Articles | Volume 22, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1413-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1413-2025
Research article
 | 
13 Mar 2025
Research article |  | 13 Mar 2025

Selecting allometric equations to estimate forest biomass from plot- rather than individual-level predictive performance

Nicolas Picard, Noël Fonton, Faustin Boyemba Bosela, Adeline Fayolle, Joël Loumeto, Gabriel Ngua Ayecaba, Bonaventure Sonké, Olga Diane Yongo Bombo, Hervé Martial Maïdou, and Alfred Ngomanda

Data sets

Improved allometric models to estimate the aboveground biomass of tropical trees (https://jeromechave.github.io/pantropical_allometry.htm) J. Chave et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12629

Model code and software

R code to compute the performance statistics of allometric equations at plot level Nicolas Picard https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12748213

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Short summary
Allometric equations predict tree biomass and are crucial for estimating forest carbon storage, thus assessing the role of forests in climate change mitigation. Usually, these equations are selected based on tree-level predictive performance. However, we evaluated the model performance at plot and forest levels, finding it varies with plot size. This has significant implications for reducing uncertainty in biomass estimates at these levels.
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