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Biomass allometric equations of nine common tree species in an evergreen broadleaved forest of subtropical China.

 ZUO Shu-di1, REN Yin1, WENG Xian2, DING Hong-feng2, LUO Yun-jian1   

  1. (1Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China; 2Shunchang Pushang Forest Farm of Fujian Province, Nanping 353205, Fujian, China)
  • Online:2015-02-18 Published:2015-02-18

Abstract: Biomass allometric equation (BAE) considered as a simple and reliable method in the estimation of forest biomass and carbon was used widely. In China, numerous studies focused on the BAEs for coniferous forest and pure broadleaved forest, and generalized BAEs were frequently used to estimate the biomass and carbon of mixed broadleaved forest, although they could induce large uncertainty in the estimates. In this study, we developed the speciesspecific and generalized BAEs using biomass measurement for 9 common broadleaved trees (Castanopsis fargesii, C. lamontii, C. tibetana, Lithocarpus glaber, Sloanea sinensis, Daphniphyllum oldhami, Alniphyllum fortunei, Manglietia yuyuanensis, and Engelhardtia fenzlii) of subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest, and compared differences in speciesspecific and generalized BAEs. The results showed that D (diameter at breast height) was a better independent variable in estimating the biomass of branch, leaf, root, aboveground section and total tree than a combined variable (D2H) of D and H (tree height), but D2H was better than D in estimating stem biomass. R2 (coefficient of determination) values of BAEs for 6 species decreased when adding H as the second independent variable into Donly BAEs, where R2 value for S. sinensis decreased by 5.6%. Compared with generalized D and D2Hbased BAEs, standard errors of estimate (SEE) of BAEs for 8 tree species decreased, and similar decreasing trend was observed for different components, where SEEs of the branch decreased by 13.0% and 20.3%. Therefore, the biomass carbon storage and its dynamic estimates were influenced largely by tree species and model types. In order to improve the accuracy of the estimates of biomass and carbon, we should consider the differences in tree species and model types.