Untrimmed fresh biomass
Untrimmed biomass is measured indirectly as non-destructive. The small
untrimmed branches with less than 10cm basal diameter were processed
differently from the large branches and the trunk. For the small
branches, only basal diameter was measured. The biomass of these small
untrimmed branches with their accompanying twigs and leaves was
estimated from the relationship between their basal diameter and the
regression developed from the trimmed branches (Vann et al .,
1998; Picard et al ., 2012).
The biomass of the trunk and the large branches was estimated from
measurements of volumes (Vi in cm3) and mean wood
density (ῥ in g cm−3). The large branches and trunk
were divided virtually into sections that are then materialized by
marking the tree. The volume Vi of each section i was obtained by
measuring its diameter and its length. Diameter measurements were
carried out in sections of about two meters in length along the length
of the trunk. For larger branches greater than 10 cm in basal diameter,
diameter measurements were conducted in sections of 50 cm in length
using tree caliper.
The volume (V aliquot fresh wood) of the wood aliquot taken from the
trimmed compartments was measured by measuring the volume of water
displaced when the sample is immersed in water using a graduated tube of
suitable dimensions for the sample (Picard et al ., 2012). The dry
biomass of the tree was obtained by the sum of the trimmed dry biomass
and the untrimmed dry biomass:
B dry = B trimmed dry + B untrimmed dry
2.3 Data analysis