ORIGINAL PAPER Allometric models for estimating aboveground biomass and carbon in Faidherbia albida and Prosopis africana under agroforestry parklands in drylands of Niger Massaoudou Moussa 1 • Larwanou Mahamane 2 Received: 29 May 2017 / Accepted: 29 July 2017 Ó Northeast Forestry University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract This study developed allometric models to esti- mate aboveground biomass and carbon of Prosopis afri- cana and Faidherbia albida. The destructive method was used with a sample of 20 trees per species for the two parkland sites. Linear regression with log transformation was used to model aboveground biomass according to dendrometric parameters. Error analysis, including mean absolute percentage of error (MAPE) and root mean square of error (RMSE), was used to select and validate the models for both species. Model 1 (biomass according to tree diameter) for P. africana and F. albida were consid- ered more representative. The statistical parameters of these models were R 2 = 0.99, MAPE 0.98% and RMSE 1.75% for P. africana, and R 2 = 0.99, MAPE 1.19%, RMSE 2.37% for F. albida. The average rate of carbon sequestered was significantly different for the two species (P B 0.05). The total amount sequestered per tree averaged 0.17 9 10 -3 Mg for P. africana and 0.25 9 10 -3 Mg for F. albida. These results could be used to develop policies that would lead to the sustainable management of these resources in the dry parklands of Niger. Keywords Aboveground biomass  Agroforestry  Allometric models  Carbon  Niger  Soudano-sahelian Introduction The estimation of aboveground biomass is a topical subject in ecology. It is a parameter indicating functional and structural attributes of forest ecosystems (Chave et al. 2005). In the Sahel, it expresses economic, agronomic, and biological productivity as shown in many studies (Cisse 1980; Breman and Kessler 1997; Larwanou et al. 2010). In the arid and semi-arid zones of sub-Saharan Africa, woody biomass provides information on soil status and production (Breman and Kessler 1997; Bernoux and Chevallier 2013). Its estimation is essential for the quantification of atmo- spheric carbon sequestered by vegetation through photo- synthesis (Brown 1997; Chave et al. 2005; Pearson and Brown 2005). Since the Kyoto Protocol, agroforestry has been identified as a mitigation and adaptation strategy for climate change, and agroforestry systems have attracted particular attention (IPCC 2000). Some studies have demonstrated the sequestration potential of agroforestry systems and their benefits to populations (Nair and Nair 2003; Takimoto et al. 2008; Nair et al. 2009). Thus, it is necessary in this context to be able to understand the contribution of Sahelian agroforestry parklands in miti- gating the effects of climate change, particularly through woody biomass. The central south of Niger straddles two distinct geo- graphical areas, northern Sudanian dominated by savanna shrub woody vegetation, and the south Sahelian region Project funding: This study was supported by the project stocks and potential of carbon sequestration under agroforestry parklands in Niger funded by African Forest Forum (AFF) and International Foundation for Science (IFS), Grant No. D/563-1. The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com Corresponding editor: Zhu Hong. & Massaoudou Moussa mmassaoudou13@gmail.com 1 Department of Natural Resources Management (DGRN), National Institute for Agricultural Research of Niger (INRAN), P.O. Box 240, Maradi, Niger 2 African Forest Forum (AFF), C/O World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya 123 J. For. Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0603-z