Estimates at a national scale can be calculated by summing over all strata (31 strata in the whole of Sweden). The variances of the estimators described by (5), (6) and (7) were estimated by Taylor series expansion (Appendix B). Biomass, stem volume and their changes with time were estimated using different estimators combined with the stock www.selleckchem.com/products/PLX-4032.html change approach (Table 3). BEFs derived using estimates of the standing stocks in 1990 and 2005 were found to be of the same order of magnitude (1.40 and 1.36 ton CO2/m3, respectively)

(Table 3 and Table 5). However, the BEF for the change in stock between 1990 and 2005 was lower (420/402 = 1.05 ton CO2/m3). Estimates of change in biomass stocks between 1990 and 2005 based on BEFs combined with estimates of stem volume were about 30% higher than those based on biomass equations. As expected, the paired sample method resulted in lower estimated sample variances than the independent sample method (Table 4). The BEFs were not constant over time (Table 5). Assuming that separate biomass equations for different tree fractions can allow for these fractions developing in different ways, Table 3 indicates that estimates based on combining BEFs and stem volume overestimate the net change

of living biomass in Sweden. This is probably because BEFs derived using estimates of standing stock do not represent the true relation between change in biomass and change in volume. Even though the true population Nutlin-3a mw is unknown due to sampling effects, this study indicates a large potential bias is introduced when BEFs based on the standing stock are used. This bias may be particularly large in the case of Sweden because the net change is the difference between large values for gross growth and gross harvest (equivalent to 170 vs. 129 M ton CO2 per year). This corresponds to a stem volume growth of about 124 M m3 per year (2006; The Swedish NFI) and a stem volume harvest of about 94 M m3 per year (2006; Swedish Forest Agency, 2009). During the period studied, the average BEF based on the standing stock was estimated to be 1.38 (whole tree ton CO2-equivalents/m3 stem wood), whereas the average

BEF for change in stock was estimated to be 1.15 (data for a few selected years are shown in Table 5). Norway spruce and Scots pine are also diglyceride the dominant species in Finland, and according to the Finnish NFI, the BEFs for these species are 1.48 and 1.28 ton CO2/m3, respectively. Although the estimates based on BEFs derived for change in stock are probably unbiased, they varied substantially over time, which is likely due to a combination of sampling errors and real changes in BEFs over time. Therefore, in the absence of BiEqs, we would neither recommend the use of BEFs derived from stock estimates nor BEFs based on changes in stock. Instead, the use of age-dependent BEFs, or similar models described in Section 1, may help eliminate or reduce the risk of bias.