Estimation of leaf area index and assessment of its allometric equations in oak forests: Northern Zagros, Iran

S. Khosravi, M. Namiranian, H. Ghazanfari and A. Shirvani
Additional contact information
S. Khosravi: Forestry and Forest Economics Department, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
M. Namiranian: Forestry and Forest Economics Department, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
H. Ghazanfari: Forestry Department, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
A. Shirvani: Forestry and Forest Economics Department, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Journal of Forest Science, 2012, vol. 58, issue 3, 116-122

Abstract: The focus of the present study is the estimation of leaf area index (LAI) and the assessment of allometric equations for predicting the leaf area of Lebanon oaks (Quercus libani Oliv.) in Iran's northern Zagros forests. To that end, 50 oak trees were randomly selected and their biophysical parameters were measured. Then, on the basis of destructive sampling of the oak trees, their specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf area were measured. The results showed that SLA and LAI of the Lebanon oaks were 136.9 cm.g-1 and 1.99, respectively. Among all the parameters we measured, the crown volume exhibited the highest correlation with LAI (r2 = 0.65). The easily measured tree parameters such as diameter at breast height did not show a high correlation with leaf area (r2 = 0.36). Our obtained moderate correlations in the allometric equations could be due to the fact that branches of these trees had been pollarded by the local people when the branches were only 3 or 4 years old; therefore, the natural structure of the crowns in these trees might have been damaged.

Keywords: allometric relationships; destructive sampling; leaf area index; Quercus libani Oliv.; specific leaf area (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/18/2011-JFS.html (text/html)
http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/18/2011-JFS.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:58:y:2012:i:3:id:18-2011-jfs

DOI: 10.17221/18/2011-JFS

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Forest Science is currently edited by Mgr. Ilona Procházková

More articles in Journal of Forest Science from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().