Trembling aspen biomass equations and carbon estimations for southern Saskatchewan copses

Trembling aspen (Populous tremuloides Michx.) copses are found throughout southern Saskatchewan and provide ecosystem services. Advancing our knowledge of carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation requires understanding the full range of services within these unique landscapes. There is increasing attention toward regional-scale or ecosystem-specific biomass equations compared to current national-scale equations. We destructively sampled 54 trembling aspen trees from across southern Saskatchewan to develop regional-scale biomass equations for the area. We developed two complementary biomass equations using generalized additive models for diameter at breast height (DBH) and height-only models with explanatory powers of 87.1% and 74.9%. We estimated 118.27 tonnes C ha-1 for copses in Saskatchewan which is lower than the 166.0 tonnes C ha-1 in the Boreal Forest. Our work also illustrates that the developed biomass equations are more representative of southern Saskatchewan, as national-scale DBH-only biomass equations tend to overestimate and height biomass equations tend to underestimate biomass.