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Above-ground biomass estimation by developing allometric equations for Theobroma cacao in Tabasco, Mexico

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Abstract

The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao L.), widely distributed in southern and central Mexico, has many economic and ecological functions. However, there is a lack of data and information regarding the aboveground biomass (AGB) of this species in Mexico, which hampers understanding of its carbon sequestration potential. The objectives of this study were (1) to develop allometric equations to estimate AGB and (2) to determine the relationships of AGB components in cacao trees. Twenty-one trees were destructively sampled and separated into components (trunk, branches, leaves) at the Chontalpa subregion of Tabasco, a large cocoa production area. Samples of biomass cocoa trees were used to determine their carbon content. A typical cacao tree in our study area is 6.64 m in height, with a diameter at breast height (dbh) of 13.29 cm and with dry aboveground biomass of 37.02 kg. We found that about 50% of the biomass of a cacao tree is concentrated in the trunk while stems of different sizes, leaves, and fruits account for the other 50%. Seven AGB models were designed using dbh, basal diameter at 30 cm (d30), total height (h), canopy area (Ac), canopy height (Ch), and crown width (Cw) as biomass predictors. The dbh was the best-correlated independent variable with all AGB components. Selected models showed adequate fit and performance with high R2 (ca. 95%) in estimating AGB, but the most appropriate allometric equation was Ln (TB) = − 4.20 + 1.19 * ln(dbh) + 2.34 * ln(h) because this model had higher R2, lower Akaike criterion, and Mallow’s cp values. We recommend the use of this model to calculate aboveground biomass and carbon content for cacao trees in agroforestry systems similar to those of our study area.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thankfully acknowledge the important contribution of cacao producers in Tabasco, who facilitated the sampling by donating the trees. This study was partly funded by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT-Mexico), through the scholarship grant to the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Multifunctional Agriculture for Sustainable Development Program, Fitotecnia Department, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Km. 38.5 Carretera México-Texcoco, C.P. 56230, Texcoco, Mexico

    Vanessa Lisbeth Morán-Villa

  2. Soils Department, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Km. 38.5 Carretera México-Texcoco, C.P. 56230, Texcoco, Mexico

    Alejandro Ismael Monterroso-Rivas

  3. Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University, 120 Withycombe Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA

    Ricardo Mata-González & Mohamed A. B. Abdallah

  4. Fitotecnia Department, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Km. 38.5 Carretera México-Texcoco, C.P. 56230, Texcoco, Mexico

    Sergio Roberto Márquez-Berber & Eduardo Valdes-Velarde

  5. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, C.P. 86040, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

    Rufo Hernández-Sánchez

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  1. Vanessa Lisbeth Morán-Villa
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Contributions

VLM-V—Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Project administration, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editing, AIM-R—Supervision, Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Validation, Writing-review and editing; RM-G—Visualization, Supervision, Writing-review and editing; SRM-B—Funding acquisition, Writing-review and editing; MABA—Formal analysis, Writing-review and editing, EV-V.—Writing-review and editing; RH-S, Resources, Writing-review and editing.

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Correspondence to Vanessa Lisbeth Morán-Villa.

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Morán-Villa, V.L., Monterroso-Rivas, A.I., Mata-González, R. et al. Above-ground biomass estimation by developing allometric equations for Theobroma cacao in Tabasco, Mexico. Agroforest Syst 98, 537–549 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-023-00928-x

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