Forest biomass inventory

1. Introduction
In 1973, tree and forest biomass cased to be of strictly scientific interest and
assumed economic significance. Prior to 1973 a few pioneers such as ovington
and madgwick (1959), Baskerville (1965), rennie (1966), attiwill and ovington
(1968), and heller (1971), investigated methods of measuring biomass to learn
how ecosystems function. The change from academic to economic interest is
captured in a statement by loetsch et al. (1973): biomass, which is primally of
biology interest, defines the total content of a tree .. which can eventually be
utilized if [the] technique of harvesting and market conditions so permit. With
the worldwide increase in oil prices, market conditions for forest biomass
utilization as energy have improved dramaticall, and harvesting techniques have
been evolving ever since. Also, techniques for measuring forest biomass have
been studied and improved extensively. With these improvements, it is now
possible to determine the quantity, quality, and location of forest biomass
resources. This information is a prerequisite to assessing the economic
significance of forest biomass.
A pioneer in the assessment of forest biomass, and the person who has had
the greatest influence in this field, is Harold E. young. While at the university
that, given the right economic circumstances, many additional components of
the trees and forest could be utilized for energy, pulp, cattle fodder, sugar
substitutes, and other purposes. He then proceeded to expand this completetree utilization concept, to develop methods of quantifying the tree components,
and to sell his ideas and information to the forestry community, as a result of
this efforts, most foresters today are familiar with the concept, measurements,
uses, and importance of forest biomass, and quantitative data are rapidly
becoming available. Prof. young has written many articles on the subject,
including Young (1964, 1968, 1975, 1978a, b, 1979, 1980) and Young et al.
(1976).
In a 1978 article entitled forest biomass inventory: the basis for completetree utilization, young states the forest, one of our major renewable resource,
are now undergoing critical examination to asses their potential in term of
energy, chemicals, medicines, and food in addition ti the traditional uses. The
extent of this potential depends on the biomass, fresh or dry weight, and the
biomass productivity of the foresta. with these words, young captured the
potential significance of forest biomass, as well as the role of forest biomass
inventories in quantifying this renewable resource.
The purpose of this chapter is to describe forest biomass inventories: to
define them, to describe the different types of such inventories and how they

differ from the standart volume inventories, how they are done, and what data
are collected. The national forest biomass inventory of Canada will be presented
as an example and a case study, but inventories in other countries will also be
discussed. Further, examples will be given of small or special-purpose
inventories that use different procedures. Finally, forest biomass statistics will be
presented: how biomass is distributed within trees or stands, national and
international statistics, and energy equivalents.
The topic will be covered quite broadly. Inventories ranging from national
through management to special purpose will be covered and, while the emphasis
will be on methodology, statistics will also be presented. One limitation is that
only inventories of static data will be covered ; inventories of dynamic data
(growth, depletion) will not be discussed.
A considerable body of forest biomass literature has accumulated, especially
since 1973, and a number reviews have been made. Parde (1980) traces the
historical development of forest biomass studies and then reviews methods of
measuring tree biomass, forest stand biomass, and biomass production; this is
followed by a presentation of some typical biomass values for different species
and components. Another bibliography has been compiled by Hitchcock and
mcdonnell (1979) focusing on literature related to forest biomass measurements:
physical relationship (components), measurement methods (tree sampling), tree
weight functions (equations), and applications. Unfortunately, it stops short of
biomass inventories.
The above-mentioned bibliographies do not comprise reasonably exhaustive
summaries of forest biomass inventory literature. Accordingly, the list of
references attached to this chapter must fill that role.
2. An overview
Young (1980) wrote that .. forest inventory is the process by which reliable and
satisfactory information about the forest is obtained by sampling produres.
Cunia (1983) defines forest inventory as .. a systematic procedure used to: (1)
collect mensurational data on forest biomass and the land on which it rrows; (2)
process and analyse these mensurational data, and (3) present for management
use estimates (with their precision) of quantity of biomass by quality classes as
distributed over geographical areas. Thus, both young and cunia recognize that
the term refers to the process of obtaining data, as well as to the data
themselves: what quantity, what quality, where?
Forest inventories differ in scope and purpose. Some cover large areas but
include no detailed information, others cover small areas in great detail; some
are special-purpose, other multi-purpose; some are designed to obtain
information for management purposes; other are designed to obtain information

