Technical note: Predicting the components of aerial biomass of fourwing saltbush from shrub height and volume.

Abstract

Shrub height and crown diameter are useful non-destructive measures of shrub growth, but precise yields of aerial biomass require destructive methods which are unsatisfactory in studies on perennial shrubs. We developed simple regression models to predict components of aerial biomass from the height, crown diameter and volume of 27 unbrowsed shrubs of fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens). The shrubs, ranging in height from 15 to 110 cm, were cut at ground level and manually separated into forage (leaves) and woody material. Samples were oven-dried. Shrub height and volume were sufficiently precise for predicting components of aerial biomass using exponential and linear regression models, respectively. The precision of these non-destructive measures applied under field conditions to unbrowsed shrubs should be confirmed on browsed shrubs.