Universität zu Köln

Kindermann, Liana ORCID: 0000-0002-8126-2576, Dobler, Magnus ORCID: 0000-0002-9188-6876, Niedeggen, Daniela ORCID: 0000-0003-4376-3473 and Linstadter, Anja ORCID: 0000-0003-0038-9557 (2022). A new protocol for estimation of woody aboveground biomass in disturbance-prone ecosystems. Ecol. Indic., 135. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER. ISSN 1872-7034

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Abstract

Almost one third of global drylands are open forests and savannas, which are typically shaped by frequent natural disturbances such as wildfire and herbivory. Studies on ecosystem functions and services of woody vegetation require robust estimates of aboveground biomass (AGB). However, most methods have been developed for comparatively undisturbed forest ecosystems. As they are not tailored to accurately quantify AGB of small and irregular growth forms, their application on these growth forms may lead to unreliable or even biased AGB estimates in disturbance-prone dryland ecosystems. Moreover, these methods cannot quantify AGB losses caused by disturbance agents. Here we propose a methodology to estimate individual-and stand-level woody AGB in disturbance-prone ecosystems. It consists of flexible field sampling routines and estimation workflows for six growth classes, delineated by size and damage criteria. It also comprises a detailed damage assessment, harnessing the ecological archive of woody growth for past disturbances. Based on large inventories collected along steep gradients of elephant disturbances in African dryland ecosystems, we compared the AGB estimates generated with our proposed method against estimates from a less adapted forest inventory method. We evaluated the necessary stepwise procedures of method adaptation and analyzed each step's effect on stand-level AGB estimation. We further explored additional advantages of our proposed method with regard to disturbance impact quantification. Results indicate that a majority of growth forms and individuals in savanna vegetation could only be assessed if methods of AGB estimation were adapted to the conditions of a disturbance-prone ecosystem. Furthermore, our damage assessment demonstrated that one third to half of all woody AGB was lost to disturbances. Consequently, less adapted methods may be insufficient and are likely to render inaccurate AGB estimations. Our proposed method has the potential to accurately quantify woody AGB in disturbance-prone ecosystems, as well as AGB losses. Our method is more time consuming than conventional allometric approaches, yet it can cover sufficient areas within reasonable timespans, and can also be easily adapted to alternative sampling schemes.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Kindermann, Liana UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-8126-2576 UNSPECIFIED Dobler, Magnus UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-9188-6876 UNSPECIFIED Niedeggen, Daniela UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-4376-3473 UNSPECIFIED Linstadter, Anja UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0038-9557 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-673483
DOI:	10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108466
Journal or Publication Title:	Ecol. Indic.
Volume:	135
Date:	2022
Publisher:	ELSEVIER
Place of Publication:	AMSTERDAM
ISSN:	1872-7034
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language ESTIMATING TREE BIOMASS; ELEPHANT DAMAGE; CARBON STORAGE; SAVANNA; FIRE; FOREST; VEGETATION; DIVERSITY; DYNAMICS; ENCROACHMENT Multiple languages Biodiversity Conservation; Environmental Sciences Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/67348