biomass and development of the component ratio method or crm

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Forest Inventory and Analysis Program

The Nation’sForest Census

BIOMASS and development of the Component Ratio Method

or CRM

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What’s hot? Carbon and Climate!

Range and

Urban

FIA monitoring

engine

Land use/ Land cover

Forests andAnnual TPO

Climate Change Station

Biomass and

Carbon

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Biomass

Recent emphasis on the importance of carbon monitoring has elevated the need for consistent biomass estimation for every national inventory in the world.

FIA needed a compatible system for biomass and volume estimation in its national inventory database to serve carbon as well as other clients

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Biomass estimation goals

National consistency Biomass-volume compatibility in

our national database Realistic estimates of any

component for any selected area

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Some perspective on 865 tree species in the continental U.S.

..and, about 70% of aboveground tree volume/biomass is in the

bole

Tree species All VolumeTop 12 50%Top 35 75%Top 100 96%Other 765 4%

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A note about biomass research studies

General tendency All the boles are strong All the trees are good

looking All the sites are above

average

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but we know…. biomass is variable

Select red oaks - average VOLCFSND by Latitude

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Diameter (inches)

Ave

rage

VO

LCFS

ND

(sq

ft)

Select red oaks – average sound bole volume by latitude

Localized study

data can often be spread a

long, long way…

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Recent U.S. Research on biomass

Jenkins et. al complied a massive set of information on biomass estimation in the United States.

This research included valuable information on the relationships of various tree components such as boles, tops, limbs, stumps, etc

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FIA development of CRM

CRM is the Component Ratio Method for calculating total biomass by tree component

CRM is a modified version of the commonly used biomass expansion factor (BEF) approach

CRM relies on individual tree measurements to estimate bole volume and missing and rotten material

CRM relies on published biomass studies to establish relationships between tree boles and other tree and site components

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Knowledge

The FIA national inventory has bole data on nearly 3 million trees

…andJenkins et al. has valuable data on tree component ratios for dozens of key species

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Knowledge fusion

Use FIA data for tree bole volume

Use Jenkins et al. research for tree component ratios

relative to the bole

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Outcome

Compatible estimates of volume and biomass for components at the tree level for all trees

in the national database

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Comparisons of biomass by species, region and method were

analyzed

Because CRM is only sound wood it generally, tracks slightly lower than Jenkins et. al

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So what?

CRM reflects sound biomass only since the characteristics of rotten cull are not well known and, of course, missing material has no biomass – a nasty shortcoming of simple dbh-driven models

CRM will better capture trends if rotten cull and missing material levels are not constant under climate change scenarios- which they likely will not be – consider Katrina

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A potential issue with simple biomass models

Before Katrina After Katrina

A simple Dbh driven biomass model would yield higher biomass after Katrina due to increased dbh…

but an incorrect biomass due to missing material…

And …adding the down-woody estimate would double count the material.

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Bottom line

80 years of FIA bole volume experience capitalized Published tree component ratio experience

capitalized Every tree in database has compatible components Cull and missing material trends can be accounted You can perform analysis on the component of

choice You can spatially cookie cut the database reliably You can recast older data for consistent trends

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To Date Prepared paper Specific Gravity and Other Properties of

Wood and Bark for 156 Species of Trees Found in North

America

(updates Jenkins and adds more data on bark and species green

weights)

Prepared paper Investigation into Calculating Tree

Biomass and Carbon in the FIADB Using a Biomass Expansion

Factor Approach

Loaded the national database with new compatible component data using the CRM-BEF approach

2008 FIA Symposium (RMRS-P-56)

Investigation into Calculating Tree Biomass and Carbon in the FIADB Using a Biomass Expansion Factor ApproachLinda S. Heath, Mark H. Hansen, James E. Smith, W. Brad Smith, and Patrick D. Miles

Research Note NRS-38

Specific Gravity and Other Properties of Wood and Bark for 156 Tree Species Found in North America

Patrick D. Miles and W. Brad Smith

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Future developments

• Improve component ratios by species

• Improve bole volume estimates based on taper equations

• Improve non-tree carbon pool estimation

• Develop national biomass/carbon accounting system

Ref Description1 Small roots2 Medium roots3 Large roots 4a Stump above ground level4b Stump below ground 5 Bole to a 4" top (10cm)6 Large branches 7a Small branches7b Leaves or needles8 Central stem above 4" top

This modified diagram from Harold Young’s

work should be a mandatory addition to

any future biomass research

FINAL NOTE: Is it clear what you are measuring?

biomass and development of the component ratio method or crm

Documents

analysis program

national inventory database

tree component crm

tree boles

nationsforest census5a

nationsforest censusbut

total biomass

tree level