Allometric Biomass Models for European Beech and Silver Fir: Testing Approaches to Minimize the Demand for Site-Specific Biomass Observations

oleh: Ioan Dutcă, Dimitris Zianis, Ion Cătălin Petrițan, Cosmin Ion Bragă, Gheorghe Ștefan, Jorge Curiel Yuste, Any Mary Petrițan

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-10-01

Deskripsi

In this paper, site-specific allometric biomass models were developed for European beech (<i>Fagus sylvatica</i> L.) and silver fir (<i>Abies alba</i> Mill.) to estimate the aboveground biomass in Șinca virgin forest, Romania. Several approaches to minimize the demand for site-specific observations in allometric biomass model development were also investigated. Developing site-specific allometric biomass models requires new measurements of biomass for a sample of trees from that specific site. Yet, measuring biomass is laborious, time consuming, and requires extensive logistics, especially for very large trees. The allometric biomass models were developed for a wide range of diameters at breast height, D (6–86 cm for European beech and 6–93 cm for silver fir) using a logarithmic transformation approach. Two alternative approaches were applied, i.e., random intercept model (RIM) and a Bayesian model with strong informative priors, to enhance the information of the site-specific sample (of biomass observations) by supplementing with a generic biomass sample. The appropriateness of each model was evaluated based on the aboveground biomass prediction of a 1 ha sample plot in Șinca forest. The results showed that models based on both D and tree height (H) to predict tree aboveground biomass (AGB) were more accurate predictors of AGB and produced plot-level estimates with better precision, than models based on D only. Furthermore, both RIM and Bayesian approach performed similarly well when a small local sample (of seven smallest trees) was used to calibrate the allometric model. Therefore, the generic biomass observations may effectively be combined with a small local sample (of just a few small trees) to calibrate an allometric model to a certain site and to minimize the demand for site-specific biomass measurements. However, special attention should be given to the H-D ratio, since it can affect the allometry and the performance of the reduced local sample approach.