scholarly journals Above-ground biomass and structure of 260 African tropical forests

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1625) ◽  
pp. 20120295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L. Lewis ◽  
Bonaventure Sonké ◽  
Terry Sunderland ◽  
Serge K. Begne ◽  
Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Mass Density ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
Closed Canopy

We report above-ground biomass (AGB), basal area, stem density and wood mass density estimates from 260 sample plots (mean size: 1.2 ha) in intact closed-canopy tropical forests across 12 African countries. Mean AGB is 395.7 Mg dry mass ha −1 (95% CI: 14.3), substantially higher than Amazonian values, with the Congo Basin and contiguous forest region attaining AGB values (429 Mg ha −1 ) similar to those of Bornean forests, and significantly greater than East or West African forests. AGB therefore appears generally higher in palaeo- compared with neotropical forests. However, mean stem density is low (426 ± 11 stems ha −1 greater than or equal to 100 mm diameter) compared with both Amazonian and Bornean forests (cf. approx. 600) and is the signature structural feature of African tropical forests. While spatial autocorrelation complicates analyses, AGB shows a positive relationship with rainfall in the driest nine months of the year, and an opposite association with the wettest three months of the year; a negative relationship with temperature; positive relationship with clay-rich soils; and negative relationships with C : N ratio (suggesting a positive soil phosphorus–AGB relationship), and soil fertility computed as the sum of base cations. The results indicate that AGB is mediated by both climate and soils, and suggest that the AGB of African closed-canopy tropical forests may be particularly sensitive to future precipitation and temperature changes.

scholarly journals The climatic imprint of bimodal distributions in vegetation cover for western Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 3343-3357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zun Yin ◽  
Stefan C. Dekker ◽  
Bart J. J. M. van den Hurk ◽  
Henk A. Dijkstra
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Precipitation Regime ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
Western Africa ◽  
Precipitation Regimes ◽  
Woody Cover

Abstract. Observed bimodal distributions of woody cover in western Africa provide evidence that alternative ecosystem states may exist under the same precipitation regimes. In this study, we show that bimodality can also be observed in mean annual shortwave radiation and above-ground biomass, which might closely relate to woody cover due to vegetation–climate interactions. Thus we expect that use of radiation and above-ground biomass enables us to distinguish the two modes of woody cover. However, through conditional histogram analysis, we find that the bimodality of woody cover still can exist under conditions of low mean annual shortwave radiation and low above-ground biomass. It suggests that this specific condition might play a key role in critical transitions between the two modes, while under other conditions no bimodality was found. Based on a land cover map in which anthropogenic land use was removed, six climatic indicators that represent water, energy, climate seasonality and water–radiation coupling are analysed to investigate the coexistence of these indicators with specific land cover types. From this analysis we find that the mean annual precipitation is not sufficient to predict potential land cover change. Indicators of climate seasonality are strongly related to the observed land cover type. However, these indicators cannot predict a stable forest state under the observed climatic conditions, in contrast to observed forest states. A new indicator (the normalized difference of precipitation) successfully expresses the stability of the precipitation regime and can improve the prediction accuracy of forest states. Next we evaluate land cover predictions based on different combinations of climatic indicators. Regions with high potential of land cover transitions are revealed. The results suggest that the tropical forest in the Congo basin may be unstable and shows the possibility of decreasing significantly. An increase in the area covered by savanna and grass is possible, which coincides with the observed regreening of the Sahara.

Above-ground biomass estimation of Indian tropical forests using X band Pol-InSAR and Random Forest

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 100462
Author(s):  
Sadhana Yadav ◽  
Hitendra Padalia ◽  
Sanjiv K. Sinha ◽  
Ritika Srinet ◽  
Prakash Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Random Forest ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Biomass Estimation ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
X Band

scholarly journals Phylogenetic diversity correlated with above‐ground biomass production during forest succession: Evidence from tropical forests in Southeast Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 1419-1432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manichanh Satdichanh ◽  
Huaixia Ma ◽  
Kai Yan ◽  
Gbadamassi G.O. Dossa ◽  
Leigh Winowiecki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Forest Succession ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Ground Biomass

scholarly journals Systemic Colonization by Metarhizium robertsii Enhances Cover Crop Growth

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Imtiaz Ahmad ◽  
María del Mar Jiménez-Gasco ◽  
Dawn S. Luthe ◽  
Mary E. Barbercheck
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crops ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Crop Growth ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Metarhizium Robertsii ◽  
Cereal Rye ◽  
Ground Biomass

