Allometric equations for estimating the aboveground biomass of bamboos in northern Laos. Issue 2 (4th March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xayalath, Singkone; Hirota, Isao; Tomita, Shinsuke; Nakagawa, Michiko
• Is Part Of: Journal of forest research. Volume 24:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 119
• Publication Date: 2019-03-04
• Subjects: Allometry -- carbon stocks -- culm -- fallow -- multi-species relationship; Forests and forestry -- Periodicals; Forests and forestry -- Japan -- Periodicals; 634.905
• DOI: 10.1080/13416979.2019.1569749
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1341-6979

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Bamboos are dominant plants in northern Laos, where they are closely associated with local people's livelihoods. We developed species-specific allometric equations for estimating aboveground biomass from culm size parameters (diameter at breast height [DBH] and DBH 2 H; H is a culm length) using 11 common bamboo species in the region. The applicability of multi-species allometric equations based on pooled data was also examined. Most species-specific allometric regressions showed significant correlations. In addition, the multi-species allometric relationships for culm biomass and aboveground biomass showed particularly high correlations ( r 2 > 0.96), indicating the usefulness of multi-species allometric equations to estimate bamboo biomass in mixed-species bamboo forests with unknown bamboos and bamboos without species-specific allometric equations. The generally small differences in the fitness of aboveground biomass estimates between DBH and DBH 2 H indicate that DBH is a practical explanatory variable for biomass estimation. These species-specific and multi-species allometric equations will help in developing future work on carbon stocks and cycles in bamboo forests in this region.