Tree Allometrics

Equations / Aboveground biomass

Pantropical AGB with height, exponent fixed at 1 (Eq. 5)

Aboveground biomassTropical trees (58 sites)PantropicalnaturalRead from the original paper
Many species, no single photo
Equation

As printed (Eq. 5, p. 3182)

AGBest = 0.0559 × (ρD²H)

In this library's units, ready to compute (kg)

Aboveground biomass = 0.0559 * (rho * D^2 * H)
rho
Wood density (oven-dry mass / green volume), g/cm³
D
Diameter at breast height (1.3 m), cm
H
Total tree height, m

Alternative to Eq. 4 with the exponent constrained to one; the authors say it 'gave a slightly poorer performance (greater σ and AIC)'. Same estimator convention as Eq. 4 (Eq. 2 includes exp(σ²/2)).

Source
(σ = 0.361, AIC = 3211, df = 4003)
Residual standard error · Eq. 5, p. 3182
where D is in cm, H is in m, and ρ is in g cm−3
Units · Results, p. 3182
4004 trees ≥ 5 cm trunk diameter
Trees measured · Abstract, p. 3177
for a total of 4004 trees with trunk diameter ranging from 5 to 212 cm
Largest DBH · Introduction, p. 3178
Trees measured
4,004
DBH range
5–212 cm
Residual SE
0.361
Method
log-log regression with exponent constrained to 1
Where
58 harvest sites across the tropics
Last checked
2026-11-01
Calculate
Height from
754.6
Aboveground biomass (kg)
354.7
Carbon (kg), ×0.47
1,301
CO₂e (kg), ×44/12
Fitted DBH range05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500102030405060DBH (cm)Aboveground biomass (kg)Aboveground biomass

Shaded: the DBH range the model was fitted on. Other inputs held at the values above.

Checks this equation passes

On every build, the library's form and the paper's own form (in its units) must both give these values within 1%.

InputsExpectedWe getFrom
D = 30, H = 25, rho = 0.6754.7754.7Computed from the printed form
computed with python3 from the published form

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