Abstract
Trees accumulate biomass by sequestrating atmospheric carbon and allocate it to different tree components. A biomass component ratio is the ratio of biomass in a tree component to total tree biomass. Modeling the ratios for Zelkova serrata, an important native reforestation tree species in Taiwan, helps in understanding its biomass allocation strategy to design effective silvicultural treatments. In this study, we applied Component Ratio Method (CRM) to relate biomass component ratios of main stem, large branch, twig, and foliage to tree attributes of Z. serrata from a 9-year-old plantation. Nonlinear and linear CRM models were fitted with Seemingly Unrelated Regression to account for model correlations. Linear CRM models with dbh as the predictor had the best fit with model correlations as high as 80%. About 46% and 40% of total tree biomass was allocated to main stem and large branch, respectively. However, main stem biomass decreased by 1.9% with every 1-cm increase in dbh, but large branch biomass increased by 2.2% instead. Results suggest that dominant Z. serrata trees tend to branch and fork, while smaller trees invest in larger main stem. An early pruning treatment should focus on dominant trees to maintain crown ratio and ensure wood quality.
Highlights
A unique contribution of trees to ecosystem services beneficial to human society is the accumulation of carbon in the form of biomass
A biomass component ratio is calculated as the proportion of biomass of a tree component to total tree aboveground b iomass[10]
There was a total of six combinations of two SUR models and three predictors fitted to the Z. serrata dataset to build the Component Ratio Method (CRM) for the three biomass components
Summary
A unique contribution of trees to ecosystem services beneficial to human society is the accumulation of carbon in the form of biomass. Within a tree is important to estimate its wood utilization potential and economic value of tree components[9] This helps with designing appropriate silviculture treatments that promote biomass accumulation in certain tree components. Zelkova serrata (Thunb.) Makino is an important reforestation broadleaf tree species native to Taiwan It distributes from 300 to 1000 m a.s.l. and has high economic value due to its desirable wood properties for construction, furniture, flooring, and s culpture[18]. The 4th Taiwan National Forest Resource Inventory reported that Z. serrata plantation had an average stand volume of 193.2 m3 ha−1, which stored about 452.2 t CO2 ha−1—higher than the average storage rate of broadleaf forests[15,17]. C O2 fixation rates of the upper-leaf and lower-leaf of Z. serrata species were estimated to be 5.52 g m-2 s−1 and 2.38 g m-2 s−1, respectively[21]
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