Allometric equations for evaluating above-ground biomass and carbon storage capability of Indian bamboos: Review approach

Above ground biomass is the core component of forests and it is known as indirect indicators of carbon storage capacity. The allometric equations help to estimate biomass without felling of trees and are primarily a non-destructive approach to estimate biomass and carbon. Biomass estimation of Bamboo forests can provide information about culm and clumpmaturity, primary productivity, carbon storage and cycling in the forest ecosystem. For accurate and non-destructive assessment of carbon storage and biomass energy values, it is essential to employ the appropriate tree biomass allometric equations. For estimating bamboo biomass, the allometric scaling principles have not been thoroughly investigated. Bamboos are monocotyledonous, hence using models created to estimate dicotyledonous plants’ biomass is likely to result in inaccurate results. Height (H) is a key indicator of forest production and demographics.As a result, H-D models are frequently employed to forecast the heights that are lacking from diameter field measurements. Compared to woody dicots, information on H-D correlations for woody monocots, such as bamboos, is sometimes limited. Allometric equations are site and species-specific and thus the selection of equation is important to have a reliable estimate of biomass and carbon. Therefore, for bamboos, the development of age-specific and species-specific equations are strongly recommended for accurate biomass estimation. The present reviews various bamboo species allometric equations developed in several studies to assess above ground biomass and carbon storage potential in the bamboos of India.