Recommendations for the use of tree models to estimate national forest biomass and assess their uncertainty

Matieu Henry (1) , Miguel Cifuentes Jara (2) , Maxime Réjou-Méchain (3) , Daniel Piotto , José María Michel Fuentes , Craig Wayson , Federico Alice Guier , Héctor Castañeda Lombis , Edwin Castellanos López , Ruby Cuenca Lara , Kelvin Cueva Rojas , Javier Fernández Vega , Abner Jiménez Galo , Omar R. López , Lars Gunnar Marklund , Fabián Milla , José de Jesús Návar Cahidez , Edgar Ortiz Malavassi , Johnny Pérez , Carla Ramírez Zea , Luis Rangel García , Rafael Rubilar Pons , Carlos Sanquetta , Charles Scott , James Westfall , Mauricio Zapata-Cuartas , Laurent Saint-André (4)

1 FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
2 CATIE - Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza - Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center
3 UMR AMAP - Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations
4 BEF - Unité de recherche Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers

AbstractKey messageThree options are proposed to improve the accuracy of national forest biomass estimates and decrease the uncertainty related to tree model selection depending on available data and national contexts.IntroductionDifferent tree volume and biomass equations result in different estimates. At national scale, differences of estimates can be important while they constitute the basis to guide policies and measures, particularly in the context of climate change mitigation.MethodFew countries have developed national tree volume and biomass equation databases and have explored its potential to decrease uncertainty of volume and biomasttags estimates. With the launch of the GlobAllomeTree webplatform, most countries in the world could have access to country-specific databases. The aim of this article is to recommend approaches for assessing tree and forest volume and biomass at national level with the lowest uncertainty. The article highlights the crucial need to link allometric equation development with national forest inventory planning efforts.ResultsModels must represent the tree population considered. Data availability; technical, financial, and human capacities; and biophysical context, among other factors, will influence the calculation process.ConclusionThree options are proposed to improve accuracy of national forest assessment depending on identified contexts. Further improvements could be obtained through improved forest stratification and additional non-destructive field campaigns.

Mots clés: Methodology; Forest carbon; National Forest Inventory; Forest management

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Matieu Henry, Miguel Cifuentes Jara, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Daniel Piotto, José María Michel Fuentes, et al.. Recommendations for the use of tree models to estimate national forest biomass and assess their uncertainty. Annals of Forest Science, 2015, 72 (6), pp.769-777. ⟨10.1007/s13595-015-0465-x⟩. ⟨hal-01290975⟩