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Measuring Bulrush Culm Relationships to Estimate Plant Biomass Within a Southern California Treatment Wetland

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Abstract

Assessment of emergent vegetation biomass can be time consuming and labor intensive. To establish a less onerous, yet accurate method, for determining emergent plant biomass than by direct measurements we collected vegetation data over a six-year period and modeled biomass using easily obtained variables: culm (stem) diameter, culm height and culm density. From 1998 through 2005, we collected emergent vegetation samples (Schoenoplectus californicus and Schoenoplectus acutus) at a constructed treatment wetland in San Jacinto, California during spring and fall. Various statistical models were run on the data to determine the strongest relationships. We found that the nonlinear relationship: \( CB = {\beta _0}D{H^{{\beta _1}}}{10^\varepsilon } \), where CB was dry culm biomass (g m−2), DH was density of culms × average height of culms in a plot, and β0 and β1 were parameters to estimate, proved to be the best fit for predicting dried-live above-ground biomass of the two Schoenoplectus species. The random error distribution, ε, was either assumed to be normally distributed for mean regression estimates or assumed to be an unspecified continuous distribution for quantile regression estimates.

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Acknowledgements

The research described in this paper was carried out with funding from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Lower Colorado Regional and Southern California Area Offices of the Bureau of Reclamation. We thank Eastern Municipal Water District for the many years of cooperation and allowing us to work on their property, using their wastewater and facilities to test our hypotheses, and for providing assistance and numerous in-kind services. We extend special acknowledgement and thanks to Jet Somsuvanskul, Debbie Petersen, Brian Anderson, Ken Marshall, Christie Crother, Stella Denison, Bill Walton, Doug Andersen, and S. Mark Nelson for their long-term cooperation, assistance, and advice. We also appreciate the work of two anonymous reviewers whose suggestions greatly improved this manuscript. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, P.O. Box 25007 86-68220, Denver, CO, 80225-0007, USA

    Joan S. (Thullen) Daniels

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue, Bldg C, Ft. Collins, CO, 80526-8118, USA

    Brian S. Cade

  3. Honokaa, HI, USA

    James J. Sartoris

Authors
  1. Joan S. (Thullen) Daniels
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  2. Brian S. Cade
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  3. James J. Sartoris
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Correspondence to Joan S. (Thullen) Daniels.

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James J. Sartoris is retired.

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Daniels, J.S., Cade, B.S. & Sartoris, J.J. Measuring Bulrush Culm Relationships to Estimate Plant Biomass Within a Southern California Treatment Wetland. Wetlands 30, 231–239 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-010-0018-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-010-0018-x

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