Interrelations of stem and crown diameters of forest-forming species of Eurasia

Due to climate change and the potential possibility of its stabilization with the help of managed forests and assessment of their carbon depositing capacity, the possibility of operational assessment of phytomass and organic carbon of forest cover is of particular relevance. Remote sensing of forests based on unmanned aerial vehicles made it possible to obtain the parameters of tree crowns from as close a distance as possible, which ensures high adequacy of models for assessing the phytomass of trees by crown diameter. Along with them, thousands of allometric models have been published to estimate the phytomass of trees by stem diameter. To combine them, it is necessary to know the interrelationships of the stem and crown diameters. When using the empirical data of 3,100 model trees for seven coniferous and 2,470 trees for sixteen deciduous species and genera (subgenera), 23 allometric models of crown diameter versus stem diameter and stem diameter versus crown diameter have been developed, significant at the level of t001 and higher. The first ones are designed to be combined with published models of phytomass of trees in connection with the crown diameter, and the second ones are designed to be combined with published models of phytomass in connection with the stem diameter. All genera were ranked both by crown diameter and stem diameter, followed by rank regression analysis, including the interdependence of two rank distributions of 23 genera. A negative relationship has been established between the rank distributions of genera by crown diameter and stem diameter, while the dependence of the empirical data of stem diameter on crown diameter is of positive relationship. Thus, the relationship of the crown diameter with the stem diameter can be either negative or positive, depending on a particular application and context.

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