Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Maciej Pabijan, Sara Bak-Kopaniarz, Maciej Bonk, Stanislaw Bury, Wioleta Oles, Weronika Antol, Izabela Dyczko, Bart Lomiej Zajac
Summary: Understanding the temporal and spatial abundance patterns of species is crucial for effective conservation and management decisions. In this study, we found a significant decline in the abundance and biomass of amphibians in Niepolomice Forest over the past 50 years, which has led to a decrease in species diversity. Furthermore, we discovered that the preservation of old growth forests and coarse woody debris can enhance the abundance and body condition of amphibians.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Heng Wu, Hui Xu, Xianglin Tian, Wangfei Zhang, Chi Lu
Summary: The aim of this study was to estimate forest volume efficiently and accurately by sampling and analyzing existing forest survey data. Spatial statistics tools in ArcGIS software were used to analyze spatial autocorrelations and create third-stage samples based on spatial distribution pattern information. Evaluation indexes such as sampling ratio, accuracy, workload, and costs were applied. The results showed that spatial stratified sampling in the third stage significantly reduced the sampling ratio while maintaining a high level of accuracy and meeting the requirements of annual surveys.
Article
Forestry
Lukas R. Jarron, Nicholas C. Coops, William H. MacKenzie, Pamela Dykstra
Summary: Coarse woody debris (CWD) plays a significant role in forest carbon cycles, wildlife habitat, and biodiversity, and can impact wildfire behavior. Using airborne laser scanning (ALS), researchers mapped CWD across different natural forest stand types in north-central British Columbia, Canada, providing detailed information for forest managers. The study found that increased elevation of CWD aided detection, while advanced stages of decay hindered detection.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Henrik J. Persson, Kenneth Olofsson, Johan Holmgren
Summary: This study compared a two-phase laser-scanning method with traditional field inventory for forest stands in Sweden, showing that laser-scanning provided significantly higher accuracy and efficiency in measuring tree height, classifying tree species, and estimating forest variables. The results demonstrated the potential for laser-scanning to replace manual field inventories in the future.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Luiz Otavio Rodrigues Pinto, Cleber Rodrigo de Souza, Marcela de Castro Nunes Santos Terra, Jose Marcio de Mello, Natalino Calegario, Fausto Weimar Arcebi Junior
Summary: Obtaining high-quality information on vegetation attributes linked to ecosystem services in tropical forests is crucial for conservation planning. Defining the optimum vegetation sample plots size is an important step in obtaining this information.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Cesar Perez-Cruzado, Christoph Kleinn, Paul Magdon, Juan Gabriel Alvarez-Gonzalez, Steen Magnussen, Lutz Fehrmann, Nils Noelke
Summary: Forest biomass is a key variable in forest monitoring, and this study focused on deriving an empirical model of branch horizontal distribution (HBD) for individual European beech trees. Destructive measurements and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) were used to validate the models, showing similarities between HBD and taper functions commonly applied in forestry. The models may serve as useful approximations for HBD of individual trees across different sizes and species.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Janine Oettel, Martin Braun, Gernot Hoch, James Connell, Thomas Gschwantner, Katharina Lapin, Stefan Schoettl, Katrin Windisch-Ettenauer, Franz Essl, Martin M. Gossner
Summary: Understanding the habitat requirements and response of saproxylic insects to habitat changes is crucial for assessing the ecological impacts of forest management. This study investigated the drivers and habitat thresholds of different saproxylic insect families at multiple spatial scales. The results revealed complex interactions among influencing factors, with individual tree characteristics being of major importance. The findings highlight the need for tree species-specific deadwood management, taking into account site-specific conditions, to maintain biological diversity in forest ecosystems in the face of climate change.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Jean-Daniel Bontemps, Olivier Bouriaud, Cedric Vega, Laura Bouriaud
Summary: Forest monitoring in Europe has gained renewed political concern, and there is a suggestion to utilize ICP Forests health monitoring to meet this goal. In recent years, national forest inventory surveys have made significant progress in methods and harmonization, and they are expected to play a crucial role in future European forest monitoring efforts. The future development of a pan-European, comprehensive and more accurate monitoring system should build on existing forest monitoring programs and encourage cooperation to avoid the coexistence of distinct monitoring processes.
ANNALS OF FOREST SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Todd A. Schroeder, Shingo Obata, Monica Papes, Benjamin Branoff
Summary: The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the U.S. Forest Service aims to estimate various forest attributes using a design-based network of sampling plots. This study explores the use of digital aerial photogrammetric (DAP) point clouds developed from stereo imagery to improve these estimates in southeastern mixed hardwood forests. The results show that using the DAP point clouds improved the precision of forest volume estimates compared to using tree canopy cover data.
Article
Plant Sciences
Peter B. Boucher, Ian Paynter, David A. Orwig, Ilan Valencius, Crystal Schaaf
Summary: The research evaluated the impact of occlusion on TLS scans and compared different stem sets, finding that occlusion from non-stem sources was the major influence on TLS line of sight. It was also discovered that transect and point TLS samples demonstrated better representativeness of some stem properties. Deriving sampled area from TLS scans improved estimates of stem density.
Article
Forestry
Andrew J. Lister, Laura P. Leites
Summary: The study reveals that the spatial pattern of forests significantly affects sampling efficiency, and different pattern configurations have varying impacts at different scales. In more uniform landscapes, changes in cluster plot configurations are more important for CV; whereas in stand with aggregated patterns, altering plot configurations has a stronger impact on CV.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Isabel Aullo-Maestro, Cristina Gomez, Eva Marino, Miguel Cabrera, Antonio Vazquez De la Cueva, Fernando Montes
Summary: The study compared universal kriging with the area-based approach for estimating forest inventory variables using LiDAR data, finding that universal kriging performed better in the presence of spatial autocorrelation.
