Leaf biomass and leaf area equations for three planted trees in Iran
Abstract
Leaf area (LA) and leaf biomass (LB) are important variables for most physiological, horticultural and agronomic studies involving plant growth, development rate, radiation use efficiency, and water or nutrient use. Measuring these variables need destructive and aggressive sampling. Fortunately, evolving allometric equations can help for low cost and non-destructive estimation of such variables. The aims of this study are Estimate, compare and develop allometric models of LA and LB per tree and per stand for Alnus subcordata (AS), Populus deltoides (PD) and Taxodium distichum (TD) plantations. We selected 12 sample trees in each stand. Leaf Fresh weight of randomly selected branches was weighted in the field. Branch-level LA was modeled as a function of branch diameter (R2 > 0.8) and total fresh weight of LB has been calculated for each sampled tree. For each species, 100 leaves from all canopy directions of trees were randomly selected and transported to the laboratory. At the lab, leaf area has been measured using leaf area meter. Allometric equations were derived using regression analysis. For all species, derived equations showed high accuracy (R2 ranged from 0.837 to 0.947). However, with respect to mean square error, power regression equations (individual leaf area = a(L×W)b and LA or LB = a DBHb) are best models to estimate Individual Leaf Area, LA, and LB of AS, PD, and PD. The highest LAI was in the order of 16.9 > 5.5 > 4.5 for AS, PD, and TD, respectively.
Downloads
References
2. Eriksson H, Eklundh L, Hall K, Lindroth A. Estimating LAI in deciduous forest stands. Agri For Meteor. 2005; 129: 27-37.
3. Rouphael Y, Colla G. Radiation, and water use efficiencies of greenhouse zucchini squash in relation to different climate parameters. Eur J Agron. 2005; 23: 183-194.
4. Rouphael Y, Cardarelli M, Ajouz N, Marucci A, Colla G. Estimation of leaf number of eggplant using thermal time model. J Food Agric Environ. 2010; 8: 847-850.
5. Waring R, Schlesinger W. Forest Ecosystems: Concepts and Management. London, Academic Press, 1985.
6. Williams L, Martinson TE. Nondestructive leaf area estimation of ‘niagara’ and ‘dechaunac’ grapevines. Sci Hortic. 2003; 98: 493-498.
7. Asner GP, Scurlock JMO, Hicke JA. Global synthesis of leaf area index observations: implications for ecological and remote sensing studies. Glob Ecol Biogeogr. 2003; 12: 191-205.
8. Samuelson LJ, Johnsen K, Stokes T. Production, allocation, and stem wood growth efficiency of pinus taeda l. stands in response to 6 years of intensive management. For Ecol Manage. 2004; 192: 59-70.
9. Spann TM, Heerema RJ. A simple method for non- destructive estimation of total shoot leaf area in tree fruit crops. Sci Hortic. 2010; 125: 528-533.
10. Antunes W, Pompelli M, Carretero D, Damatta F. Allometric models for non-destructive leaf area estimation in coffee (Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora). Ann Appl Biol. 2008; 153: 33-40.
11. Arias D, Calvo-Alvarado J, Dohrenbusch A. Calibration of LAI-2000 to estimate leaf area index (LAI) and assessment of its relationship with stand productivity in six native and introduced tree species in Costa Rica. For Ecol Manage. 2007; 247: 185-193.
12. Tobin B, Black K, Osborne B, Reidy B, Bolger T, Nieuwenhuts M. Assessment of allometric algorithms for estimating leaf biomass, leaf area index and litter fall in different-aged sitka spruce forests. Forestry. 2006; 79: 453-464.
13. Adl HR. Estimation of leaf biomass and leaf area index of two major species in Yasuj forests [In Persian]. Iran J Forest Poplar Res. 2007; 15: 417-426.
14. Babaei Kafaki S, Khademi A, Mataji A. Relationship between leaf area index and phisiographical and edaphical condition in a Quercus macranthera stand (Case study: Andebil's forest, Khalkhal) [In Persian]. Iran J Forest Poplar Res. 2009; 17: 280-289.
15. Pourhashemi M, Eskandari S, Dehghani M, Najafi T, Asadi A, Panahi P. Biomass and leaf area index of Caucasian Hackberry (Celtis caucasica Willd.) in Taileh urban forest, Sanandaj, Iran [In Persian]. Iran J Forest Poplar Res. 2012; 19: 609-620.
16. Kumar Sarker S, Das N, Chowdhury MQ, Haque MM. Developing allometric equations for estimating leaf area and leaf biomass of Artocarpus chaplasha in Raghunandan Hill Reserve, Bangladesh. South For. 2013; 75: 51-57.
17. Rance SJ, Mendham DS, Cameron DM. Assessment of leaf mass and leaf area of tree crowns in young Eucalyptus grandis and E. globulus plantations from measurements made on the stems. New For. 2014; 45: 523-543.
18. He Y, Qin L, Li Z, Liang X, Shao M, Tan L. Carbon storage capacity of monoculture and mixed-species plantations in subtropical China. For Ecol Manage. 2013; 295: 193-198.
19. Al Afas N, Pellis A, Niinemets Ü, Ceulemans R. Growth and production of a short rotation coppice culture of poplar. II. Clonal and year-to-year differences in leaf and petiole characteristics and stand leaf area index. Biomass Bioenergy. 2005; 28: 536-547.
20. Montero FJ, Juan JA, Cuesta A, Brasa A. Nondestructive methods to estimate leaf area in Vitis vinifera L. Hort Sci. 2000; 35: 696-698.
21. Cristofori V, Rouphael Y, Mendoza-de Gyves E, Bignami C. A simple model for estimating leaf area of hazelnut from linear measurements. Sci Hortic. 2007; 113: 221-225.
22. Karimi S, Tavallali V, Rahemi M, Rostami AA, Vaezpour M. Estimation of leaf growth on the basis of measurements of leaf lengths and widths, choosing pistachio seedlings as a model. Aust J Basic Appl Sci. 2009; 3: 1070-1075.
23. Eslamdoust J, Sohrabi H. Allometric models for branch biomass production: assessment of rapid growth trees for bioenergy in Northern Iran. Eur J Biol Res. 2016; 6: 267-274.
24. Calvo-Alvarado J, Mcdowell N, Waring R. Allometric relationships predicting foliar biomass and leaf area: sapwood area ratio from tree height in five Costa Rican rain forest species. Tree Physiol. 2008; 28: 1601-1608.
25. Pokorný R, Tomášková I. Allometric relationships for surface area and dry mass of young Norway spruce aboveground organs. For Sci. 2007; 53: 548-554.
26. Socha J, Wezyk P. Allometric equations for estimating the foliage biomass of Scots Pine. Eur J Forest Res. 2007; 126: 263-270.
27. Grace K, Fownes J. Leaf area allometry and evaluation of non-destructive estimates of total leaf area and loss by browsing in a silvopastoral system. Agrofor Sys. 1998; 40: 139-147.
28. Vertessy R, Benyon R, Osullivan S, Gribben P. Relationships between stem diameter, sapwood area, leaf area and transpiration in a young mountain ash forest. Tree Physiol. 1995; 15: 559-567.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.