TECHNICAL NOTE - PREDICTING THE COMPONENTS OF AERIAL BIOMASS OF FOURWING SALTBUSH FROM SHRUB HEIGHT AND VOLUME

Shrub height and crown diameter are useful non-destructive measures of shrub growth, but precise yields of aerial biomass require destructiv e methods which are unsatisfactory in studies on perennial shrubs. We developed simple regression models to predict components of aerial bio mass from the height, crown diameter and volume of 27 unbrowsed shrubs of fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), The shrubs, ranging in hei ght from 15 to 110 cm, were cut at ground level and manually separated into forage (leaves) and woody material. Samples were oven-dried. Shr ub height and volume were sufficiently precise for predicting componen ts of aerial biomass using exponential and linear regression models, r espectively. The precision of these non-destructive measures applied u nder field conditions to unbrowsed shrubs should be confirmed on brows ed shrubs.