The allometric 3/4 power relation, initially used for describing the relation between mammalian basal metabolic rate and body size, is often used as a general model for organismal design. The use of allometric regression as a model has important limitations: it is not mechanistic, it combines all physiological variables into one correlate of body size, and it combines data from several physiolo...

The measurement and assessment of aboveground tree biomass (bole, branches, and foliage), or M, plays a key role in the management of forest resources. Estimates are required for evaluating: a) the stocks and fluxes of several biogeochemical elements and b) the amount of primary energy obtainable from forests as an alternative to fossil fuels. Moreover, biomass is a fundamental state variable i...

Four tree species were harvested periodically over a 13-year period from plantations in the humid lowlands of Costa Rica: Cedrela odorata, Cordia alliodora, Hyeronima alchorneoides, and Euterpe oleracea. The soil was a well-drained, volcanic alluvium, and high fertility coupled with 4 m of annual rainfall and high temperatures led to rapid growth rates; at age 13 many individual were >30 cm dbh...

Allometric relationships among morphological traits underlie important patterns in ecology. These relationships are often phylogenetically shared; thus quantifying allometric relationships may allow for estimating difficult-to-measure traits across species. One such trait, proboscis length in bees, is assumed to be important in structuring bee communities and plant-pollinator networks. However,...

Accurate estimation of tree biomass is necessary to provide realistic values of the carbon stored in the terrestrial biosphere. A recognized source of errors in tree aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation is introduced when individual tree height values (H) are not directly measured but estimated from diameter at breast height (DBH) using allometric equations. In this paper, we evaluate the perfo...

Leaf area estimation is of fundamental importance to evaluate growth, development, and propagation plants. This work aimed adjust identify regression models estimate leaf Erythrina velutina from linear dimensions the central leaflet leaves. Two hundred simple leaves were collected E. mother plants in forest fragments municipality Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte state, Northeast Brazil. The equatio...

As increasing levels of nitrogen (N) deposition impact many terrestrial ecosystems, understanding the potential effects of higher N availability is critical for forecasting tree carbon allocation patterns and thus future forest productivity. Most regional estimates of forest biomass apply allometric equations, with parameters estimated from a limited number of studies, to forest inventory data ...