Measurement of the aboveground biomass of some rangeland species using a digital non-destructive technique

Tarhouni, Mohamed; Salem, Farah Ben; Tlili, Abderrazak; Belgacem, Azaiez Ouled; Neffati, Mohamed; Louhaichi, Mounir

doi:10.1080/23818107.2016.1196147

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The digital imaging method and the size measurement method provided a reasonable estimation of aboveground biomass for the shrub species, giving positive relationships with R 2 > 0.7 for all the shrubs studied. This outcome correlates with similar findings in other recent studies in similar arid sites, which confirmed the positive relationship between plant biomass production and vegetation cover (Tarhouni et al 2016;Louhaichi et al 2018a), as well as the positive correlation between vegetation biomass and dimensions measurements (Tarhouni et al 2007;Idi et al 2009;Yang et al 2017). The use of vegetation cover and plant dimensions as a tool for studying shrub biomass has the advantage of being non-destructive, easy to use and faster, when compared with the harvest technique (Flombaum and Sala 2007;Idi et al 2009;Tarhouni et al 2016;Louhaichi et al 2018a); and many other researchers have studied the estimation of aboveground biomass carbon through non-destructive methods (Vashum and Jayakumar 2012;Mandal and Joshi 2015).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…They have the added advantage that they can be performed quickly at different times to assess vegetation dynamics for monitoring purposes. In addition, the obtained results are easily archived to ensure maximum data availability for future change analyses (Laliberté et al 2007;Tarhouni et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They can be estimated using linear (Flombaum and Sala 2007;Tarhouni et al 2007;Idi et al 2009), quadratic (Hughes et al 1987), and logarithmic regression models with various independent variables, such as stem diameter, height, and crown dimensions (Baskerville 1972;Ohmann et al 1981). Recently, another non-destructive method, plant canopy cover measurement, has been used as a surrogate for estimating the biomass of woody plants, because these two parameters are believed to be positively correlated (Tarhouni et al 2016). This technique uses a digital camera and follows a standardized procedure to classify and measure vegetation on the ground.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of long-term protection on the aboveground biomass and organic carbon content using two non-destructive techniques: case of the Sidi Toui National Park in southern Tunisia

Chibani

Tlili

Salem

et al. 2021

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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This is the final version of the article that is published ahead of the print and online issue Sustainable rangeland management in arid areas can contribute to the mitigation of climate change and rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, because they store considerable amounts of carbon both in the aboveground vegetation and in the soils (Derner and Schuman 2007;Yang et al. 2017). In general, plant biomass of rangelands is relatively low at approximately 2-6 kg m −2 , compared with other terrestrial ecosystems reaching 10-18 kg m −2 (Ruijun et al. 2010), but their large area offers significant potential for carbon sequestration (Chen et al. 2009). Dryland ecosystems have a sequestration potential of approximately 1 billion tons of carbon per year, accounting for more than 12% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions (Lal 2004). Some studies indicate that 59% of total carbon storage in Africa is in arid areas (Campbell et al. 2008; UNEP 2008). In these regions, where pastoral activities are dominant, most of the sequestered carbon is stored underground, and is therefore relatively stable (FAO 2002). There is also a substantial amount of aboveground carbon stored in trees, bushes, shrubs and grasses, which are not grazed or are only moderately disturbed by grazing (IPCC 2007; Vashum and Jayakumar 2012). However, it has been suggested that, under current land use management, overgrazing leads to loss of carbon stocks (Tessema et al. 2011). Many rangeland management techniques, such as rehabilitation and grazing enclosures, aim to increase forage production and to consolidate the carbon sequestration potential both in soils and in aboveground vegetation (Homann et al. 2008). National parks and other protected areas have been established to protect biodiversity and maintain ecological stability through restriction of livestock grazing and other human interventions. According to Campbell et al. (2008), 15.2% of global carbon stock is stored within protected areas, which cover 12.2% of total land area, highlighting the importance of protected areas in climate change mitigation.Long-term protection of such dryland areas increases spatial heterogeneity and vegetation cover and leads to the development of new vegetation units (Tarhouni et al. 2014). This management technique significantly improves aboveground productivity of shrubby plants in

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of long-term protection on the aboveground biomass and organic carbon content using two non-destructive techniques: case of the Sidi Toui National Park in southern Tunisia

Chibani

Tlili

Salem

et al. 2021

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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“…The use of vegetation cover as a surrogate variable for shrub biomass has the advantage of being non-destructive and faster compared to the harvest technique (Flombaum and Sala 2007;Tarhouni et al 2016). A continuous need for economical and accurate DVCT has primarily been used in rangelands to monitor and measure changes over time and to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration (Louhaichi et al 2013) and managerial techniques.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A reliable and non-destructive method for estimating forage shrub cover and biomass in arid environments using digital vegetation charting technique

