for heartwood increased throughout the entire 69 years. This, with expected growing value per unit of heartwood volume with tree size, presents incentives for long rotations.