Comments on abstract, title, references

Abstract was written with short introduction, gap, objective, methods, results and conclusion. So, it was a good summary of paper because it gave an idea of paper. Title was short (11words) and it contained key features like allometric models, biomass and tropical trees that it is representative of paper. References were huge and relevant. It was very appropriated because it contained important authors in this area (forestry).

Comments on introduction/background

The introduction presented context of paper, it had enough detail to understand the research and to define the problem. It had a definition of specialized terms like anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) protocols; aboveground biomass denoted AGB. Objectives stated are clear: we analyze a globally distributed database of direct-harvest tree experiments in tropical forests, subtropical forests, and woodland savannas. So, introduction and objectives were clear and concise.

Comments on methodology

Methodology had details to be reproduced and it did not show a flow diagram, but it had a map and formulas. Statistical analysis were explained very well.

Comments on data and results

Data needed statistical analysis and it was described with sufficient details: all statistical analyses were performed with the R statistical software (R Development Core Team, version 3.0.3). Table and graphic were accurate and they had highlights of relationship. Results were relevant and it had clarity. Authors had success to demonstrated significance statistical.

Comments on discussion and conclusions

Discussions explained results, filled gap of knowledge: our allometric equations typically achieve 90% accuracy in AGB stock estimation at a 0.25 ha scale in a moist tropical forest, and the bias is on the order of 10%, on average. Discussion showed te importance of results and compared with similar studies: proposed models are applicable to already acquired datasets, we foresee that they will be broadly applicable to tree-dominated vegetation types in the tropics. Conclusions were relevantes.