Louhaichi

Hassan²,

Clifton³

et al. 2017

Agroforest Syst

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Despite the importance of fodder shrubs to small ruminant diets and production in arid and semiarid ecosystems, they are often not considered when quantifying grazing land potential. This oversight is mainly due to the time consuming and costly traditional techniques used to estimate shrub biomass. The shrub fodder component should be measured to avoid underestimation of the carrying capacity of rangelands. In this study, we present a fast, reliable and non-destructive method to estimate canopy vegetation cover to obtain aboveground shrub biomass. The experiment was conducted under field conditions in northwest Syria, where seedlings of seven shrub species were monitored for one year: Atriplex leucoclada (Moq.) Boiss., A. halimus L., A. lentiformis (Torr.) S. Watson, A. canescens (Pursh) Nutt., A. nummularia Lindl., Salsola vermiculata L. and Haloxylon aphyllum (C.A. Meyer) Bunge. The experimental layout was a randomized complete block design with five replications. We explored the effectiveness of digital vegetation charting technique (DVCT) for estimating shrub canopy cover.Aboveground shrub biomass was clipped to estimate the dry matter (DM) weight per species and to determine its relationship to canopy cover. In this study, an estimate of greenness (percent green vegetation cover) was extracted by way of greenness algorithms. Simple linear regressions between vegetation cover and biomass for 210 plots were performed. The cover of the seven species differed (P \ 0.01): A. leucoclada had the highest vegetation cover (56%) and H. aphyllum the lowest (7%). Vegetation cover and DM biomass were positively correlated (P \ 0.01) with R-squared ranging from 0.66 (H. aphyllum) to 0.84 (S. vermiculata). Our method provided reasonable estimations of canopy coverage which could predict aboveground phytomass. We conclude that DVCT offers a rapid, reliable and consistent measurement of shrub cover and biomass provided that shrubs have open architecture. This study shows the potential of digital cameras and image processing to determine cover/biomass in a nondestructive, timely and cost efficient way.

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“…The aboveground biomass of each studied species was obtained after cutting 1/2 ( n = 4) and 2/3 ( n = 4) of tufts per species on each plot. Before cutting, the canopy cover of each tuft was measured using very high‐resolution digital photography combined with image processing (Louhaichi, Hassan, Clifton, & Johnson, ; Tarhouni et al, ). The harvested biomass was weighed to evaluate the fresh matter (FM) and then dried at 105°C for 24 hr to weigh the dry matter (DM).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing yield and growth characteristics of four pastoral plant species under two salinity soil levels

et al. 2018

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The vegetation cover and the biomass production of the rangeland ecosystems are decreasing at an alarming rate. The valorization of saline water, by irrigating planted pastoral halophytes on salt-affected soils, is considered among the valuable tools to increase their production. In this study, the ability of four plant species (Atriplex halimus L. [Amaranthaceae], Atriplex mollis Desf. [Amaranthaceae], Lotus creticus L. [Fabaceae], and Cenchrus ciliaris L. [Poaceae]) to grow is tested in two field plotslow (low salinity plot [LSP]) and high (high salinity plot [HSP]) soil salinity. Canopy cover, dry biomass, and some chemical analyses (ash, nitrogen, and polyphenol contents) are undertaken. Main results show that A. halimus is the most able to grow in the two plots because it shows the greatest covers during the experiment. The covers of others species are low both in LSP and HSP. A. mollis retains the highest dry matter in both LSP (157 and 236 g) and HSP (134 and 153 g) when cutting 1/2 and 2/3 of the aboveground biomass, respectively. A. halimus and A. mollis have the biggest ash content in both LSP (respectively 65 and 67.5 mg g −1 fresh matter) andHSP (112.5 and 100 mg g −1 fresh matter). L. creticus and A. halimus show the highest total nitrogen content in LSP (respectively 26.9 and 26.3 g kg −1 dry matter). All the species reduced their nitrogen in HSP despite the C. ciliaris content that remains constant. In conclusion, the ability of the retained species to grow under high soil salinity is noted. Hence, the saline soils can be rehabilitated by planting well-targeted pastoral halophytes.

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Measurement of the aboveground biomass of some rangeland species using a digital non-destructive technique

Cited by 5 publications

References 28 publications

Assessment of long-term protection on the aboveground biomass and organic carbon content using two non-destructive techniques: case of the Sidi Toui National Park in southern Tunisia

Assessment of long-term protection on the aboveground biomass and organic carbon content using two non-destructive techniques: case of the Sidi Toui National Park in southern Tunisia

A reliable and non-destructive method for estimating forage shrub cover and biomass in arid environments using digital vegetation charting technique

Comparing yield and growth characteristics of four pastoral plant species under two salinity soil levels

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