Fungi in the genus Metarhizium (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) are insect pathogens that can establish as endophytes and can benefit their host plant. In field experiments, we observed a positive correlation between the prevalence of M. robertsii and legume cover crops, and a negative relationship with brassicaceous cover crops and with increasing proportion of cereal rye in mixtures. Here, we report the effects of endophytic M. robertsii on three cover crop species under greenhouse conditions. We inoculated seeds of Austrian winter pea (Pisum sativum L., AWP), cereal rye (Secale cereale L.), and winter canola (Brassica napus L.) with conidia of M. robertsii to assess the effects of endophytic colonization on cover crop growth. We recovered M. robertsii from 59%, 46%, and 39% of seed-inoculated AWP, cereal rye, and canola plants, respectively. Endophytic M. robertsii significantly increased height and above-ground biomass of AWP and cereal rye but did not affect chlorophyll content of any of the cover crop species. Among inoculated plants from which we recovered M. robertsii, above-ground biomass of AWP was positively correlated with the proportion of colonized root but not leaf tissue sections. Our results suggest that winter cover crops may help to conserve Metarhizium spp. in annual cropping systems.

scholarly journals Allometric equations to estimate above-ground biomass of small-diameter mixed tree species in secondary tropical forests

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
R Puc-Kauil ◽  
G Ángeles-Pérez ◽  
JR Valdéz-Lazalde ◽  
VJ Reyes-Hernández ◽  
JM Dupuy-Rada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Allometric Equations ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Ground Biomass

scholarly journals Patterns of above-ground biomass and its environmental drivers: an analysis based on plot-based surveys in the dry tropical forests and woodlands of southern Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 309-316
Author(s):  
Priscilla Sichone ◽  
Vera De Cauwer ◽  
António Valter Chisingui ◽  
Francisco Maiato P. Gonçalves ◽  
Manfred Finckh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Ground Biomass ◽  
Dry Tropical Forests

scholarly journals Mapping above-ground biomass in tropical forests with ground-cancelled P-band SAR and limited reference data

2021 ◽  
Vol 253 ◽  
pp. 112153
Author(s):  
Maciej J. Soja ◽  
Shaun Quegan ◽  
Mauro M. d’Alessandro ◽  
Francesco Banda ◽  
Klaus Scipal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Reference Data ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Ground Biomass

scholarly journals Approaches of Satellite Remote Sensing for the Assessment of Above-Ground Biomass across Tropical Forests: Pan-tropical to National Scales

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3351
Author(s):  
Sawaid Abbas ◽  
Man Sing Wong ◽  
Jin Wu ◽  
Naeem Shahzad ◽  
Syed Muhammad Irteza
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Above Ground Biomass ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Ground Biomass

Tropical forests are acknowledged for providing important ecosystem services and are renowned as “the lungs of the planet Earth” due to their role in the exchange of gasses—particularly inhaling CO2 and breathing out O2—within the atmosphere. Overall, the forests provide 50% of the total plant biomass of the Earth, which accounts for 450–650 PgC globally. Understanding and accurate estimates of tropical forest biomass stocks are imperative in ascertaining the contribution of the tropical forests in global carbon dynamics. This article provides a review of remote-sensing-based approaches for the assessment of above-ground biomass (AGB) across the tropical forests (global to national scales), summarizes the current estimate of pan-tropical AGB, and discusses major advancements in remote-sensing-based approaches for AGB mapping. The review is based on the journal papers, books and internet resources during the 1980s to 2020. Over the past 10 years, a myriad of research has been carried out to develop methods of estimating AGB by integrating different remote sensing datasets at varying spatial scales. Relationships of biomass with canopy height and other structural attributes have developed a new paradigm of pan-tropical or global AGB estimation from space-borne satellite remote sensing. Uncertainties in mapping tropical forest cover and/or forest cover change are related to spatial resolution; definition adapted for ‘forest’ classification; the frequency of available images; cloud covers; time steps used to map forest cover change and post-deforestation land cover land use (LCLU)-type mapping. The integration of products derived from recent Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) satellite missions with conventional optical satellite images has strong potential to overcome most of these uncertainties for recent or future biomass estimates. However, it will remain a challenging task to map reference biomass stock in the 1980s and 1990s and consequently to accurately quantify the loss or gain in forest cover over the periods. Aside from these limitations, the estimation of biomass and carbon balance can be enhanced by taking account of post-deforestation forest recovery and LCLU type; land-use history; diversity of forest being recovered; variations in physical attributes of plants (e.g., tree height; diameter; and canopy spread); environmental constraints; abundance and mortalities of trees; and the age of secondary forests. New methods should consider peak carbon sink time while developing carbon sequestration models for intact or old-growth tropical forests as well as the carbon sequestration capacity of recovering forest with varying levels of floristic diversity.

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