Tropical forests are the main contributors of CO2 emissions between the biosphere and the atmosphere in the land use sector. The deforestation and degradation of these forests are the main sources of emissions from this sector, which accounts for 15% of the world’s CO2 emissions. The monitoring of CO2 emissions and removals from tropical forests requires fine measurements of their trees. These measurements are then used as inputs in allometric model to predict the tree aboveground biomass and thus indirectly their equivalent in CO2. However, a significant proportion of trees in tropical forests show morphological singularities on the stem such as buttresses or other irregularities. The height (HPOM) of the diameter measured (DPOM) is therefore commonly raised above the buttresses to reach a circular part of the stem. The standard of measuring the diameter at breast height (DBH) is then lost. In this context, this thesis aims to improve the monitoring of tropical trees with stem irregularities by using recent three-dimensional (3D) measurement tools and developing a model-based approach to harmonize height measurements of the diameterdo.
First, we evaluated the potential of the close-range terrestrial photogrammetric approach (CRTP) to measure irregular shaped stems. The advantage of this 3D approach is its low cost and ease of implementation as it only requires a camera and targets. Following the convincing results of this approach, we studied the quality of the allometric relationship between variables extracted from the stem cross-section at 1.3 m height and above-ground biomass. We found that the equivalent diameter of the basal area at 1.3 m height (DBH’) correlates better with aboveground tree biomass and thus its carbon content than does diameter above buttress (DPOM). Therefore, harmonization of HPOM to 1.3 m height should be further studied to improve biomass estimates.
Secondly, we investigated the potential of a hand-held mobile lidar scanner (HMLS) to measure in 3D not only one tree at a time but many trees from forest plots with a 15 m radius in Belgian temperate forest. To assess the HMLS, we compared it to 3D measurements made with a more commonly used static terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and with conventional forest inventory diameter and position measurements. The HMLS has a better 3D spatial coverage of the stems than the TLS and the precision of the stem diameter measurements is also better with the HMLS. Setting up the plot and scanning it from five locations with the TLS takes three times longer than scanning with HMLS. This pioneering work shows us the potential of using HMLS in tropical forests through its speed of execution and its important spatial coverage at the stem level, an important issue for irregular shaped tree stems.
Thirdly, we developed and assessed a model-based approach for harmonizing HPOM to correct the bias induced by irregular stems in the aboveground biomass estimates of forest inventory plots. Following the estimation of DBH’ using a taper model proposed in our study, we find that conventional aboveground biomass estimates (i.e. with only DPOM), compared to estimates made with DBH’, show an increasing divergence with the increase of irregular stems proportion within plots and going up to -15% in our study. These results show the importance of considering HPOM when estimating aboveground biomass in tropical forests, especially in forests with many irregular stems. Estimates of the evolution of plot above-ground biomass over time should also be revised to better consider the biomass growth of irregular shaped tree stems, which has been underestimated until now.
Finally, based on the results of this research, we summarize the 3D measurement tools currently available and describe their advantages and disadvantages in the case of irregular stems. Based on available human and technical resources, we also give recommendations on the harmonization method to use in permanent sampling plots to correct the bias induced by irregular stems. Improved monitoring of these tropical trees may provide a better understanding of some of the residual, i.e. unexplained, terrestrial ecosystem CO2 sink currently noted in IPCC reports. 13. Climate action