Estimation of plant biomass and plant water mass through dimensional measurements of plant volume in the Dund‐Govi Province, Mongolia

Abstract

AbstractThree types of functions (linear, quadratic and logarithmic) and independent variables (height, crown area/coverage and volume) were examined to develop the best regression equation for the estimation of plant biomass (shrub and tall herbaceous plant: g dry matter [DM][plant]−1; dwarf shrub and short herbaceous plant: g DM [0.25 m2]−1) and plant water mass (shrub and tall herbaceous plant: g H2O [plant]−1; dwarf shrub and short herbaceous plant: g H2O [0.25 m2]−1) by dimensional measurements in the arid area of Dund‐Govi Province, Mongolia. Five dominant shrubs including one dwarf shrub, one tall grass and nine short herbaceous plants were investigated in this study. According to coefficients of determination (r2), simple and easy calculation, and avoidance of large error occurrence in the estimation, it was indicated that the linear regression equation with the dimensional volume was best applicable to estimate the plant biomass and the plant water mass of the dominant shrubs and herbaceous plants. Residual error values (absolute values of errors between the estimation and the measurement) and residual error ratios (ratios of residual errors) were calculated to validate the accuracy of the estimated values obtained from linear regression equations of each plant. Although the residual error values increased with the increase in total plant biomass (g DM m−2) and total plant water mass (g H2O m−2) per unit area, the residual error ratios tended to decrease with the increase in those total amounts. 82.6% of the estimated total plant biomass and 67.4% of the estimated total plant water mass fell within ±40% of the residual error ratios, respectively. Hence, it was indicated that the total plant biomass and the total plant water mass per unit area could possibly be estimated by the use of each linear regression equation.