Carbon storage by Siberian larch in the upper treeline ecotone in the polar Urals

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Abstract

In the upper treeline ecotone the relationships between the values of biometric parameters of Siberian larch (average radius of the horizontal projection of the crown, the diameter of the tree at the root collar and its height) were studied using ground-based measurements on circular sample plots and ultra-high spatial resolution aerial photographs obtained by an unmanned aerial vehicle. A nonlinear regression model, a model using the random forest method and an ensemble of models using machine learning methods were created, establishing the relationship between the values of the diameter at the root collar and the crown radius of a specimen of Siberian larch. The resulting models have a high level of adequacy at the qualitative and quantitative (R2 > 0.95) levels. The predictive capabilities of the nonlinear regression model outside the training set were better than those of the machine learning models, so it was used together with allometric equations to quantify the phytomass of Siberian larch based on the root collar diameter and carbon sequestration in the study area using data obtained from the interpretation of the crowns of 88 608 Siberian larch trees. It was found that in the ecotone of the upper boundary of tree vegetation on an area of 7.32 km2, the aboveground and belowground phytomass of Siberian larch is 1355.2 tons of dry mass, which contains 677.6 tons of carbon, or 2484.5 tons of CO₂ equivalent.

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About the authors

A. P. Mikhailovich

Ural State Forest Engineering University; Ural Federal University

Author for correspondence.
Email: a.p.mikhailovich@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, 620100 Yekaterinburg; 620062 Yekaterinburg

V. V. Fomin

Ural State Forest Engineering University

Email: a.p.mikhailovich@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, 620100 Yekaterinburg

D. Yu. Golikov

Botanical Garden, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: a.p.mikhailovich@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, 620144 Yekaterinburg

E. M. Agapitov

Ural State Forest Engineering University

Email: a.p.mikhailovich@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, 620100 Yekaterinburg

V. E. Rogachev

Ural State Forest Engineering University

Email: a.p.mikhailovich@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, 620100 Yekaterinburg

V. S. Mazepa

Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: a.p.mikhailovich@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, 620144 Yekaterinburg

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. The study area with the designation of the locations of the test plots (1–9), deciphered specimens of Siberian larch. The area, an enlarged image of which is shown in Fig. 2, is highlighted in white rectangle.

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3. Fig. 2. Maps created based on the results of ground surveys of sample plots and interpretation of Siberian larch in images obtained with an RGB camera using a UAV: a – UAV image with a layer of crowns superimposed on it in the form of circles calculated on the basis of the average radius of the horizontal projection of the crown; b – fragment of the map shown in Fig. 1 (on it, the interpreted crowns of the larch are indicated by green circles).

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4. Fig. 3. Graph of the dependence of measured (marked with dots) and theoretical (line) values of the trunk diameter at the root collar on the crown radius of Siberian larch specimens on test plots.

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