Uncertainty in the spatial distribution of tropical forest biomass: a comparison of pan-tropical maps.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mapping the aboveground biomass of tropical forests is essential both for implementing conservation policy and reducing uncertainties in the global carbon cycle. Two medium resolution (500 m - 1000 m) pantropical maps of vegetation biomass have been recently published, and have been widely used by sub-national and national-level activities in relation to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). Both maps use similar input data layers, and are driven by the same spaceborne LiDAR dataset providing systematic forest height and canopy structure estimates, but use different ground datasets for calibration and different spatial modelling methodologies. Here, we compare these two maps to each other, to the FAO's Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) 2010

SUBMITTER: Mitchard ET 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4175488 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature