Bark Thickness of Forest-forming Species: Modeling and Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The need to assess the carbon-depositing capacity of a stand, an individual tree and its components is constantly emphasized in the world literature, since mitigation of the effects of climate change has become the highest priority. Since the carbon concentration differs in different tree species and in different components of the tree, including in the stem wood and bark, it is necessary to develop species-specific mathematical models for estimating the proportion of bark in trunks to improve the accuracy of knowledge about the carbon balance of forests. The relationship of bark thickness with both age and diameter of the tree trunk is known, but with respect to its regional variability, the data are contradictory. According to the actual data from 1100 model trees of five forest-forming species, allometric models of a mixed type have been developed. They include as independent variables the age and diameter of the trunk, as well as a binary variable characterising the influence of the growing area itself on the bark thickness of Scots pine, silver birch and Siberian larch, as well as the difference in the thickness of the bark between Siberian spruce and Siberian fir in case of joint growth in mature stands of the taiga zone. At a statistically significant level, it was found that the bark thickness of Scots pine and silver birch trees in the steppe zone is significantly greater compared to the taiga zone, and the bark thickness of Siberian larch trees in the forest-tundra is significantly greater compared to the steppe zone. The bark thickness of Siberian spruce trees is significantly less than that of Siberian fir trees. The ranking of species by bark thickness is included in the paper.