Simultaneous estimation as an alternative to young eucalyptus aboveground biomass modeling in ecophysiological experiments

ABSTRACT

Accurate forest biomass estimates require the selection of appropriate models of individual trees. Thus, two properties are required in tree biomass modeling: (1) additivity of biomass components and (2) estimator efficiency. This study aimed to develop a system of equations to estimate young eucalyptus aboveground biomass and guarantee additivity and estimator efficiency. Aboveground eucalyptus biomass models were calibrated using four methods: generalized least squares (GLS), weighted least squares (WLS), seemingly unrelated regression (SUR), and weighted seemingly unrelated regression (WSUR). The approaches were compared with regard to performance, additivity, and estimator efficiency. The methods did not differ with regard to the mean biomass estimation; therefore, their performance was similar. The GLS and WLS approaches did not satisfy the additivity principle, as the sum of the biomass components was not equal to total biomass. However, this was not observed with the SUR and WSUR approaches. With regard to estimator efficiency, the WSUR approach resulted in narrow confidence intervals and an efficiency gain of over 20%. The WSUR approach should be used in forest biomass modeling as it resulted in effective estimators while ensuring equation additivity, thus providing an easy and accurate alternative to estimate the initial biomass of eucalyptus stands in ecophysiological models.

Keywords:
nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression; weighting procedures; model error structure; biological consistency; forest biomass; eucalyptus management