Biomass estimation of aboveground tree components for Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) in south-eastern Turkey

Biomass equations were developed for different components of oak trees ( Quercus cerris L.), which have been managed in coppices at different development stages—small-diameter forest (SDF) and medium-diameter forest (MDF). In this context, four biomass regression models—two based on diameter at breast height (DBH) alone and two based on DBH and total tree height (H)—were developed for each of the crown, stem, and total aboveground biomass components. Akaike’s information criterion (AIC), root mean square error percentage (RMSE (%)), mean absolute error percentage (MAE (%)), adjusted coefficient of determination (Adj.R 2 ), and bias values were used to evaluate and compare the suitability of a total of 12 regression models developed for biomass components. As a result, in the estimation of crown biomass, only DBH-based models provided higher estimation accuracy than DBH-H-based models. For the most suitable model, estimated values were Adj.R 2 = 0.60, bias = − 0.009, RMSE = 66%, and MAE = 41%. In models developed to estimate stem biomass, the estimation accuracy of DBH-H-based models was higher. In the goodness-of-fit statistics calculated for the most suitable model, Adj.R 2 , bias, RMSE, and MAE were 0.89, 0.010, 38%, and 23%, respectively. The models developed to estimate the total aboveground biomass were all close in terms of estimation accuracy. The biomass components (crown and stem) in the total aboveground biomass were proportionally as follows: crown at 38% and stem at 62% in the SDF stage, and crown at 35% and stem at 65% in the MDF stage, indicating lower crown and higher stem partitioning as the development stage increased.