An ecological approach to radar mapping of biomass in interior Alaska boreal forests

Develops a model for landscape-scale biomass mapping based on the integration of remotely sensed classification of vegetation successional stage, existing measurements of biomass ranges within successional stages, and knowledge of the rates and processes influencing vegetational succession at the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest, a Long Term Ecological Research site near Fairbanks, Alaska. This model, used in conjunction with stage-specific rates of successional change, displays both present and projected patterns of biomass on the landscape. The resulting biomass projections demonstrate the importance of present-day distribution of vegetation types, and not just biomass distribution, for predictions of future distributions of biomass on the boreal landscape