Large Scale Shrub Biomass Estimates for Multiple Purposes

Abstract

With the increase of forest fires in Portugal in recent decades, a significant part of woodlands is being converted into shrubland areas. Background: From an ecological point of view, woodlands and shrublands play an essential role, as they not only prevent soil erosion and desertification, but also contribute to soil protection, habitat preservation and restoration, and also increased biodiversity for carbon sequestration. Concerning the shrublands, the assessment of their biomass is essential for evaluating the fuel load and forest fire behavior and also beneficial for obtaining estimates of carbon and biomass for energy use. Methods: In this study, we collected data about the potential shrub biomass accumulation along fifteen years in former burnt areas within North Portugal. Results: The achieved results showed that for a post-fire period ranging from one to 15 years, the accumulated shrubs’ biomass ranged from 0.12 up to 28.88 Mg ha−1. The model developed to estimate the shrub biomass using the time after a fire (age) as a predictor variable presented a high adjustment to data (p-value of the F statistic <0.01 and R2 = 0.89), allowing estimating shrub biomass regeneration within former burnt areas with an RMSE of 3.31 Mg ha−1. Conclusions: This paper provides practical information on the availability and assessment of shrub biomass in North Portugal, highlighting the suitability of shrubs as potential sources of biomass.

Secondary succession of shrub-herb communities in the hilly area of Taihang Mountain

“…Aboveground biomass accumulation increased during secondary succession (Figure 5) (Castro and Freitas, 2009;Enes et al, 2020;Ma and Wang, 2020). Averaged over all plots, the aboveground biomass of shrubland increased over 5 times (Figure 5), similar to the results of Yang et al (2017) and Petrie Changes in cover of shrub-herb communities with succession.…”

High-Resolution Mapping of Shrub Biomass in Arid and Semi-Arid Environments by Integrating Remote Sensing Observations across Multiple Spatial Scales

“…Firstly, it can contribute to ecological research and conservation efforts by providing insights into the growth status and productivity of shrub populations [91]. Understanding the spatial distribution and temporal trends of shrub biomass is crucial for assessing ecosystem health, biodiversity, and carbon storage [92,93]. Secondly, our findings have practical implications for land management and restoration projects.…”

Management of Maritime Pine: Energetic Potential with Alternative Silvicultural Guidelines

“…Also, the estimates about the biomass removed in shrub control for release are provided. These estimates of understory component were calculated separately based on the research on average values of shrub biomass (air-dried, t/ha) made by Enes et al [25]. Shrubs release is performed, the age of the stand (t, years) is provided along with the number of standing trees (N, trees/ha) before the intervention (N b ) and removed (N r ) and the quadratic mean diameter of the removed trees (dg r , cm).…”