Empirical equations for estimating aboveground biomass of betula pendula growing on former farmland in central Poland

Abstract

We determined empirical models for estimating total aboveground as well as stem, branches, and foliage dry biomass of young (age up to 16 years) silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) growing on the post-agricultural lands.Two sets of allometric models for trees with a height below or above 1.3 m (small and large trees respectively) were developed.Simplified models were elaborated based exclusively on appropriate tree diameter (diameter at ground level for small trees, diameter at breast height for large trees), while expanded models also included tree height.Total aboveground biomass was estimated as the sum of biomass of all tree components.To assure additivity of the developed equations, the seemingly unrelated regression approach for the final model fitting was used.Expanded models in both tree groups were characterized by a better fit to the data (R2 for total aboveground biomass for small and large trees equaled 0.8768 and 0.9752, respectively).Diameter at breast height appeared to be a better predictor than diameter at ground level - simplified models had better fit for large trees (R2 for total aboveground biomass equals 0.9611) than for small ones (R2 = 0.7516).The developed equations provide biomass predictions consistent with available Latvian, Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian models for silver birch.