Biogeosciences
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Articles | Volume 22, issue 5
Articles | Volume 22, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1413-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1413-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 22, issue 5
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

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Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 337–359, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-337-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-337-2025, 2025
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Cited articles

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Chave, J., Condit, R., Aguilar, S., Hernandez, A., Lao, S., and Perez, R.: Error propagation and scaling for tropical forest biomass estimates, Philos. T. Roy. Soc. B, 359, 409–420, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2003.1425, 2004. a, b, c
Chave, J., Andalo, C., Brown, S., Cairns, M. A., Chambers, J. Q., Eamus, D., Fölster, H., Fromard, F., Higuchi, N., Kira, T., Lescure, J. P., Nelson, B. W., Ogawa, H., Puig, H., Riéra, B., and Yamakura, T.: Tree allometry and improved estimation of carbon stocks and balance in tropical forests, Oecologia, 145, 87–99, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0100-x, 2005. a
Chave, J., Réjou-Méchain, M., Búrquez, A., Chidumayo, E., Colgan, M. S., Delitti, W. B. C., Duque, A., Eid, T., Fearnside, P. M., Goodman, R. C., Henry, M., Martínez-Yrízar, A., Mugasha, W. A., Muller-Landau, H. C., Mencuccini, M., Nelson, B. W., Ngomanda, A., Nogueira, E. M., Ortiz-Malavassi, E., Pélissier, R., Ploton, P., Ryan, C. M., Saldarriaga, J. G., and Vieilledent, G.: Improved allometric models to estimate the aboveground biomass of tropical trees, Glob. Change Biol., 20, 3177–3190, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12629, 2014 (data available at: https://jeromechave.github.io/pantropical_allometry.htm, last access: 11 March 2025). a, b, c, d, e, f, g
Clark, D. B. and Kellner, J. R.: Tropical forest biomass estimation and the fallacy of misplaced concreteness, J. Veg. Sci., 23, 1191–1196, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01471.x, 2012. a
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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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