for policy and planning; in some the emphasis is wood production, and in others,
multiple use is the goal.
To date, these inventories have been designed b develop nations to monitor
supplies of industrial wood in their temperate, largely coniferous, forest. Kuusela
and Nyyssonen (1981a) state;
In current forest inventories, the growing stock volume means different things
in different forest zones. In temperate and boreal zones the trees are
characterized by a central stem extending from ground to top. The common
target is then to assess the total stem volume or the volume above a certain
minimum diameter. Specifications with respect to saw timber, pulpwood, logging
residues, etc., are also common. The current use of wood as fuel is rather
limited, in some areas almost non-existent.
On the other hand, in tropical and sub-tropical zones including monsoonal
climates, the trees are often characterized by a large proportion of branch wood.
In forest inventories there the target is to estimate only the volume of clear bole
of the commercial tree species. The overall consumption of fuelwood in these
zones is, however, much greater than that of industrial wood.
Recently, inventories have started to change; they are being designed to
obtain information on other uses of the forest, e.g. recreation, grazing, wildlife,
and water conservation. For these use, wood volume is no longer the most
significant attribute. In recreation, for instance, number of visitordays is a more
important attribute. To make the process more efficient and avoid reinventorying the same area, multi-resource inventories are now being develop,
particularly in the USA the most common approach is to use a standart volume
inventory as a basis and to add-on the steps necessary to obtain information for
other uses of the forest. This approach has been recommended by tryon and
edson (1979), ware (1979) kuusela and nyyssonen (19811 and b)
The forest biomass inventory is one of the new types of forest inventory. It is
designed to measure forest biomass rather than-or in addition to-the traditional
volume. Apart from that characteristic, biomass inventory could be undertaken
for many different purposes, of different size areas, etc.
These point biomass inventory is the one of the new types of forest inventory. It
is designed to measure forest biomass rather thanor in addition tothe
traditional volume. Apart from that characteristic, biomass inventory could be
undertaken for many different pusposes, of different size areas, etc.
These points are illustrated in table 1, which list some of the more common
types of forest inventories, starting eith te most important ones. The table is
intended to clarify the scope and pusposed of inventories, not to be allencompassing. Indeed, foresters have not agreed on the names to apply to

different types of inventories, or which are the more significant ones. Cunia
(1883), for example , gives the following three classes of inventor: operation,
management, and national. As shown, each inventory type is designed for a
specific purpose and covers a distinct area. The attributes measured depend on
the inventory purpose but, as previously mentioned, one inventory could be
designed for acquisition of many different attributes. It is also worth nothing that
some of the larger inventories are aggregates of the smaller ones. For instance,
international inventories are always aggregates of national ones, and national
ones are often aggregates of regional or management inventories.
In the next part of this chapter the management inventory, arguably the most
important type, will described first. Within that framework the acquisition of are
and volume data-also of much importance and closely related to biomass data
acquisition will be described, followed by a detailed presentation of biomass
estimation and how biomass estimation procedures differ from the volume
estimate procedures
3 Management inventory
As the name indicates,the management inventory is designed to obtain data for
management purposes. Generally, the forest is Managed for timber production but,
increasingly, other uses (e.g recreation) are considered as well. The inventory area
is usually one or more managements units, each ranging in size from a few hundred
to many thousand of hectares. Each unit may be divided into forest-based strata or
administrative subpopultion (e.g counties) for which separate estimates are
required. Individual stands ate usually the smalleest are considered for maping,
data summary, or managementpurproses.The atribute of primary interest is
merchantable wood volume,with stem frequency and basal areavdata of secondary
importance. These atributes are usually given by tree size (stem diameter at breast
height) classes and by a number of forest and administrative classes which aare
described in a classification system such as the following :

Totally inventory area is divided into land and water

Land is divided into forest and non-forest
Forest is divided into productive forest an unproductiveforest
Productive forest is classified by ownership and status; by forest and cover
type;and by stand density,height,age, and site quality classes.

