Skip to main content
Download PDF
  • Original Article
  • Published:

Allometric equations to predict the total above-ground biomass of radiata pine trees

Annals of Forest Science volume 67, page 806 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

  • • Radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) is the main exotic plantation tree species grown in New Zealand for wood production and as such represents a significant component of the terrestrial carbon cycle.

  • • Using data for 637 trees collected in 13 different studies, a series of equations was developed that enable the total above-ground biomass of individual radiata pine trees to be estimated from information about height and diameter. A mixed-effects modelling approach was used when fitting these equations in order to account for random fluctuations in model parameters between studies due to site and methodological differences. Linear models were fitted to logarithmically transformed data, while weighted linear and non-linear models were fitted to data on the original arithmetic scale.

  • • Based on a modified likelihood statistic (Furnival’s Index of Fit), models fitted to transformed data were found to perform slightly better than weighted models fitted to data on the original arithmetic scale; however, the latter do not require a means for correcting for the bias that occurs when estimates of biomass obtained from transformed models are back transformed to the original scale.

  • • Recommendations for further development of these models including additional data collection priorities are given.

References

  • Baker T.G. and Attiwill P.M., 1985. Above-ground nutrient distribution and cycling in Pinus radiata D. Don and Eucalyptus obliqua L’H’erit. forests in southeastern Australia. For. Ecol. Manage. 13: 41–52.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker T.G., Attiwill P.M., and Stewart H.T.L., 1984. Biomass equations for Pinus radiata in Gippsland, Victoria. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 14: 89–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandara G.D., 1997. Ecophysiology of clonal and seedling trees of Pinus radiata D. Don in an agroforestry system. Ph.D. thesis, Lincoln University.

  • Barton P.G., 1984. Preliminary results from spray irrigating septic tank effluent into Pinus radiata forests at Warkworth. In: Paterson A. (Ed.), 16th New Zealand Biotechnology Conference, Forest Industries and Biotechnology, Palmerston North, pp. 258–275.

  • Beets P.N. and Madgwick H.A.I., 1988. Above-ground dry matter and nutrient content of Pinus radiata as affected by lupin, fertiliser, thinning, and stand age. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 18: 43–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beets P.N. and Pollock D.S., 1987. Accumulation and partitioning of dry matter in Pinus radiata as related to stand age and thinning. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 17: 246–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beets P.N., Kimberley M.O., and McKinley R.B., 2007a. Predicting wood density of Pinus radiata annual growth increments. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 37: 241–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beets P.N., Pearce S.H., Oliver G.R., and Clinton P.W., 2007b. Root/shoot ratios for deriving below-ground biomass of Pinus radiata stands. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 37: 267–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beets P.N., Robertson K.A., Ford-Robertson J.B., Gordon J., and Maclaren J.P., 1999. Description and validation of C_change: a model for simulating carbon content in managed Pinus radiata stands. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 29: 409–427.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clinton P.W., 1990. Competition for nitrogen and moisture in a Pinus radiata — pasture agroforestry system. Ph.D. thesis, University of Canterbury, Christchurch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cown D.J., McConchie D.L., and Young G.D., 1991: Radiata pine wood properties survey. New Zealand Ministry of Forestry, FRI Bulletin No. 50 (revised edition).

