Using TLS-Measured Tree Attributes to Estimate Aboveground Biomass in Small Black Spruce Trees

Forests

Guillermo Castilla¹  Michelle Filiatrault¹  G. Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa²  Steven Wagers² 

[1] Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, 5320 122 Street Northwest, Edmonton, AB T6H 3S5, Canada;Centre for Earth Observation Sciences (CEOS), Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada;

关键词: terrestrial laser scanning;    biomass;    black spruce;    allometric equations;   

DOI  :  10.3390/f12111521

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Research Highlights: This study advances the effort to accurately estimate the biomass of trees in peatlands, which cover 13% of Canada’s land surface. Background and Objectives: Trees remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it as biomass. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has become a useful tool for modelling forest structure and estimating the above ground biomass (AGB) of trees. Allometric equations are often used to estimate individual tree AGB as a function of height and diameter at breast height (DBH), but these variables can often be laborious to measure using traditional methods. The main objective of this study was to develop allometric equations using TLS-measured variables and compare their accuracy with that of other widely used equations that rely on DBH. Materials and Methods: The study focusses on small black spruce trees (<5 m) located in peatland ecosystems of the Taiga Plains Ecozone in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Black spruce growing in peatlands are often stunted when compared to upland black spruce and having models specific to them would allow for more precise biomass estimates. One hundred small trees were destructively sampled from 10 plots and the dry weight of each tree was measured in the lab. With this reference data, we fitted biomass models specific to peatland black spruce using DBH, crown diameter, crown area, height, tree volume, and bounding box volume as predictors. Results: Our best models had crown size and height as predictors and outperformed established AGB equations that rely on DBH. Conclusions: Our equations are based on predictors that can be measured from above, and therefore they may enable the plotless creation of accurate biomass reference data for a prominent tree species in a common ecosystem (treed peatlands) in North America’s boreal.

【 授权许可】

Unknown