Estimating fuel biomass of some shrub species (maquis) in Turkey

Abstract

Regression equations were developed to estimate shrub fuel biomass of a maquis formation in western Turkey. The relationships between some shrub characteristics and live, dead, available (for consumption), and total fuel biomass were determined by simple/multiple linear regression. Measured biomass values for live, available, and total fuels varied from 0.70 to 6.74 kg m-2, from 0.78 to 3.03 kg m-2, and from 1.06 to 7.72 kg m-2, respectively. The results obtained indicated that shrub fuel biomass could be satisfactorily predicted using the regression equations generated. The resulting equations were able to account for 60% to 89% of the observed variation (P < 0.05) in the fuel biomass categories studied. The results of this study should be invaluable in many forestry disciplines, including ecology, protection, and management