  • Cromer R.N., Barr N.J., Williams E.R., and McNaught A.M., 1985. Response to fertiliser in a Pinus radiata plantation. 1. Above-ground biomass and wood density. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 15: 59–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dargavel J.B., 1970. Provisional tree weight tables for radiata pine. Aust. For. 34: 131–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyck W.J., Hodgkiss P.D., Oliver G.R., and Mees C.A., 1991. Harvesting sand-dune forests: impacts on second-rotation productivity. In: Dyck W.J. and Mees C.A. (Eds.), Long-term Field Trials to Assess Environmental Impacts of Harvesting, FRI Bulletin 161, Forest Research Institute, Rotorua.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furnival G.M., 1961. An index for comparing equations used in constructing volume tables. For. Sci. 7: 337–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2003. Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Kanagawa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson D.S. and Chittenden J., 1981. Estimation of dry matter in Pinus radiata root systems. 1. Individual trees. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 11: 164–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keith H., Barrett D., and Keenan R., 2000. Review of allometric relationships for estimating woody biomass for New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. National Carbon Accounting System Technical Report 5B. Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra. 114 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landsberg J.J. and Waring R.H., 1997. A generalised model of forest productivity using simplified concepts of radiation-use efficiency, carbon balance and partitioning. For. Ecol. Manage. 95: 209–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavery P.B. and Mead D.J., 1998. Pinus radiata: a narrow endemic from North America takes on the world. In: Richardson D.M. (Ed.), Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 432–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehtonen A., Makipaa Heikkinen J., Sievanen R., and Liski J., 2004. Biomass expansion factors (BEF) for Scots pine, Norway spruce and birch according to stand age for boreal forests. For. Ecol. Manage. 188: 211–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin L.I., 1989. A concordance correlation coefficient to evaluate reproducibility. Biometrics, 45: 255–268.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin L.I., 2000. A note on the concordance correlation coefficient. Biometrics 56: 324–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madgwick H.A.I., 1983. Estimation of the oven-dry weight of stems, needles and branches of individual Pinus radiata trees. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 13: 108–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madgwick H.A.I., 1985. Dry matter and nutrient relationships in stands of Pinus radiata. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 15: 324–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madgwick H.A.I., 1994. Pinus radiata — Biomass, Form and Growth. H.A.I. Madgwick, 36 Selwyn Road, Rotorua, 428 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madgwick H.A.I., Jackson D.S., and Knight P.J., 1977. Aboveground dry matter, energy and nutrient contents of trees in an age series of Pinus radiata plantations. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 7: 445–468.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mead D.J., Draper D., and Madgwick H.A.I., 1984. Dry matter production of a young stand of Pinus radiata: Some effects of nitrogen fertiliser and thinning. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 14: 97–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2007. A national exotic forest description as at 1 April 2006. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Wellington, 62 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • New Zealand Government, 2008. Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading) Amendment Act 2008. Public Act 2008 No. 85.

  • Parresol B.R., 1999. Assessing tree and stand biomass: a review with examples and critical comparisons. For. Sci. 45: 573–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro J.C. and Bates D.M., 2000. Mixed-Effects Models in S and S-Plus. Springer-Verlag, New York, 528 p.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team, 2009. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL http://www.R-project.org.

  • Smith C.T., Dyck W.J., Beets P.N., Hodgkiss P.D., and Lowe A.T., 1994. Nutrition and productivity of Pinus radiata following harvesting disturbance and fertilization of coastal sand dunes. For. Ecol. Manage. 66: 5–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snowdon P., Eamus D., Gibbons P., Khanna P.K., Keith H., Raison R.J., and Kirschbaum M.U.F., 2000. Synthesis of allometrics, review of root biomass and design of future woody biomass sampling strategies. National Carbon Accounting System Technical Report 17, Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens P., Smith B., and Lincoln R., 2008. New Zealand: Forest carbon reporting and the role of forestry in climate change policy. In: Hendrick E. and Black K.G. (Eds.), Forests, Carbon and Climate Change — Local and International Perspectives, Proceedings of the COFORD conference held at the Glenview Hotel, Co Wicklow on 19 September 2007. COFORD, Dublin.

  • Ter-Mikaelian M.E. and Korzukhin M.D., 1997. Biomass equations for sixty-five North-American tree species. For. Ecol. Manage. 97: 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Laar A. and van Lill W.S., 1978. A biomass study in Pinus radiata D. Don. S. Afr. For. J. 107: 71–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webber B. and Madgwick H.A.I., 1983. Biomass and nutrient content of a 29-year-old Pinus radiata stand. N. Z. J. For. Sci. 13: 222–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Will G.M., 1964. Dry matter production and nutrient uptake by Pinus radiata in New Zealand. Commonwealth For. Rev. 43: 57–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wirth C., Schumacher J., and Schulze E.-D., 2004. Generic biomass functions for Norway spruce in Central Europe — a meta-analysis approach toward prediction and uncertainty estimation. Tree Physiol. 24: 121–139.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zianis D., Muukkonen P., Mäkipää R., and Mencuccini M., 2005. Biomass and stem volume equations for tree species in Europe. Silva Fenn. Monogr. 4: 63.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Timber Engineering, Edinburgh Napier University, Merchiston Campus, 10 Colinton Road, EH10 5DT, Edinburgh, UK

    John R. Moore

Authors
  1. John R. Moore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John R. Moore.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moore, J.R. Allometric equations to predict the total above-ground biomass of radiata pine trees. Ann. For. Sci. 67, 806 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2010042

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2010042

Keywords

Annals of Forest Science

ISSN: 1297-966X