Estimation of culm volume reduction factors in five bamboo species (Phyllostachys spp.)

Abstract

The hollow cylindrical culm is one of the most remarkable morphological characters of most bamboo species. In relation to its hollow structure, there are two different attributes of the culm volume in bamboo: the apparent culm volume (v _a: the total culm volume including the hollow portion) and the woody culm volume (v _w: the volume of the woody walls of the culm). The ratio of v _w to v _a is defined as the reduction factor for culm volume (f _v). The quantity f _v is useful to quantify the biomass resources of bamboo culms as well as to evaluate the carbon stock of bamboo forests. However, the direct measurement of f _v requires destructive sampling, which consumes time and labor. Hence, an alternative method for obtaining f _v is desired. In this study, we examined f _v in five species of the genus Phyllostachys and proposed alternative methods to estimate f _v. Our data showed that f _v varied by species, some of which exhibited a dependency of f _v on culm sizes. These findings indicate that the intraspecific and interspecific variation in f _v should be considered carefully when converting v _a into v _w by f _v. Based on our results, we propose here six approaches for predicting f _v and we discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Our results are intended to facilitate evaluation of the carbon sequestration capacity of bamboo forests and the commercial utilization of bamboo culms.

Keywords

Apparent culm volume / Carbon sequestration / Genus Phyllostachys / Hollow cylindrical culm / Woody culm volume

References

[1] Ahmad M, Kamke FA. Analysis of Calcutta bamboo for structural composite materials: physical and mechanical properties. Wood Sci Technol, 2005, 39(6): 448-459.

[2] Aoki T. Studies on the major bamboo species in Japan, 1987, Fukuoka: Ashishobo 61 173

[3] Benton A. Liese W, Köhl M. Priority species of bamboo. Bamboo: the plant and its uses, 2015, New York: Springer 31 41

[4] Buckingham K, Jepson P, Wu L, Rao IVR, Jiang S, Liese W, Lou Y, Fu M. The potential of bamboo is constrained by outmoded policy frames. Ambio, 2011, 40(5): 544-548.

[5] Clark LG, Londoño X, Ruiz-Sanchez E. Liese W, Köhl M. Bamboo taxonomy and habitat. Bamboo: the plant and its uses, 2015, New York: Springer 43 89

[6] Farrelly D. The book of bamboo, 1984, San Francisco: Sierra Club Books 156 205

[7] García JCC, Kleinn C. Length curves and volume functions for guadua bamboo (Guadua angustifolia Kunth) for the coffee region of Colombia. Eur J For Res, 2010, 129(6): 1213-1222.

[8] Gratani L, Crescente MF, Varone L, Fabrini G, Digiulio E. Growth pattern and photosynthetic activity of different bamboo species growing in the Botanical Garden of Rome. Flora, 2008, 203(1): 77-84.

[9] Ichihashi R, Komatsu H, Kume T, Onozawa Y, Shinohara Y, Tsuruta K, Otsuki K. Stand-scale transpiration of two Moso bamboo stands with different culm densities. Ecohydrology, 2015, 8(3): 450-459.

[10] Inoue A, Kitahara F, Suga H, Wajima T. Deriving a reduction factor for woody part of culm for bamboo, Phyllostachys pubescens. Landscape Ecol Eng, 2011, 7(1): 153-157.

[11] Inoue A, Sakamoto S, Suga H, Kitahara F. Estimation of culm volume for bamboo, Phyllostachys bambusoides, by two-way volume equation. Biomass Bioener, 2011, 35(7): 2666-2673.

[12] Inoue A, Sakamoto S, Kitazato H, Sakuta K. Development of two-way volume equation for bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra. J For Plann, 2012, 18(1): 13-19.

[13] Inoue A, Sakamoto S, Suga H, Kitazato H, Sakuta K. Construction of one-way volume table for the three major useful bamboos in Japan. J For Res, 2013, 18(4): 323-334.

[14] Inoue A, Tochihara S, Sato M, Shima H. Universal node distribution in three bamboo species (Phyllostachys spp.). Trees, 2017, 31(4): 1271-1278.

[15] Japan Meteorological Agency. (2017) Search for historical weather data. http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/index.php. Accessed 15 Aug 2017

[16] Kleinn C, Morales-Hidalgo D. An inventory of Guadua (Guadua angustifolia) bamboo in the coffee region of Colombia. Eur J For Res, 2006, 125(4): 361-368.

[17] Kuehl Y. Liese W, Köhl M. Resource, yield, and volume of bamboos. Bamboo: the plant and its uses, 2015, New York: Springer 91 111

[18] Liese W, Tang TKH. Liese W, Köhl M. Properties of the bamboo culm. Bamboo: the plant and its uses, 2015, New York: Springer 227 256

[19] R Core Team. 2017. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Available at: http://www.R-project.org/. Accessed 15 Aug 2017

[20] Sato M, Inoue A, Shima H. Bamboo-inspired optimal design of functionally graded hollow cylinders. PLoS ONE, 2017 12 5 e0175029

[21] Scurlock JMO, Dayton DC, Hames B. Bamboo: an overlooked biomass resource?. Biomass Bioener, 2000, 19(4): 229-244.

[22] Shiga T. Growth and form of bamboo. Bull Jpn For Soc, 1899, 202: 57-75.

[23] Shima H, Sato M, Inoue A. Self-adaptive formation of uneven node spacings in wild bamboo. Phys Rev E, 2016 93 2 022406

[24] Singnar P, Nath AJ, Das AK. Culm characteristics and volume-weight relationship of a forest bamboo (Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz) from northeast India. J For Res, 2015, 26(4): 841-849.

[25] Song X, Zhou G, Jiang H, Yu S, Fu J, Li W, Wang W, Ma Z, Peng C. Carbon sequestration by Chinese bamboo forests and their ecological benefits: assessment of potential, problems, and future challenge. Environ Rev, 2011, 19: 418-428.

[26] Ugawa S, Miura S, Matsuura Y, Takahashi M, Kaneko S. Characteristics of culm structure and carbon and nitrogen concentrations in dead bamboo culms of two Phyllostachys species. Plant Soil, 2011, 347(1–2): 269-278.

[27] Wang X, Ren H, Zhang B, Fei B, Burgert I. Cell wall structure and formation of maturing fibers of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) increase buckling resistance. J R Soc Interface, 2012, 9(70): 988-996.

[28] Watanabe M, Inoue M, Takano T. Discussion on the prediction of culm height in Phyllostachys bambusoides bamboos. Bamboo J, 1989, 7: 27-38.

[29] West PW. Tree and forest measurement, 2004, New York: Springer 27 37

[30] Yen TM. Culm height development, biomass accumulation and carbon storage in an initial growth stage for a fast-growing moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens). Bot Stud, 2016, 57: 10.

[31] Zhang H, Zhuang S, Sun B, Ji H, Li C, Zhou S. Estimation of biomass and carbon storage of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel ex Houz.) in southern China using a diameter-age bivariate distribution model. Forestry, 2014, 87(5): 674-682.

[32] Zhao HL, Denich M, Borsch T. Growth behavior of Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis (Bambusoideae) in Central China. J For Res, 2005, 16(3): 163-168.