Assessing bias in diameter at breast height estimated from tree rings and its effects on basal area increment and biomass |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Division Forest, Nature and Landscape, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, Box 2411, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium;2. Isotope Bioscience Laboratory, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, BE-9000 Gent, Belgium;3. Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2, L7.05.09, BE-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium;4. UGCT-Woodlab-UGent, Ghent University, Laboratory of Wood Technology, Department of Forest and Water Management, Coupure Links 653, BE-9000 Gent, Belgium;5. Forest & Nature Lab, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium;1. Departamento Forestal, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Calzada Antonio Narro # 1923, Buenavista, Saltillo, Coahuila CP 25315, Mexico;2. Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;3. Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, Oregon State University, 280 Peavy Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-8615, USA;4. Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;5. National Health and Environmental Effect Research Laboratory, Western Ecology Division, US EPA, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA;1. Dpto. Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Ctra. Utrera Km 1, E-41013 Sevilla, Spain;2. Forest Dynamics, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zurcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland;3. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, CSIC (IPE-CSIC), Avda. Montañana, 1005, 50192 Zaragoza, Spain;4. Forest Ecology and Restoration Group, Department of Life Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Spain;5. Wood and Forest Technology Research Centre (CETEMAS), Finca Experimental La Mata s/n, 33825 Grado – Asturias, Spain;6. Research and Training Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries (IFAPA), Junta de Andalucía, Camino de Purchil s/n, 18004 Granada, Spain;7. Laboratory for Dendrogeomorphology, Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Berne, Baltzerstrasse 1, 33012 Berne, Switzerland;8. University of Geneva, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Chair for Climate Change and Climate Impacts, 7 chemin de Drize, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland;9. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain;10. Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, EU de Ingenierías Agrarias, Universidad de Valladolid, Los Pajaritos s/n, 42004 Soria, Spain;11. Forest Ecology, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Dep. Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Universitätstr. 22, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland;1. Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Soldmannstr. 15, 17487 Greifswald, Germany;2. Forest Research and Management Institute, Bucharest, 128 Bd Eroilor, Voluntari, Romania;1. State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;2. Center for Pan-third Pole Environment, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China;3. School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China;4. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE-CSIC), Zaragoza, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Above-ground forest productivity can be reliably estimated from tree-ring width measurements. In doing so, annual growth is linked to the tree’s basal area increment (BAI), which is the change in cross-sectional area associated with each annual ring. When BAI is estimated from ring-width series, a value for the diameter of the tree is required. This diameter is ideally measured in the field, but can also be estimated as the sum of the annual ring widths. Tree biomass can also be estimated directly from the diameter estimates derived from tree-rings. Summing the ring widths, however, typically underestimates the tree’s true diameter. To evaluate this potential bias in diameter, we compared field-measured diameter and diameter estimated from the sum of the ring widths using tree-ring chronologies for seven common species in the eastern United States. We then evaluated the impacts of using the biased diameter estimates on derived BAI and biomass values. To simulate field-sampling error (i.e., failure to reach the pith when obtaining a core sample), we re-calculated BAI and biomass after removing a portion of the innermost rings from each tree. Comparisons of these various methods quantify the substantial and consistent underestimations in forest productivity estimates. To reduce the bias in diameter when using ring widths, we developed a regression model to adjust the diameter using core samples. This model is predicated on having some field-measured diameter values available at a site to calibrate and validate the model, but it can then be used to produce estimates at similar sites with similar species where no field-measured diameter values are available. Values of BAI and biomass derived from model-estimated diameter were more accurate at representing absolute growth than values produced by using the sum of the ring widths. Assessing the interannual variations in tree-growth is dependent on having metrics that accurately reflect the area and mass of wood produced. Our results suggest that published estimates of BAI and biomass using the sum of the ring widths to estimate diameter have substantially underestimated these productivity metrics. Our new procedure allows for more reliable estimates of productivity metrics that use diameter-at-breast height derived from tree rings. |
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| Keywords: | Forest ecology Dendrochronology Dendroecology Basal area increment Biomass Tree growth |
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