COMPARISON OF VARIED FOREST INVENTORY METHODS AND OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR ESTIMATING ABOVE-GROUND..

The methodologies and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for assessing above-ground biomass (AGB) and carbon in Malawi's important REDD+ Miombo Forest Reserves were evaluated in this study. The following methodologies and SOPs were investigated using the Analysis of Variance statistical technique: I allometry, (ii) sample plot arrangement, and (iii) dendrometric measures. The allometric equations parameter substantially (P0.001) influenced AGB estimates and was the most significant contributor (97.95%) to the overall variance. Malawi has the highest AGB estimate (113.081.56 t/ha) according to its particular allometry. The Pan-Tropical/generalized allometric models, on the other hand, significantly underestimated AGB by 16.7% to 67.9%. Furthermore, the data show that different sample plot sizes had a substantial (P0.001) impact on AGB estimations. The plot size parameter, on the other hand, only accounted for 1.65% of the overall variance. In comparison to the 17.84m radius plot (66.121.61), the 20m radius plot has the greatest AGB (75.310.77). This means that the 17.84m radius plot size underestimated the AGB by 12.2 percent. However, despite the former yielding higher estimates of AGB (74.650.93 t/ha) than the latter (72.530.98 t/ha), results on dendrometric measurements revealed no significant (P>0.05) differences in AGB estimates between the use of diameter tape (D-tape) and calliper in measuring dbh of individual trees. This shows that using a calliper to measure dbh only overestimated AGB t/ha by 2.8 percent compared to using D-tape. As a result, the study suggests using local allometry and using a circular sample approach.

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