Allometric relationships to estimate above-ground dry-mass and height in Salix

Equations based on allometric relationships were used to estimate the above-ground leafless dry-mass and height of seven Salix clones. The shape of a non-rectangular hyperbola gave the best fit for the height material. The relationship between the diameter of the stem (measured at the height of 30 cm) and the above-ground leafless dry-mass was best described by an exponential function. Besides the non-linear exponent function, the linearized form of the equation was also fitted to the dry-mass material. An error term was added to the function to correct the error caused by linearization of the function. The differences between the allometric relationships in the characters of the clones were studied by comparing the parameters of height and dry-mass models. The results of this study show that with all the clones examined, the same dry-mass model can be used to predict the leafless above-ground dry-mass. However, the parameter estimates for height curves deviated significantly between clones. The greatest differences between the clones could be detected in the parameter which characterizes the maximum level of the curve.