USAID-CIFOR-ICRAF ProjectAssessing 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)

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Five carbon pools (IPCC Good Practice Guidance)

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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

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12-step field measurement guide

Forest area stratification

Inventory/field plots

Age class distribution

SampleDestructive

measurementsVolume and

biomass(branches, leaves etc.)

Wood dry density

Carbon fraction

Volumeequations

BEFBiomassmodels

Carbon model

Calculation of the forest carbon pool

Source: Segura & Kanninen 2001

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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

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Sample size Calculate the sample size (number

of plots) based on pre-sampling

Where• n = number of plots to be measured

• Syx

= estimation error

• t = Studet t value• S = variance• X = mean value

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Field plots

Establish permanent plots if you can (monitoring)

Plot of varying sizes and shapes can be used

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Estimating tree biomass

Direct methods

• Destructive sampling• Allometric equations

Indirect methods

• Volume equations• Allometric equations• Biomass expansion factors

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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

11Topic 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

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Biomass expansion factor (BEF)

BEF is the relation between the total tree biomass (Btot) and the stem biomass (Bstem)

It is used to estimate indirectly the total tree biomass using stem biomass (easy to measure)

Btot = Bstem * BEF

Source: Segura & Kanninen 2005

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Allometric equations: example

Source: Penman et al. 2003

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Source Penman et al. 2003

Below ground biomass Direct methods

• Destructive sampling

• Allometric equations

Indirect methods• Equations

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Dead organic matter

Litter• Sampling

Dead wood• sampling

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Soil organic carbon

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References Brown, S. 1997 Estimating biomass and biomass change of tropical forests – A primer. FAO Forestry

Paper No. 134.

Hoover, Coeli M (Ed.) 2008 Field Measurements for Forest Carbon Monitoring: A Landscape-Scale Approach. 242 p. Available at: http://www.springer.com/life+sci/ecology/book/978-1-4020-8505-5

MacDicken, K. G. 1997 A Guide to Monitoring Carbon Storage in Forestry and Agroforestry Projects. Winrock International.

Pearson, T., Walker, S. and Brown, S. 2005 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. 2003 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: http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/gpglulucf/gpglulucf.htm.

Segura, M. and Kanninen, M. 2001 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. 202-216. [In Spanish]

Segura, M. and Kanninen, M. 2005 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.

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Thank you for your attention