Despite the importance of Hyrcanian forests
for biodiversity conservation, a few studies with biomass destruction has been
done to predict biomass and carbon pools from this forest and there is a lack
of knowledge in our country. Biomass and leaf area index (LAI) are important
variables in many ecological and environmental applications and forest
management. In this paper, allometric biomass and leaf area equations were
developed for three common Hyrcanian tree species, Oriental Beech (Fagus
orientalis Lipsky), Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus Lipsky) and Chestnut- leaved Oak
(Quercus castaneifolia C. A. Mey). To evaluate and estimate the leaf biomass
and leaf area index of Oriental Beech, Horbeam and Chestnut-leaved Oak, 21, 27
and 17 individuals were selected and felled down, respectively. Tree characteristics
such as diameter at breast height, total height, crown length and perpendicular
diameters were measured. Destructive sampling was applied for determination of
leaf biomass and LAI. Allometric equations were calculated for estimation of
leaf biomass and LAI using simple linear regression and nonlinear regression
analysis. The equations were compared based on several modelling parameters.
Model comparison and selection were based on R2, Akaike’s information criterion
(AIC), prediction error sums of squares, model standard error estimate (SEE),
ΔAIC, and a correction factor. Based on the results, the mean values of leaf
area, leaf biomass and LAI for Oriental Beech were 53.05 cm2, 0.176 gr, 2.16,
for Hornbeam were 27.2 cm2, 0.128 gr, 1.13 and for Chestnut-leaved Oak were
62.419 cm2, 0.401 gr, 2.26, respectively. The highest significant correlation
for Oriental Beech was found between LAI and total height (R2adj= 0. 931), the
highest significant correlation for Hornbeam was found between LAI and Dbh (R2adj = 0. 956) and the highest significance for Chestnut-leaved Oak was found
between LAI and SqrtDbh (R2adj = 0. 956). Also, the best equations were
obtained by means of an exponential regression model for Oriental Beech, the
Log-transformed regression model for Hornbeam and of a transformed regression
model for Chestnut-leaved Oak.