Summary: Ecological Applications, 17(7), 2007, pp. 1899­1910
Ó 2007 by the Ecological Society of America
POSTFIRE STAND STRUCTURE IN A SEMIARID SAVANNA:
CROSS-SCALE CHALLENGES ESTIMATING BIOMASS
CHO-YING HUANG,1,2,3
STUART E. MARSH,2
MITCHEL P. MCCLARAN,1
AND STEVEN R. ARCHER
1
1
School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
2
Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85719 USA
Abstract. Algorithms relating remotely sensed woody cover to biomass are often the basis
for large-scale inventories of aboveground carbon stocks. However, these algorithms are
commonly applied in a generic fashion without consideration of disturbances that might alter
vegetation structure. We compared field and remote sensing estimates of woody biomass on
savannas with contrasting disturbance (fire) histories and assessed potential errors in
estimating woody biomass from cover without considering fire history. Field surveys
quantified multilayer cover (MLC) of woody and succulent plants on sites experiencing

Source: Archer, Steven R. - Savanna/Woodland Ecology Lab., School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona

Collections: Environmental Sciences and Ecology