Investigation on the amount of biomass and it's relationship with physiographic and edaphic factors in oak coppice stand (Case study Khalkhal, Iran)

In order to investigate the amount of biomass in Oak (Quercus macranthera) coppice stand, an area of 278 hectare of Khalkhal forest locating at the northeast of Ardebil was selected as the study area. After combining slope, aspect and altitude maps, the number of land form units (polygons) as well as their areas were determined. Then 63 stump sprouts were selected in such a way that all environmental and typological conditions were taken into account. After determining the overall weight of different parts of trees to measure the dry weight as well as the amount of biomass, different parts of trees were delivered to kiln. The woody debris was collected and weighted in an area of 400 cm2 under each stump sprouts. For determining the soil properties and evaluating its relationships with the amount of biomass, soil samples were taken from depth of 0 –10 and 10-30 cm. The mean amount of biomass was 23.4 tons per hectare of which 65.2% were stored in aerial organs, 29.2% in underground organs and 5.6% in woody debris. There was a significant difference between the amount of biomass in different densities of crown cover. Among the physiographic factors, only the altitude had a significant relationship with the biomass. Basal area and diameter at breast height (DBH) exhibit the highest correlation with the biomass