Incoprea Theory
Vol. XXIX · 109

Theory 43/New analysis/Forest carbon

Carbon Tracks Height Variance

The claim

Above-ground carbon is predicted better by the variance of canopy height than by mean height or area.

01Mechanism

Carbon fills vertical space; variance captures how much of the profile is occupied.

02Prediction

Variance should predict carbon better than mean height.

03Refutation

Carbon tracking mean height would remove the variance.