Estimation de la Biomasse des Arbres et Incertitudes Associées (Revue Bibliographique)

Authors

  • Moundounga Mavouroulou Quentin Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale du Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Technologiques, Libreville-Gabon, Laboratoire de Physiologie Végétale et Protection des Plantes, Unité de Recherche Agrobiologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku, Franceville-Gabon
  • Ngomanda Alfred Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale du Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Technologiques, Libreville-Gabon
  • Maitre de Recherche Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale du Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Technologiques, Libreville-Gabon
  • Lepengue Nicaise Alexis Laboratoire de Physiologie Végétale et Protection des Plantes, Unité de Recherche Agrobiologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku, Franceville-Gabon

Keywords:

Biomasse, incertitude, équation allométrique, variable dendrométrique, Télédétection

Abstract

La mesure des stocks et flux de carbone forestier est absolument essentielle pour comprendre le rôle que jouent les forêts dans le cycle global du carbone et pour mettre en place des politiques efficaces d’atténuation du réchauffement climatique mondial induit par l’augmentation des gaz à effet de serre d’origine anthropique. Cette revue bibliographique vise à présenter l’état actuel des connaissances sur les incertitudes associées à la quantification du carbone forestier, en particulier dans les forêts tropicales. Plusieurs études montrent que les incertitudes sur les stocks et flux de carbone séquestrés dans les forêts tropicales sont extrêmement larges, estimés respectivement 188 et 272 milliards de tonnes de carbone et entre 0.17 et 1.16 milliards de tonnes de gaz carbonique. Ces énormes incertitudes sont sans doute liées aux méthodes utilisées pour quantifier la biomasse des arbres vivants. La revue bibliographique montre en effet que dans la quasitotalité des études sur le carbone forestier, la biomasse des arbres n’est réellement jamais mesurée sur le terrain, mais plutôt estimés à l’aide des modèles mathématiques ou équations allométriques qui transforment les données d’inventaire forestier en stocks et flux de carbone. L’estimation de carbone comporte en conséquence une incertitude dont l’amplitude pourrait dépendre de : (i) la méthode de collecte des données la biomasse aérienne (ii) la mesure des attributs de taille (diamètre et hauteur) des arbres et traits d’espèces (densité du spécifique du bois, taille de la canopée) lors des inventaires forestiers, (iii) la forme mathématique et qualité d’ajustement des modèles allométriques (erreur propre du modèle) employés, et (iv) possiblement d’une inadéquation entre structure diamétrique des arbres dans les données de calibration des modèles et dans les inventaires forestiers. Toutefois, l’absence d’études ayant mesuré la biomasse totale d’une forêt à une échelle spatiale fixée (exemple 1 ha) ne permet pas actuellement d’évaluer la contribution de chaque source d’erreurs sur l’incertitude totale de l’estimation finale de carbone.

Measuring forest carbon stocks and fluxes is absolutely essential for understanding the role that forests play in the global carbon cycle and for developing effective policies to mitigate global warming induced by increasing greenhouse gases of anthropogenic origin. This bibliographic review aims to present the current state of knowledge on the uncertainties associated with the quantification of forest carbon, particularly in tropical forests. Several studies show that the uncertainties on the carbon stocks and fluxes sequestered in tropical forests are extremely large, estimated respectively at 188 and 272 billion tonnes of CO2and between 0.17 and 1.16 billion tonnes of CO2. These huge uncertainties are probably related to the methods used to quantify the biomass of living trees. The bibliographical review indeed shows that in almost all studies on forest carbon, the biomass of trees is never really measured in the field, but rather estimated using mathematical models or allometric equations which transform the data inventory of carbon stocks and fluxes. The carbon estimate therefore includes an uncertainty, the magnitude of which could depend on: (i) the above-ground biomass data collection method (ii) the measurement of tree size attributes (diameter and height) and tree traits species (specific density of the wood, size of the canopy) during forest inventories, (iii) the mathematical form and quality of adjustment of the allometric models (specific error of the model) used, and (iv) possibly a mismatch between diameter structure of trees in model calibration data and in forest inventories. However, the absence of studies having measured the total biomass of a forest at a fixed spatial scale (example 1 ha) does not currently allow an assessment of the contribution of each source of error to the total uncertainty of the final carbon estimate.

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2022-11-27

How to Cite

Quentin, M. M., Alfred, N., Recherche, M. de, & Alexis, L. N. (2022). Estimation de la Biomasse des Arbres et Incertitudes Associées (Revue Bibliographique). ESI Preprints, 11, 656. Retrieved from https://esipreprints.org/index.php/esipreprints/article/view/211

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