Scaling Approach for Estimating Stand Sapwood Area from Leaf Area Index in Five Boreal Species

Abstract

This paper presents a scaling approach for estimating sapwood area at the stand level using knowledge obtained for individual trees of five boreal species: Populus tremuloides (Michx.), Pinus contorta (Doug. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.), Pinus banksiana (Lamb.), Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP, and Picea glauca (Moench) Voss. Previously developed allometric models for sapwood depth and diameter at breast height for individual tree species were used to build stand level sapwood area estimates as well as stand level leaf area estimates, in pure and mixed vascular vegetation stands. A stand’s vegetation heterogeneity is considered in the scaling approach by proposing regression models for each species. The new combined scaling approach drew strong linear correlations at the stand scale between sapwood area and leaf area using observations taken in mixed stands of Southern Alberta, Canada. This last outcome suggests a good linear relationship between stand sapwood area and stand leaf area. The accuracy of the results was tested by observing each regression model’s adequacy and by estimating the error propagated through the whole scaling process.