From a tree to a stand in Finnish boreal forests: Biomass estimation and comparison of methods
Liu C. (2009). From a tree to a stand in Finnish boreal forests: Biomass estimation and comparison of methods. https://doi.org/10.14214/df.88
Abstract
There is an increasing need to compare the results obtained with different methods of estimation of tree biomass in order to reduce the uncertainty in the assessment of forest biomass carbon. In this study, tree biomass was investigated in a 30-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) (Young-Stand) and a 130-year-old mixed Norway spruce (Picea abies)-Scots pine stand (Mature-Stand) located in southern Finland (61°50' N, 24°22' E). In particular, a comparison of the results of different estimation methods was conducted to assess the reliability and suitability of their applications. For the trees in Mature-Stand, annual stem biomass increment fluctuated following a sigmoid equation, and the fitting curves reached a maximum level (from about 1 kg yr–1 for understorey spruce to 7 kg yr–1 for dominant pine) when the trees were 100 years old). Tree biomass was estimated to be about 70 Mg ha–1 in Young-Stand and about 220 Mg ha–1 in Mature-Stand. In the region (58.00–62.13 ºN, 14–34 ºE, ≤ 300 m a.s.l.) surrounding the study stands, the tree biomass accumulation in Norway spruce and Scots pine stands followed a sigmoid equation with stand age, with a maximum of 230 Mg ha–1 at the age of 140 years. In Mature-Stand, lichen biomass on the trees was 1.63 Mg ha–1 with more than half of the biomass occurring on dead branches, and the standing crop of litter lichen on the ground was about 0.09 Mg ha–1. There were substantial differences among the results estimated by different methods in the stands. These results imply that a possible estimation error should be taken into account when calculating tree biomass in a stand with an indirect approach.
Keywords
boreal forests;
tree biomass;
estimate methods;
lichen
Published 28 April 2009
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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/df.88 | Download PDF
Original articles
Liu, C., Ilvesniemi, H. & Westman, C. J. 2000. Biomass of arboreal lichens and its distribution in the boreal coniferous forests in central Finland. The Lichenologists 32: 495–504.
https://doi.org/10.1006/lich.2000.0288
Ilvesniemi, H. & Liu, C. 2001. Biomass distribution in a young Scots pine stand. Boreal Environment Research 6: 3–8.
http://www.borenv.net/BER/pdfs/ber6-003s.pdf
Liu, C., Westman, C. J. & Ilvesniemi, H. Annual stem biomass increment related to variation in tree ring-width in boreal Norway spruce and Scots pine. Manuscript.
Liu, C. & Westman, C. J. 2009. Biomass in a Norway spruce – Scots pine forest: A comparison of estimation methods. Boreal Environment Research. In press.