Variability and uncertainty in forest biomass estimates from the tree to landscape scale: the role of allometric equations.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Biomass maps are valuable tools for estimating forest carbon and forest planning. Individual-tree biomass estimates made using allometric equations are the foundation for these maps, yet the potentially-high uncertainty and bias associated with individual-tree estimates is commonly ignored in biomass map error. We developed allometric equations for lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa), and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in northern Colorado. Plot-level biomass estimates were combined with Landsat imagery and geomorphometric and climate layers to map aboveground tree biomass. We compared biomass estimates for individual trees, plots, and at the landscape-scale using our locally-developed allometric equations, nationwide equations applied across the

SUBMITTER: Vorster AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7227279 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature