Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T01:39:15.955Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Estimating tree biomass and changes in root biomass following clear-cutting of Brachystegia-Julbernardia (miombo) woodland in central Zambia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2013

EMMANUEL N CHIDUMAYO
EMMANUEL N CHIDUMAYO*
Affiliation:
Makeni Savanna Research Project, PO Box 50323, Ridgeway, Lusaka, Zambia
*
*Correspondence: Dr Emmanuel Chidumayo e-mail: echidumayo@gmail.com or chidumayoe@yahoo.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This study aimed at developing allometric models from destructive sample field data for estimating both aboveground and belowground tree biomass and assessing changes in root biomass after old-growth Brachystegia-Julbernardia (miombo) woodland clearing in central Zambia. Logarithmic linear models were selected for estimating tree biomass because they gave the most accurate (low mean error) predictions. On average aboveground and belowground biomass in regrowth woodland represented 29% and 41%, respectively, of the biomass in old-growth woodland. The root:shoot ratios were 0.54 and 0.77 in old-growth and regrowth woodland, respectively. Ten years after clear-cutting old-growth woodland, root biomass loss was about 60% of the original biomass. The main cause of post clearing root biomass loss was fire which at the study sites occurred annually or biannually. Control of fire in cleared sites should be encouraged in forest management for carbon storage and sequestration in miombo woodland of southern Africa.

Keywords

allometric modelsdestructive samplingdry foresterror estimationregrowthZambia
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 54 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Analytical Software (1985–2008) Statistix 9.0. Tallahassee, FL, USA: Analytical Software.Google Scholar
Bell, R.H.V. (1982) The effect of soil nutrient availability on community structure in African ecosystems. In: Ecology of Tropical Savannas, ed. Huntley, B J. & Walker, B.H., pp. 193–216. Berlin, Germany: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burroughs, E.R. Jr & Thomas, B.R. (1977) Declining root strength in Douglas-fir after felling as a factor in slope stability, USDA Forest Service Research Paper INT-190, USA: 27 pp.Google Scholar
Cairns, M.A., Brown, S., Helmer, E.H. & Baumgardner, G.A. (1997) Root biomass allocation in the world's upland forests. Oecologia 111:1–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chave, J., Andalo, C., Brown, S., Cairns, M.A., Chambers, J.Q., Eamus, D., Fölster, H., Fromard, F., Higuchi, N., Kira, T., Lescure, J.-P., Nelson, B.W., Ogawa, H., Puig, H., Riéra, B. & Yamakura, T. (2005) Tree allometry and improved estimation of carbon stocks and balance in tropical forests. Oecologia 145: 87–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chidumayo, E.N. (1988) Regeneration of Brachystegia woodland canopy following felling for tsetse-fly control in Zambia. Tropical Ecology 4: 361–372.Google Scholar
Chidumayo, E.N. (1997) Miombo Ecology and Management: an Introduction. London, UK: Intermediate Technology Publishers.Google Scholar
Chidumayo, E.N. (2004) Development of Brachystegia-Julbernardia woodland after clear-felling in central Zambia: evidence for high resilience. Applied Vegetation Science 7: 237–242.Google Scholar
Chidumayo, E.N. (2012) Assessment of existing models for biomass and volume calculations for Zambia. Report prepared for FAO-Zambia Integrated Land Use Assessment (ILUA) Phase II project, Lusaka, Zambia.Google Scholar
Chidumayo, E.N. & Kwibisa, L. (2003) Effects of deforestation on grass biomass and soil nutrient status in miombo woodland, Zambia. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 96: 97–105.Google Scholar
Clark, D.B. & Keller, J.R. (2012) Tropical forest biomass estimation and the fallacy of misplaced concreteness. Journal of Vegetation Science 23:1191–1196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cleemput, S., Muys, B., Kleinn, C. & Janssens, M.J.J. (2004) Biomass estimation techniques for enclosures in a semi-arid area: a case study in Northern Ethiopia. University of Göttingen, Germany [www document]. URL http://www.tropentag.de/2004/abstracts/full/3.pdf Google Scholar
de Castro, EA. & Kauffman, JB. (1998) Ecosystem structure in the Brazilian Cerrado: a vegetation gradient of aboveground biomass, root mass and consumption by fire. Journal of Tropical Ecology 14: 263–283.Google Scholar
Fanshawe, D.B. (1971) The Vegetation of Zambia. Lusaka, Zambia: Government Printer.Google Scholar
February, E.C. & Higgins, S.I. (2010) The distribution of tree and grass roots in savannas in relation to soil nitrogen and water. South African Journal of Botany 76: 517–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frost, P. (1996) The ecology of miombo woodlands. In: The Miombo in Transition: Woodlands and Welfare in Africa, ed. Campbell, B., pp. 11–57. Bagor, Indonesia: CIFOR.Google Scholar
Gibbs, H.K., Brown, S., Niles, J.O. & Foley, J.A. (2007) Monitoring and estimating tropical forest carbon stocks: making REDD a reality. Environmental Research Letters 2: 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grainger, A. (1999) Constraints on modeling the deforestation and degradation of tropical open woodlands. Global Ecology and Biogeography 8: 179–190.Google Scholar
Guy, P.R. (1981) Changes in the biomass and productivity of woodlands in the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, Zimbabwe. Journal of Applied Ecology 18: 507–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hruska, J., Cermák, J. & Sustek, S. (1999) Mapping tree root systems with ground-penetrating radar. Tree Physiology 19: 125–130.Google Scholar
IPCC (2006) Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry. Kanawaga, Japan, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.Google Scholar
Kell, D.B. (2012) Large-scale sequestration of atmospheric carbon via plant roots in natural and agricultural ecosystems: why and how. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 367: 1589–1597.Google Scholar
Kuyah, S., Dietz, J., Muthuri, C., Jamnadass, R., Mwangi, P., Coe, R. & Neufeldt, H. (2012) Allometric equations for estimating biomass in agricultural landscapes: II. Belowground biomass. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 158: 225–234.Google Scholar
Lawton, R.M. (1978) A study of the dynamic ecology of Zambian vegetation. Journal of Ecology 66: 175–198.Google Scholar
Malimbwi, R.E. & Solbrig, B. (1994) Estimation of biomass and volume in miombo woodland at Kitulangalo Forest Reserve, Tanzania. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 7: 230–242.Google Scholar
Mordelet, P., Menaut, J.-C. & Mariotti, A. (1997) Tree and grass rooting patterns in an African humid savanna. Journal of Vegetation Science 8: 65–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mugasha, A.G. & Chamshama, S.A.O. (2002) Trees biomass and volume estimation for miombo woodlands at Kitulangalo, Morogoro, Tanzania. I-TOO Working Paper No. 9, 19 pp. Freiburg, Germany: Albert Ludwigs University.Google Scholar
Munishi, P.K.T., Mringi, S., Shirima, D.D. & Linda, S.K. (2010) The role of the miombo woodlands of the southern Highlands of Tanzania as carbon sinks. Journal of Ecology and the Natural Environment 2: 261–269.Google Scholar
Mutakela, P.S. (2009) Biomass prediction models for Colophospermum mopane (mopane) in Botswana. Master of Forestry thesis, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.Google Scholar
Nadezhdina, N. & Cermak, J. (2003) Instrumental methods for studies of structure and function of root systems of large trees. Journal of Experimental Botany 54: 1511–1521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nickless, A., Scholes, R.J. & Archibald, S. (2011) A method for calculating the variance and confidence intervals for tree biomass estimates obtained from allometric equations. South African Journal of Science 107: art 356. doi:10.4102/sajs.v107i5/6.356 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niiyama, K., Kajimoto, T., Matsuura, Y., Yamashita, T., Matsuo, N., Yashiro, Y., Ripin, A., Kassim, A.R. & Noor, N.S. (2010) Estimation of root biomass based on excavation of individual root systems in a primary dipterocarp forest in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 26: 271–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okali, D.U.U., Hall, J.B. & Lawson, G.W. (1973) Root distribution under a thicket clump on the Accra Plains, Ghana: its relevance to clump localization and water relations. Journal of Ecology 61: 439–454.Google Scholar
