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Abstrakt

The root biomass represents a significant carbon pool in forest ecosystems. However, directly determining belowground biomass is challenging, and using allometric equations or root-to-shoot ratios is associated with a high degree of uncertainty. This study aimed to review available models for estimating root biomass and based on a comparative analysis, identify suitable allometric equations for quantifying the belowground biomass of major forest tree species in the Czech Republic. A total of 49 models from across Europe were tested for spruce, pine, beech, and oak. Among the equations derived from empirical data, the suitable models for our coniferous species are those by Repola (2009); for beech, the models by Huet et al. (2004) are recommended, and for oak, the model by Offenthaler, Hochbichler (2006) is preferred. The models by Forrester et al. (2017), based on pseudo-data generated from available European models, are applicable to all the tree species studied. The selected equations can be recommended for national forestry reporting (e.g. Forest Europe, UNFCCC).