Stem profile modeling in Cerrado and tropical forests formations in Brazil

Author(s)

Matheus Henrique Nunes

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2013-10-03

Examining board members

Hilton Thadeu Zarate do Couto; João Luis Ferreira Batista; Simone Aparecida Vieira

• Advisor: Hilton Thadeu Zarate do Couto

Abstract

Accurate information about tree volume in tropical vegetation formations is critical for the identification of potential areas for sustainable timber production, carbon estimation and biodiversity conservation. Difficult access and the cost of obtaining a large number of samples needed for accurate wood volume and biomass determination are often barriers for carrying out inventories and studies in natural forests in Brazil. Therefore, the development of more efficient techniques of mensuration in tropical forests is an important mechanism for conservation, management and production advancement. The main purposes of this thesis are: introducing a new method for quantifying vertical and horizontal structures by using principal component analysis (PCA); developing two different approaches of volume modeling, one based on DBH and another based on crown area; proposing a new taper equation for native vegetation in three different formations; and estimating upper section diameters to become the geometric form method useful in natural vegetation in Brazil and reducing dependence on destructive measurements. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/13723-2 - Determination the relative height of sampling intensity and using analytic geometry in native forests for estimation of individuals volume and taper.
• Grantee: Matheus Henrique Nunes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master