@article{fdi:010066675,
  title = {{C}losing a gap in tropical forest biomass estimation : taking crown mass variation into account in pantropical allometries},
  author = {{P}loton, {P}ierre and {B}arbier, {N}icolas and {M}omo {T}akoudjou, {S}t{\'e}phane and {R}{\'e}jou-{M}{\'e}chain, {M}axime and {B}osela, {F}. {B}. and {C}huyong, {G}. and {D}auby, {G}. and {D}roissart, {V}incent and {F}ayolle, {A}. and {G}oodman, {R}. {C}. and {H}enry, {M}. and {K}amdem, {N}. {G}. and {M}ukirania, {J}. {K}. and {K}enfack, {D}. and {L}ibalah, {M}. and {N}gomanda, {A}. and {R}ossi, {V}. and {S}onke, {B}. and {T}exier, {N}icolas and {T}homas, {D}. and {Z}ebaze, {D}. and {C}outeron, {P}ierre and {B}erger, {U}. and {P}{\'e}lissier, {R}apha{\¨e}l},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{A}ccurately monitoring tropical forest carbon stocks is a challenge that remains outstanding. {A}llometric models that consider tree diameter, height and wood density as predictors are currently used in most tropical forest carbon studies. {I}n particular, a pantropical biomass model has been widely used for approximately a decade, and its most recent version will certainly constitute a reference model in the coming years. {H}owever, this reference model shows a systematic bias towards the largest trees. {B}ecause large trees are key drivers of forest carbon stocks and dynamics, understanding the origin and the consequences of this bias is of utmost concern. {I}n this study, we compiled a unique tree mass data set of 673 trees destructively sampled in five tropical countries (101 trees > 100 cm in diameter) and an original data set of 130 forest plots (1 ha) from central {A}frica to quantify the prediction error of biomass allometric models at the individual and plot levels when explicitly taking crown mass variations into account or not doing so. {W}e first showed that the proportion of crown to total tree aboveground biomass is highly variable among trees, ranging from 3 to 88 %. {T}his proportion was constant on average for trees < 10{M}g (mean of 34 %) but, above this threshold, increased sharply with tree mass and exceeded 50% on average for trees >= 45 {M}g. {T}his increase coincided with a progressive deviation between the pantropical biomass model estimations and actual tree mass. {T}aking a crown mass proxy into account in a newly developed model consistently removed the bias observed for large trees (> 1 {M}g) and reduced the range of plot- level error (in %) from [-23; 16] to [0; 10]. {T}he disproportionally higher allocation of large trees to crown mass may thus explain the bias observed recently in the reference pantropical model. {T}his bias leads to far- from- negligible, but often overlooked, systematic errors at the plot level and may be easily corrected by taking a crown mass proxy for the largest trees in a stand into account, thus suggesting that the accuracy of forest carbon estimates can be significantly improved at a minimal cost.},
  keywords = {},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{B}iogeosciences},
  volume = {13},
  numero = {5},
  pages = {1571--1585},
  ISSN = {1726-4170},
  year = {2016},
  DOI = {10.5194/bg-13-1571-2016},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010066675},
}