Stem basic density and bark proportion of 45 woody species in young savanna coppice forests in Burkina Faso

Abstract

In total 1287 sample trees were taken from 57 savanna woody species, representing 22 families in 5 stands, 5-14 years old, at 4 sites which has a mean annual precipitation of 620-785 mm in Burkina Faso. Stem discs were taken at one-meter intervals along the tree stem up to a diameter of 3 cm. For 45 of these species, with more than 4 stems sampled, the stem basic density varied between 301-854 kg m-3. Bark proportion of stem biomass varied between 9-53%. Indications of decreased basic density and increased bark proportion with height of the stem and with decreased stem size was found for several species. Data presented provides a basis for the construction of models to convert standing woody volumes over bark to oven-dry mass whereby the bark proportion of the stem biomass can be determined.