Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka

Forests are important ecosystems as they reduce the atmospheric CO2 amounts and thereby control the global warming. Estimation of biomass values are vital to determine the carbon contents stored in trees. However, biomass estimation is not an easy task as the trees should be felled or uprooted whic...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: SMCUP Subasinghe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Sri Jayewardenepura 2014-06-01
Series:Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment
Online Access:http://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/JTFE/article/view/1056
_version_ 1811338681602015232
author SMCUP Subasinghe
author_facet SMCUP Subasinghe
author_sort SMCUP Subasinghe
collection DOAJ
description Forests are important ecosystems as they reduce the atmospheric CO2 amounts and thereby control the global warming. Estimation of biomass values are vital to determine the carbon contents stored in trees. However, biomass estimation is not an easy task as the trees should be felled or uprooted which are time consuming and expensive procedures. As a solution to this problem, construction of mathematical relationships to predict biomass from easily measurable variables can be used.   The present study attempted to construct a mathematical model to predict the stem biomass of Pinus caribaea using the data collected from a 26 year old plantation located in Yagirala Forest Reserve in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka. Due to the geographical undulations of this forest, two 0.05 ha sample plots were randomly established in each of valley, slope and ridge-top areas. In order to construct the model, stem wood density values were calculated by using stem core samples extracted at the breast height point. Stem volume was estimated for each tree using Newton’s formula and the stem biomass was then estimated by converting the weight of the known volume of core samples to the weight of the stem volume. Prior to pool the data for model construction, the density variations along the stem and between geographical locations were also tested.   It was attempted to predict the biomass using both dbh and tree height. Apart from the untransformed variables, four biologically acceptable transformations were also used for model construction to obtain the best model. All possible combinations of model structures were fitted to the data. The preliminary model selection for further analysis was done based on higher R2 values and compatibility with the biological reality. Out of those preliminary selected models, the final selection was done using the average model bias and modeling efficiency quantitatively and using standard residual distribution qualitatively. After the final evaluation the following model was selected as the best model to use in the field.      
first_indexed 2024-04-13T18:14:44Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f26a5d99878548948956dee004458e07
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2235-9370
2235-9362
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T18:14:44Z
publishDate 2014-06-01
publisher University of Sri Jayewardenepura
record_format Article
series Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment
spelling doaj.art-f26a5d99878548948956dee004458e072022-12-22T02:35:44ZengUniversity of Sri JayewardenepuraJournal of Tropical Forestry and Environment2235-93702235-93622014-06-01411823Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri LankaSMCUP Subasinghe0University of Sri Jayewardenepura Forests are important ecosystems as they reduce the atmospheric CO2 amounts and thereby control the global warming. Estimation of biomass values are vital to determine the carbon contents stored in trees. However, biomass estimation is not an easy task as the trees should be felled or uprooted which are time consuming and expensive procedures. As a solution to this problem, construction of mathematical relationships to predict biomass from easily measurable variables can be used.   The present study attempted to construct a mathematical model to predict the stem biomass of Pinus caribaea using the data collected from a 26 year old plantation located in Yagirala Forest Reserve in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka. Due to the geographical undulations of this forest, two 0.05 ha sample plots were randomly established in each of valley, slope and ridge-top areas. In order to construct the model, stem wood density values were calculated by using stem core samples extracted at the breast height point. Stem volume was estimated for each tree using Newton’s formula and the stem biomass was then estimated by converting the weight of the known volume of core samples to the weight of the stem volume. Prior to pool the data for model construction, the density variations along the stem and between geographical locations were also tested.   It was attempted to predict the biomass using both dbh and tree height. Apart from the untransformed variables, four biologically acceptable transformations were also used for model construction to obtain the best model. All possible combinations of model structures were fitted to the data. The preliminary model selection for further analysis was done based on higher R2 values and compatibility with the biological reality. Out of those preliminary selected models, the final selection was done using the average model bias and modeling efficiency quantitatively and using standard residual distribution qualitatively. After the final evaluation the following model was selected as the best model to use in the field.       http://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/JTFE/article/view/1056
spellingShingle SMCUP Subasinghe
Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka
Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment
title Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka
title_full Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka
title_short Prediction of stem biomass of Pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of Sri Lanka
title_sort prediction of stem biomass of pinus caribaea growing in the low country wet zone of sri lanka
url http://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/JTFE/article/view/1056
work_keys_str_mv AT smcupsubasinghe predictionofstembiomassofpinuscaribaeagrowinginthelowcountrywetzoneofsrilanka