Allometric Equations for Estimating the Above-Ground Biomass of Five Forest Tree Species in Khangai, Mongolia

Abstract

Understanding the contribution of forest ecosystems to regulating greenhouse gas emissions and maintaining the atmospheric CO2 balance requires the accurate quantification of above-ground biomass (AGB) at the individual tree species level. The main objective of this study was to develop species-specific allometric equations for the total AGB and various biomass components, including stem, branch, and foliage biomass in Khangai region, northern Mongolia. We destructively sampled a total of 183 trees of five species (22–74 trees per species), including Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour.), Asian white birch (Betula platyphylla Sukacz.), Mongolian poplar (Populus suaveolens Fisch.), Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ldb.), and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ldb.), across this region. The results showed that for the five species, the average biomass proportion for the stems was 75%, followed by branches at 20% and foliage at 5%. The species-specific component and total AGB models for the Khangai region were developed using tree diameter at breast height (D) and D² and tree height (H) combined ( D 2 H ); and both D and H were used as independent variables. The best allometric model was lnŶ = lna + b × lnD + c × lnH for the various components and total AGB of B. platyphylla and L. sibirica, for the stems and total AGB of P. suaveolens, and for the stem and branch biomass of P. obovata. The equation lnŶ = lna + b × ln( D 2 × H ) was best for the various components and total AGB of P. sibirica, for the branch and foliage biomass of P. suaveolens, and for AGB of P. obovata. The equation lnŶ = lna + b × ln(D) was best only for the foliage biomass of P. obovata. Our results highlight that developing species-specific tree AGB models is very important for accurately estimating the biomass in the Khangai forest region of Mongolia. Our biomass models will be used at the tree level inventories with sample plots in the Khangai forest region.