Spatiotemporal Variations of Aboveground Biomass under Different Terrain Conditions

Abstract

Biomass is a key biophysical parameter used to estimate carbon storage and forest productivity. Spatially-explicit estimation of biomass provides invaluable information for carbon stock calculation and scientific forest management. Nevertheless, there still exists large uncertainty concerning the relationship between biomass and influential factors. In this study, aboveground biomass (AGB) was estimated using the random forest algorithm based on remote sensing imagery (Landsat) and field data for three regions with different topographic conditions in Zhejiang Province, China. AGB distribution and change combined with stratified terrain classifications were analyzed to investigate the relations between AGB and topography conditions. The results indicated that AGB in three regions increased from 2010 to 2015 and the magnitude of growth varied with elevation, slope, and aspect. In the basin region, slope had a greater influence on AGB, and we attributed this negative AGB-elevation relationship to ecological forest construction. In the mountain area, terrain features, especially elevation, showed significant relations with AGB. Moreover, AGB and its growth showed positive relations with elevation and slope. In the island region, slope also played a relatively more important role in explaining the relationship. These results demonstrate that AGB varies with terrain conditions and its change is a consequence of interactions between the natural environment and anthropogenic behavior, implying that biomass retrieval based on Landsat imagery could provide considerable important information related to regional heterogeneity investigations.

Keywords

• aboveground biomass
• Landsat
• random forest
• topography
• human activity