Biomass estimation for native perennial grasses in the plain of Mendoza, Argentina

Plant allometric relationships were studied at the end of the 1999-2000 growing season for eight grasses. Logarithmic regressions were developed relating above-ground biomass to dimensional measurements or to tiller density. Basal diameters (the longest and the greatest perpendicular to the first) and plant height (defined as that reached by vegetative tillers) were recorded on individual plants of tussock grasses. The number of tillers per 1 m(2) plot was counted for a rhizomatous grass. Our study proved that regression models including basal area or a combination of basal area and height as independent variables gave a good fit to the biomass data for tussock grasses. Density of tillers proved to be a good predictor of biomass for a rhizomatous species. A validation test using 20% of the data not used for estimating the regression equations indicated that these models made accurate prediction of grass biomass. Further work is needed to prove if there are year-to-year differences between models. (C) Elsevier Science Ltd.