Sapling biomass allometry and carbon content in five afforestation species on marginal farmland in semi-arid Benin

Florent Noulèkoun, Jesse B. Naab, John P.A. Lamers, Sophia Baumert, Asia Khamzina

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Allometric equations are routinely used in the estimation of biomass stocks for carbon accounting within forest ecosystems. However, generic equations may not reflect the growth trajectories of afforestation species that are introduced to degraded farmland characterized by water and nutrient limitations. Using sequential measurements of the height, basal diameter, and above- and belowground biomass of juvenile trees, we developed allometric equations for five woody species (Moringa oleifera Lam., Leucaena leucocephala Lam., Jatropha curcas L., Anacardium occidentale L. and Parkia biglobosa Jacq.) subjected to a gradient of water and nutrient availability in an afforestation trial on degraded cropland in the semi-arid zone of Benin, West Africa. For three of the species studied, the allometric relationships between basal diameter and biomass components (i.e. leaves, stems and roots) were described best by a simple power-law model (R2 > 0.93). The incorporation of species-specific height–diameter relationships and total height as additional predictors in the power-law function also produced reasonable estimates of biomass. Fifteen months after planting, roots accounted for 10–58% of the total biomass while the root-to-shoot ratio ranged between 0.16 and 0.73. The total biomass of the saplings ranged between 1.4 and 10.3 Mg ha−1, yielding 0.6–4.3 Mg C ha−1, far exceeding the biomass in the traditional fallow system. The rate of stem carbon sequestration measured ca. 0.62 Mg C ha−1 year−1. Overall, the allometric equations developed in this study are generally useful for assessing the standing shoot and root biomass of the five afforestation species during the juvenile growth stage and can help in reporting and verifying carbon stocks in young forests.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)363-382
Number of pages20
JournalNew Forests
Volume49
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018 May 1

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) who funded this study under the WASCAL (West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) program, Project No. 00100218. We thank Dr. Nadine Worou, the technical staff of the WASCAL study catchment in Dassari, and the numerous workers who facilitated the field activities. We greatly appreciate the statistical guidance by Dr. Guido Lüchters.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

  • Carbon stock
  • Height–diameter allometry
  • Jatropha curcas
  • Power function
  • Roots
  • West Africa

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Forestry

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