From Bart Diels (9.07):
Intrigued by your question regarding the growth rate of trees I started an Internet search, which led me to this website: http://library.wur.nl/wasp/bestanden/LUWPUBRD_00311645_A502_001.pdf.
The report you will find there is in Dutch; I will try to summarise the relevant
bits in English.
Very short summary
As the growth of trees is determined by many different parameters, no chart
will be able tell you exactly how tall an oak tree (or any other tree) will
be after a given number of years. But there are charts that can tell
you things you might still find useful.
Summary
The growth of any tree (or any vegetation whatsoever) is determined by a large
number of parameter. The most elementary of these seem to be the availability
of nitrogen (that is, up to a certain point of saturation) and light. Weather
and climate, the quality of the soil, presence of other vegetables in the vicinity
are just some of the influencing factors. The tree growth chart for an oak in,
say, Wales, may therefore be quite different from a tree growth chart for
a similar oak in New South Wales. Even within Wales the growth charts for similar
trees may vary significantly.
The report I linked to contains growth charts for five kinds of vegetation as
measured in certain areas in the Netherlands, two of them being trees (namely:
the oak and the birch tree). You will find them at the bottom of page 28 (fig.
5). The chart on the left depicts the growth rate in a 'poor wood', the chart
on the right shows the growth of the same kinds of vegetation in a 'rich wood'.
In both figures the horizontal axis is for time in years, the vertical axis
is for height in meters, the blue curve is for the oak, the red curve is for
the birch tree, the green curve is for shrubs and the yellow curve is for herbs.
The text beneath figure 5 translates roughly as follows:
Fig. 5. Length growth of the functional types at minimal length growth (left)
and maximal length growth (right) respectively. The length growth is illustrated
with the pioneer tree being the birch tree and the climax tree being the oak.
Biggest difference between both situations is the growth rate. Under
poor circumstances, in the first few years shrubs and birch trees have
the same growth rate, after which the birch tree remains the tallest tree for
a long time. Only after some 150 years the oak becomes the tallest tree. Under
rich circumstances, in the first few years shrubs, birch trees and oaks
grow in the same pace, after which within 50 years the oak becomes the tallest
tree. For both situations goes that in the first year the herbs are the tallest
of all (and thus are the first to interscept the light).
Glossary
Functional type:
Five vegatational stucture types are distinguished, the so called functional
types: herbs, dwarf-shrubs, shrubs, pioneer trees and climax trees. These type
compete each other for available nitrogen and light.
Herbs and grasses:
Non-woody species. In general not taller than 2 meters, mostly less. Together
with the dwarf-shrubs this is the type that remains lowest.
Dwarf-shrubs:
Woody species that in general do not grow taller than half a meter. Most of
them are evergreens with needle-like leaves.
Shrubs:
Woody species up to 7 meters tall.
Pioneer trees:
Woody vegetation up to 30 meters tall. At succession, these are often the first
species of trees. Eventually, they are largely superseded by the climax trees.
Climax trees:
Woody species up to 35 meters tall. At unhindered succession, these species
eventually make out a big part of the tree layer. Compared with the pioneer
trees these species in general grow slower and attain their maximal bio mass
much later on.
Succession:
Development of a vegetated area. Stages of succession are bare soil, grassland,
heath, shrub, forest.
Bio mass:
Total mass of roots, wood and leaves.
More information
Experts at Wageningen University, The Netherlands (http://www.wageningenuniversiteit.nl/uk/)
will certainly be able to give a more extensive answer to your question. The
following publication may be a starting point for further investigations:
Title: Long-term responses of a poplar agroforestry system to elevated CO2:
tree growth, biomass productivity and carbon pools
Author(s): Scarascia-Mugnozza, G.; Calfapietra, C.; Gielen, B.; Angelis, P.
de; Liberloo, M.; Lukac, M.; Godbold, D.; Cotrufo, M.F.; Hoosbeek, M.R.; Taylor,
G.; Raines, C.; Marek, M.; Kull, O.; Miglietta, F.; Polle, A.; Ceulemans, R.
Source: In: Short- and long-term effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on managed
ecosystems. - Ascona : CSF, 2004
Event: Face International Workshop Monte Verita, Ascona, Switzerland, 2004-03-20/
2004-03-25
Department(s): Laboratorium voor Bodemkunde en geologie (Laboratory of Soil
Science and Geology)
Research programme(s): Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research
(1997 - 2007 )
Subtheme: SENSE Core 2 Environmental change and ecosystem dynamics
Type of publication: Abstract in scientific journal or proceedings
Year of publication: 2004
Hope this is answer is not too disappointing.