Development and testing of allometric equations for estimating above-ground biomass of mixed-species environmental plantings
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-15-2013
Journal Title
Forest Ecology and Management
ISSN
ISSN 0378-1127 eISSN 1872-7042
Keywords
Aboveground biomass, Allometry, Biodiversity plantings, Carbon, Destructive sampling, Generalised equations
Disciplines
Agribusiness | Agricultural Science | Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Climate | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring | Forest Biology | Forest Management | Natural Resource Economics | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing | Plant Biology
Abstract
To quantify the impact that planting indigenous trees and shrubs in mixed communities (environmental plantings) have on net sequestration of carbon and other environmental or commercial benefits, precise and non-biased estimates of biomass are required. Because these plantings consist of several species, estimation of their biomass through allometric relationships is a challenging task. We explored methods to accurately estimate biomass through harvesting 3139 trees and shrubs from 22 plantings, and collating similar datasets from earlier studies, in non-arid (>300 mm rainfall year−1) regions of southern and eastern Australia. Site-and-species specific allometric equations were developed, as were three types of generalised, multi-site, allometric equations based on categories of species and growth-habits: (i) species-specific, (ii) genus and growth-habit, and (iii) universal growth-habit irrespective of genus. Biomass was measured at plot level at eight contrasting sites to test the accuracy of prediction of tonnes dry matter of above-ground biomass per hectare using different classes of allometric equations. A finer-scale analysis tested performance of these at an individual-tree level across a wider range of sites. Although the percentage error in prediction could be high at a given site (up to 45%), it was relatively low (<11%) when generalised allometry-predictions of biomass was used to make regional- or estate-level estimates across a range of sites. Precision, and thus accuracy, increased slightly with the level of specificity of allometry. Inclusion of site-specific factors in generic equations increased efficiency of prediction of above-ground biomass by as much as 8%. Site-and-species-specific equations are the most accurate for site-based predictions. Generic allometric equations developed here, particularly the generic species-specific equations, can be confidently applied to provide regional- or estate-level estimates of above-ground biomass and carbon.
Recommended Citation
Keryn I. Paul, Stephen H. Roxburgh, Jacqueline R. England, Peter Ritson, Trevor Hobbs, Kim Brooksbank, R. John Raison, John S. Larmour, Simon Murphy, Jaymie Norris, Craig Neumann, Tom Lewis, Justin Jonson, Jenny L. Carter, Geoff McArthur, Craig Barton, Ben Rose, Development and testing of allometric equations for estimating above-ground biomass of mixed-species environmental plantings, Forest Ecology and Management, Volume 310, 2013, Pages 483-494, ISSN 0378-1127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.08.054.
