USAID-CIFOR-ICRAF Project Assessing the Implications of Climate Change for USAID Forestry Programs (2009) 1 Carbon accounting: Field measurements Topic 4, Section C

In this presentation you will learn some step-by-step methods for measuring and monitoring forest carbon pools in the field. Topic 4, Section C, slide 2 of 20 Learning outcomes

Outline 1. Indirect methods for aboveground tree biomass (tree measurement allometric equations, expansion factors, carbon ratio) 2. Direct methods for aboveground tree biomass 3. Destructive sampling 4. Establishing allometric equations 5. Methods for other components (litter, soil, non- woody biomass) Topic 4, Section C, slide 3 of 20

Five carbon pools (IPCC Good Practice Guidance) Topic 4, Section C, slide 4 of 20

Guidebooks and manuals  Pearson, Walker and Brown (2005): Sourcebook for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry Projects  IPCC Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (2003)  Segura & Kanninen (2001): Inventario para estimar carbono en ecosistemas forestales tropicales [In Spanish]  MacDicken (1997): A Guide to Monitoring Carbon Storage in Forestry and Agroforestry Projects Topic 4, Section C, slide 5 of 20

12-step field measurement guide Forest area stratification Inventory/ field plots Age class distribution Sample Destructive measurements Volume and biomass (branches, leaves etc.) Wood dry density Carbon fraction Volume equations BEF Biomass models Carbon model Calculation of the forest carbon pool Source: Segura & Kanninen 2001 Topic 4, Section C, slide 6 of 20

Stratification  Allows to obtain a certain precision of estimations at a lower cost than without stratification  Steps : Divide heterogeneous population into homogenous groups Apply monitoring (sampling and calculations) to each strata and compile results at the end Topic 4, Section C, slide 7 of 20

Sample size  Calculate the sample size (number of plots) based on pre-sampling Where n = number of plots to be measured S yx = estimation error t = Studet t value S = variance X = mean value Topic 4, Section C, slide 8 of 20

Field plots  Establish permanent plots if you can (monitoring)  Plot of varying sizes and shapes can be used Topic 4, Section C, slide 9 of 20

Estimating tree biomass  Direct methods Destructive sampling Allometric equations  Indirect methods Volume equations Allometric equations Biomass expansion factors Topic 4, Section C, slide 10 of 20

Destructive sampling  Destructive sampling is needed to generate equations (allometric models) for biomass components that can be used later for indirect estimations  Based on distribution of the population (age classes, diameter class) a sub-sample for trees to be felled for destructive sampling is selected 11 Topic 4, Section C, slide 11 of 20

Volume and biomass equations Based on destructive sampling, volume equations for stems and allometric equations are constructed between easily measurable variables such as tree diameter and biomass components such as branch biomass Source: Brown 1997 Topic 4, Section C, slide 12 of 20

Biomass expansion factor (BEF)  BEF is the relation between the total tree biomass (B tot ) and the stem biomass (B stem )  It is used to estimate indirectly the total tree biomass using stem biomass (easy to measure)  B tot = B stem * BEF Source: Segura & Kanninen 2005 Topic 4, Section C, slide 13 of 20

Allometric equations: example Source: Penman et al Topic 4, Section C, slide 14 of 20

Topic 4, Section C, slide 15 of 20 Source Penman et al. 2003

Below ground biomass  Direct methods Destructive sampling Allometric equations  Indirect methods Equations Topic 4, Section C, slide 16 of 20

Dead organic matter  Litter Sampling  Dead wood sampling 17 Topic 4, Section C, slide 17 of 20

Soil organic carbon Topic 4, Section C, slide 18 of 20

References  Brown, S Estimating biomass and biomass change of tropical forests – A primer. FAO Forestry Paper No  Hoover, Coeli M (Ed.) 2008 Field Measurements for Forest Carbon Monitoring: A Landscape-Scale Approach. 242 p. Available at:  MacDicken, K. G A Guide to Monitoring Carbon Storage in Forestry and Agroforestry Projects. Winrock International.  Pearson, T., Walker, S. and Brown, S Sourcebook for land use, land-use change and forestry projects. Winrock International and the BioCarbon Fund of the World Bank. 57 p.  Penman. J. et al Good practice guidance for land use, land-use change and forestry. IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Program and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Kanagawa, Japan. Available at:  Segura, M. and Kanninen, M Inventario para estimar carbono en ecosistemas forestales tropicales. In: L. Orozco & C. Brumér (eds.), Inventarios forestales para bosques latifoliados en America Central, Capítulo 8. CATIE-Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza. Pp [In Spanish]  Segura, M. and Kanninen, M Allometric models for estimating volume and total aboveground biomass of seven dominant tree species in a tropical humid forest in Costa Rica. Biotropica 37(1):2-8. Topic 4, Section C, slide 19 of 20

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