Okello, B.D., O'Connor, T.G. & Young, T.P. (2001) Growth, biomass estimates, and charcoal production of Acacia drepanolobium in Laikipia, Kenya. Forest Ecology and Management 142: 143–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oyama, S. (1996) Regeneration process of the miombo woodland at abandoned citemene fields of northern Zambia. African Study Monographs 17: 101–116.Google Scholar
Razakamanarivo, R.H., Razakavololona, A., Razafindrakoto, M.-A., Vieilledent, G. & Albrecht, A. (2012) Below-ground biomass production and allometric relationships of eucalyptus coppice plantation in the central highlands of Madagascar. Biomass and Bioenergy 45: 1–10.Google Scholar
Richardson, A.D. & Dohna, H.Z. (2003) Predicting root biomass from branching patterns of Douglas-fir root systems. Oikos 100: 96–104.Google Scholar
Rutherford, M.C. (1979) Aboveground biomass subdivisions in woody species of the savanna ecosystem project study area, Nylsvley. South African National Scientific Programmes Report No 36, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa.Google Scholar
Ryan, C.M. & Williams, M. (2011) How does fire intensity and frequency affect miombo woodland tree populations and biomass. Ecological Applications 21: 48–60.Google Scholar
Ryan, C.M., Williams, M. & Grace, J. (2011) Above- and belowground carbon stocks in a miombo woodland landscape of Mozambique. Biotropica 43: 423–432.Google Scholar
Sawadogo, L., Savadogo, P., Tiveau, D., Dayamba, S.D., Zida, D., Nouvellet, Y., Oden, P.-C. & Guinko, S. (2010) Allometric prediction of above-ground biomass of eleven woody tree species in the Sudanian savanna-woodland of West Africa. Journal of Forestry Research 21: 475–481.Google Scholar
Seghieri, J. (1995) The rooting patterns of woody and herbaceous plants in a savanna; are they complementary or in competition? African Journal of Ecology 33: 358–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackleton, C.M. & Scholes, R.J. (2011) Above ground woody community attributes, biomass and carbon stocks along a rainfall gradient in the savannas of the central lowveld, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 77: 184–192.Google Scholar
Simpson, J.G. (1967) The Geology of the Chinyunyu Area. Lusaka, Zambia: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Stromgaard, P. (1985 a) Biomass estimation equations for miombo woodland, Zambia. Agroforestry Systems 3: 3–13.Google Scholar
Stromgaard, P. (1985 b) Biomass, growth, and burning of woodland in a shifting cultivation area of South Central Africa. Forest Ecology and Management 12: 163–178.Google Scholar
Teh, Y.A., Silver, W.L. & Scatena, F.N. (2009) A decade of belowground reorganization following multiple disturbances in a subtropical wet forest. Plant Soil 323: 197–212.Google Scholar
Tietema, T. (1993 a) Biomass determination of fuelwood trees and bushes of Botswana, southern Africa. Forest Ecology and Management 60: 257–269.Google Scholar
Tietema, T. (1993 b) Possibilities for the management of indigenous woodlands in southern Africa: A case study from Botswana. In: The Ecology and Management of Indigenous Forests in Southern Africa, ed. Pierce, G.D. & Gumbo, D.J., pp. 134–142. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Forestry Commission & SAREC.Google Scholar
White, F. (1962) The Forest Flora of Northern Rhodesia. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
White, F. (1983) The Vegetation of Africa. Paris, France: Unesco.Google Scholar
Ziemer, R.R. & Swanston, D.N. (1977) Root strength changes after logging in southeast Alaska. USDA Forest Service Research Note PNW-306, USDA, USA: 10 pp. [www document]. URL http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/ziemer/Ziemer77.pdf Google Scholar