Also in this series: In preparation: FORESTRY SCIENCES

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1 FOREST BIOMASS

2 FORESTRY SCIENCES Also in this series: Prins CFL ed: Production, Marketing and Use of Finger-Jointed Sawnwood. ISBN Oldeman RAA, et al. eds: Tropical Hardwood Utilization: Practice and Prospects ISBN X Baas P ed: New Perspectives in Wood Anatomy, ISBN In preparation: Bonga JM and Durzan DJ: Tissue Culture in Forestry ISBN Chandler CC, Cheney P and Williams DF, eds: Fire in Forest Den Ouden P and Boom BK, eds: Manual of Cultivated Conifers: Hardy in Cold- and Warm-Temperate Zone ISBN Gordon JC and Wheeler CT eds: Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Forest Ecosystems: Foundation and Applications Hummel FC ed: Forestry Policy Nemeth MV: The Virus - Mycoplasma and Rickettsia Disease of Fruit Trees Powers RF and Miller HG eds: Applied Aspects of Forest Tree Nutrition Powers RF and Miller HG eds: Basic Aspects of Forest Tree Nutrition Rajagopal R: Information Analysis for Resource Management Van Nao T, ECEIF AOI Agriculture and Timber Division ed: Forest Fire Prevention and Control

3 FOREST BIOMASS written and translated by T. SATOO edited and revised by H.A.I. MADGWICK 1982 MARTINUS NI1HOFF / DR W. JUNK PUBLISHERS THE HAGUE / BOSTON / LONDON

4 Distributors jor the United States and Canada Kluwer Boston, Inc. 190 Old Derby Street Hingham, MA USA jor all other countries Kluwer Academic Publishers Group Distribution Center P.O. Box AH Dordrecht The Netherlands Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Satoo, Taishichiro, Forest biomass. (Forestry sciences) Revised translation of: Rikujo shokubutsu gunraku no busshitsu seisan. Shinrin. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Forest ecology. 2. Primary productivity (Biology) I. Madgwick, H.A.I. II. Title. III. Series. QK938.F6S ' AACR2 ISBN-13: e-isbn -13: DOl: / Copyright 1982 by Martinus Nijhojj / Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1982 All rights reserved. No part oj this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any jorm or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission oj the publishers, Martinus Nijhojj / Dr W. Junk Publishers, P.O.Box 566,2501 CN The Hague, The Netherlands.

5 CONTENTS Page Preface to the English edition vii Chapter Primary Production 2 Forests 5 3 Methods of Estimating Forest Biomass 4 Biomass Production 90 6 Factors Affecting Rates of Production 119 References 135 Index 151

6 VII PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION Lord Rutherford has said that all science is either physics or stamp collecting. On that basis the study of forest biomass must be classified with stamp collecting and other such pleasurable pursuits. Japanese scientists have led the world, not only in collecting basic data, but in their attempts to systematise our knowledge of forest biomass. They have studied factors affecting dry matter production of forest trees in an attempt to approach underlying phyf'ical principles. This edition of Professor Satoo's book has been made possible the help of Dr John F. Hosner and the Virginia Poly technical Institute and State University who invited Dr Satoo to Blacksburg for three months in 1973 at about the time when he was in the final stages of preparing the Japanese version. Since then the explosion of world literature on forest biomass has continued to be fired by increasing shortages of timber supplies in many parts of the world as well as by a need to explore renewable sources of energy. In revising the original text I have attempted to maintain the input of Japanese work - much of which is not widely available outside Japan - and to update both the basic information and, where necessary, the conclusions to keep them in tune with current thinking. Those familiar with the Japanese original will find Chapter 3 largely rewritten on the basis of new work - much of which was initiated while Dr Satoo was in Blacksburg. Major additions have been made to Chapter 4. For these and all other amendments I accept full responsibility. Few, apart from other authors, will appreciate the debt of gratitude that I feel to the technical staff at the Forest Research Institute in Rotorua for their efforts to assist in the preparation of this work. I am particularly grateful to the staff in the draughting, photographic, typing and editorial sections for their unstinted efforts. My thanks are also due to Dr J.D. Ovington who first

7 VIII introduced me to the study of forest biomass and encouraged me to pursue the subject by further study. I am indebted to those many scientists who have contributed to my current knowledge and whose ideas I have been able to consciously or subconsciously use in this book. Finally I wish to thank my family for the sacrifices they have made in the past months during the preparation of this manuscript. Rotorua March 1982 H. A. I. Madgwick