ANNALS OF FOREST SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Andrew J. Lister, Laura P. Leites
Summary: This study examines the tradeoffs between increasing sample size and modifying cluster plot design factors for improving forest inventory precision. The findings suggest that the type and scale of spatial heterogeneity have significant implications for plot design choices, with homogeneous stands and landscapes being the least costly to inventory. Subplot area and count have a greater impact on cost efficiency than subplot separation, especially in landscapes with aggregated forest patterns and stands with homogeneous tree patterns.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Jonne Pohjankukka, Sakari Tuominen, Jukka Heikkonen
Summary: In large-area forest inventories, a trade-off is necessary between the amount of data to be sampled and the collection costs. This study proposes a model-based data sampling method that utilizes remote sensing data to guide forest inventory sample selection. The method shows improvement in population mean and variance estimation compared to baseline methods.
Article
Engineering, Civil
Andrea Miano, Annalisa Mele, Andrea Prota
Summary: This study aims to assess the structural vulnerability of existing reinforced concrete buildings under hazards other than earthquakes. A set of simulated FEM models considering uncertainties in geometry and materials properties have been created, and a non-linear static incremental analysis has been conducted to evaluate the structural response parameters under specific ultimate limit states. The results show that the vulnerability of the RC buildings stock is affected by the geometrical features and the direction of differential settlements.
ENGINEERING STRUCTURES
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Hubert Sterba, Gerald Dirnberger, Tim Ritter
Article
Forestry
Tim Ritter, Arne Nothdurft
Article
Forestry
Christoph Gollob, Tim Ritter, Sonja Vospernik, Clemens Wassermann, Arne Nothdurft
Article
Forestry
Hubert Sterba, Gerald Dirnberger, Tim Ritter
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christoph Gollob, Tim Ritter, Clemens Wassermann, Arne Nothdurft
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christoph Gollob, Tim Ritter, Arne Nothdurft
Article
Forestry
Tim Ritter, Christoph Gollob, Arne Nothdurft
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christoph Gollob, Tim Ritter, Ralf Krassnitzer, Andreas Tockner, Arne Nothdurft
Summary: This study tested the use of an iPad Pro for forest inventory, showing higher detection rate and DBH measurement accuracy compared to traditional methods, despite longer data acquisition time. Consumer-level handheld devices with integrated laser scanners are expected to be developed as cost-efficient alternatives for forest inventory practice.
Article
Forestry
Arne Nothdurft, Christoph Gollob, Ralf Krassnitzer, Gernot Erber, Tim Ritter, Karl Stampfer, Andrew O. Finley
Summary: A spatial regression model framework was used to predict forest damage caused by storm Adrian in the upper Gail valley in Austria. Results indicated that a spatially-varying coefficient model had the best fit, and a block approach for prediction was preferable. Despite the small sample size, predictions had a low coefficient of variation.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Tim Ritter, Christoph Gollob, Ralf Krassnitzer, Karl Stampfer, Arne Nothdurft
Summary: Increased frequencies and windspeeds of storms can cause disproportionately high increases in windthrow damage. Fallen trees from storms provide breeding material for bark beetles, leading to calamities in subsequent years. Thus, timely removal of fallen trees is considered a good practice, which requires strategic planning. Remote sensing techniques can be a cost-efficient alternative in obtaining precise information about the number, location, and orientation of fallen trees. This research introduces a methodology using aerial RGB images for automatic detection of fallen stems, which has shown high accuracy in detecting various parameters while underestimating stem lengths systematically. It can be used for optimized planning of salvage harvesting to reduce bark beetle calamities.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sarah Witzmann, Laura Matitz, Christoph Gollob, Tim Ritter, Ralf Krassnitzer, Andreas Tockner, Karl Stampfer, Arne Nothdurft
Summary: This study compared the performance of circle, ellipse, and spline fits in modeling cross-section areas using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data. The results showed that the spline model fit achieved the most precise and accurate estimates of cross-section area. The study also questioned the customary utilization of manually calipered diameters as reference data when evaluating the accuracy of TLS data.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
J. S. Ette, T. Ritter, S. Vospernik
Summary: Indicator choice is crucial for biodiversity assessments. Forest inventories can help overcome data deficits and achieve biodiversity policy targets. This study explores the relationships between structural diversity indicators and forest stand variables. Machine learning is used to identify inter-correlations and assess the effectiveness of different variables.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Christoph Hahn, Sonja Vospernik, Christoph Gollob, Tim Ritter
Summary: Bark stripping is a significant issue in forestry as it leads to economic losses and fungal infections of wood, resulting in decreased growth and loss of ecosystem services. Previous studies have focused on factors influencing bark stripping damage at larger scales, but not within single stands. This research used terrestrial laser scanning to analyze nine stands in Austria and found that the probability of bark stripping at the individual tree level was influenced by tree species, tree size, slope, and tree density. The spatial distribution of bark stripping damage was clustered and intensity decreased with increasing distance from forest roads. Inventory designs should consider spatial distribution to mitigate bark stripping effects.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Remote Sensing
Andreas Tockner, Christoph Gollob, Ralf Krassnitzer, Tim Ritter, Arne Nothdurft
Summary: Personal laser scanning (PLS) has the potential to monitor complex forests, and an automatic voxel-based region growing crown segmentation algorithm can accurately extract tree characteristics, providing an efficient and low-cost solution for digital forest inventory.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Christoph Gollob, Tim Ritter, Arne Nothdurft
