Effect of tree species on albedo in Iranian temperate forests: comparing conifers and broadleaf trees in two seasons

Albedo is the fraction of solar energy reflected from a surface back to the atmosphere; it is controlled by the characteristics of the surface, specially land cover type. Here, we examined the effects of five types of tree species (maple, poplar, chestnut-leaved oak, cypress and alder) in the mono-cultured plantations at Hyrcanian temprature forests (in the north of Iran). The field data were collected during the summer and the winter. Albedo was estimated by an albedometer set-up that was installed on a movable mast in each stand. In this study, two analytical methods were used to estimate the reaction of forest trees to the summer and winter albedo. One way ANOVA was used to determine the significance difference between tree species considering the summer and winter albedo. The analysis of variance indicated that, there was a significant difference among tree species albedo in two seasons (p˂ 0.01). In the summer alder and cypress had the highest and lowest albedo (0.34 and 0.16 respectively) and in the winter chestnut-leaved oak and alder had the highest albedo (0.19) and cypress had the lowest one (0.10). Our findings suggest that considering of these factors (summer and winter albedo), plantation with broadleaved trees is the most appropriate choice for forest regeneration in the temperate Iranian forests.