Tree Allometrics

Equations / Aboveground biomass, without leaves

Rainforest, Rio de Janeiro, DBH and height (Schumacher and Hall, Model 3)

Aboveground biomass, without leavesMixed rainforest treesBrazilnaturalRead from the original paper
Many species, no single photo
Equation

As printed (Table 2 (model forms in Table 1))

Model 3 (Schumacher and Hall) RAF: B0 1.52 × 10−4, B1 1.465, B2 0.9627

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

Aboveground biomass, without leaves = 1000 * 0.000152 * D^1.465 * H^0.9627
D
Diameter at breast height (1.3 m), cm
H
Total tree height, m

Table 2 gives coefficients only; the model forms are from Table 1 (Husch y = B0 d^B1; Spurr y = B0 + B1 (d2 h); Schumacher and Hall y = B0 d^B1 h^B2), fitted by non-linear GLS with a varPower variance function. Output unit Mg is from the Figure 2 caption (AGB, Mg); the table itself does not state it, and 1000 x converts to kg. AGB was built from non-destructively measured wood volume (stem and branches) times basic wood density, so foliage is excluded. Coefficients are rounded as printed. Fit r2 is the printed Ryy (correlation of real and estimated values). DBH range of the 172 sample trees not stated. Authors judged Model 3 best for this data set.

Source
78 trees belonged to RAF
Trees measured · Section 2.3
Trees measured
78
R²
0.91
Method
non-linear regression, generalised least squares with varPower variance
Where
Rio de Janeiro state, Atlantic Forest Domain
Last checked
2026-11-02
Calculate
Height from
87.9
Aboveground biomass, without leaves (kg)
41.3
Carbon (kg), ×0.47
151
CO₂e (kg), ×44/12
0100200300400510152025303540DBH (cm)Aboveground biomass, without leaves (kg)Aboveground biomass, without leaves

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 = 15, H = 1287.987.9Computed from the printed form
hand-computed from the published form (Mg x 1000 = kg)
D = 40, H = 22663663Computed from the printed form
hand-computed from the published form (Mg x 1000 = kg)

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