[Estimation of aboveground biomass of desert plants]

Based on the research of plant quadrate in Sangong River Basin in Xinjiang, the fitted equations were given, which could be used to estimate the aboveground biomass of typical desert plant by using the thicket characteristics such as length of crown diameter, width of crown diameter, number of basal branch, length of new branch, basal diameter (D) and plant height (H) as parameters. Using the length of crown diameter and the width of crown diameter as parameters, the fitted equation was set up and tested for estimating the aboveground biomass of Reaumuria soongorica Maxim. It had a relatively high accuracy and a fine linear relationship between the predicted values and measured values. Its coefficient and relative standard deviation was 0.9989 and 4.79%-10.12%, respectively. The results indicated that the fitted equation was easy and available for estimating the aboveground biomass of Reaumuria soongorica Maxim in large scale. The fitted equations were also set up and tested for estimating the aboveground biomass of Haloxylon ammodendron and Tamarix ramosissima by using the basal diameter and height of plant as the parameters. The coefficients and relative standard deviations of these equations were 0.9902, 0.9875 and 6.87%-19.22%, 7.49%-18.47%, respectively. Therefore, estimating the biomass of Reaumuria soongorica in large scale through crown characteristics was available, and estimating the biomass of Halaxylon Ammodendron and Tamarix ramosissima through crown characteristics would produce certain error.