Many other forest and land classification systems are used, depending on the
requirements.
The most common sources of information for management inventories
include exixten base maps,soil maps, and geological maps, narrative descriptions of
the area and its history, aerial photograps which are used to obtain information

about individual stands,and field samples, from which detailed volume data are
obtained through sampling procedures.
The art and science of designing a forest invetoryincluding the
management type of inventory- is to put together all the existing information about
the area,knowlegde of data needs, resources available,source of
infformation,possible ampling designs,etc.,and produce a design that yields the
desired information at a reasonable cost and accuracy within a specified time
frame.The management inventory includes the following four general steps:
1. On base maps delineate the population and determine its area
2. On aerial photos delineate and classify individual stands,transfer the
information to the base maps, determine stabd areas, stratify or definesubpopulations
3. Using field sampling procedures obtain detailed volume data. The general
approach is to establish sample plots,measure individual trees within the
plots,apply equations to estimate tree volumes, and summarize the volumes
by species and size classes. The plot totals are then combine with other plot
totalas for individual strata, sub-populations or othe desired classes,and
average values (e.g volumes in m3/ha) and precision estimates are
calculated.
4. The area data from (2) are combined with the averages from (3) to yield
estimates (e.g total volume)of individuall strata,sub-population, and the
whole population. The data are then summarized and presented with the
mpas in a report. Management plans are prepared froom the report and other
information.
The steps outlined above are not rigorous specifications. For example,
in (2), the air photos may be replaced by exiting detailed aps, or stand
boundaries may not be deineated, in favour of compartement or block
boundaries. The greates choice and variability pf procedures occurs
undoubtedly in (3), where sample plots may have different size and
hshapes may be of fixed or variable area (point samples),or may be
single or clustered. Also, they may be selected randomly or
systematically, and they may be selected with different intensities for
different part of the population.
In summary, the primary characteritic of the traditional (volume)
management inentory is that it is designed to obatain information
about individual stands or similar sized areas; the informatiion has to
be detailed enough for management purpose, but does not have tp
include accurate estimates of individual stand volumes.
3.1 Modifications for biosmass estimation
How does a management invetory designed to obtain biomass dataperhaps in addtionto volume data-difffer from the traditional volume

inventory? It differs in that it must be designed to obtain data on

additional components of stands, additional species, and additional for
est areas. As previously stated, the attribute of greatest significance in
the traditional voulme inventory is merchantable stem volume, used
primarily for pulpwppd,sawlogs, and for many other
purpose(energy,cattle foder,etc.) and is obtainable from additional tree
components, stand components, etc. Hence, these additional
quantities must be inventoried, is describe next.
3.1.1 Units of measurement
Many different units are use in wood volume measurement. The most
common measure is the cubic metre (m3). The preferred measurement
unit of wood biomass, on the other hand,has yet to be decided. Two
units are in contention:oven dry mass and green mass (weight). As the
name imply, oven dry mass is roughly speaking, the weight of the fibre
only, while green mass also includeswhatever moisture is in the tree at
the time of felling. While the oven dry units is not subject to moisture
content variations and is a better indicator of energy availability, the
green mass is more practical in terms of roadside measurement and
conversation from wood volume.
Wood density is the ratio between biomass (oven dry or green),
and mass of an equal volume of water. Unfortunately (Panshin and de
Zeeuw, 1980;Adams 1982) studies have indicated that wood density
can vary with species, within a species, and even withim a tree, as wll
as by geographic location and site quality.Some foresters believe that
such variability is only an artefact of the method of sampling and
analysis. For practical reasons, most foresters use a standard set of
wood density values, such as those published by Jessome (1977).
While wood density is a ratio and does not have a unit , biomass is
normally reported in kilograms (kg) for individual trees, and in tonnes
(t) for stands and other area-based measurments. In this
chapter,unless otherwise stated, the reporting unit will be oven dry
mass, in tonnes or tonnes per hectare (t/ha).
3.1.2 Tree components and equations
The tree components shown in figure 1 can be groupe into major
components:stem wood,stem bark, branches, and foliage. The stem
wood and bark can again be separated into stump wood, stump bark,
merchantable stem wood, merchantable stem bark, and top (wood and
bark). There are two purpose behind using these components.
1. To separated those components which can be used for
pulpwood,sawlogs,and other fibre uses,and those wich can only
be used as biomass,e.g energy. For example, the merchantable
stem wood can be used fot sawlogs (if the tree is large enough)
while the foliage can only be used for biomass.

2. To account for different harvesting methods, in which different

tree components are extracted and available. For example, in
the so-called shortwood harvesting method, each tree is felled,
delimbed and bucked,and only the merchantable stem wood and
bark are bought to roadside. On the other hand, in full-tree
harvesting, the tree is sheared off at ground level and moved tp
roadside, where delimbing is done. With this latter method,many
more tree components are harvested and available for use.