scholarly journals A century of national forest inventories – informing past, present and future decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Breidenbach ◽  
Ronald E. McRoberts ◽  
Iciar Alberdi ◽  
Clara Antón-Fernández ◽  
Erkki Tomppo

AbstractIn 2019, 100 years had elapsed since the first National Forest Inventory (NFI) was established in Norway. Motivated by a fear of over-exploitation of timber resources, NFIs today enable informed policy making by providing data vital to decision support at international, national, regional, and local scales. This Collection of articles celebrates the 100th anniversary of NFIs with a description of past, present, and future research aiming at improving the monitoring of forest and other terrestrial ecosystems.

2001 ◽  
Vol 152 (6) ◽  
pp. 215-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Köhl ◽  
Peter Brassel

For forest inventories on slopes, it is necessary to correct the test areas, because the circular areas, when projected, become elliptical. Based on 93 samples from the Swiss National Forest Inventory (FNI), it was determined whether the simplified method, which increases the radius to match that of the elliptical area, leads to a distortion of the results. An average deviation of 2% was found between the FNI estimated values and the actual values for the basal area and the number of stems. For estimations of smaller units, greater distortions of the results are expected.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1364
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Lister ◽  
Hans Andersen ◽  
Tracey Frescino ◽  
Demetrios Gatziolis ◽  
Sean Healey ◽  
...  

Globally, forests are a crucial natural resource, and their sound management is critical for human and ecosystem health and well-being. Efforts to manage forests depend upon reliable data on the status of and trends in forest resources. When these data come from well-designed natural resource monitoring (NRM) systems, decision makers can make science-informed decisions. National forest inventories (NFIs) are a cornerstone of NRM systems, but require capacity and skills to implement. Efficiencies can be gained by incorporating auxiliary information derived from remote sensing (RS) into ground-based forest inventories. However, it can be difficult for countries embarking on NFI development to choose among the various RS integration options, and to develop a harmonized vision of how NFI and RS data can work together to meet monitoring needs. The NFI of the United States, which has been conducted by the USDA Forest Service’s (USFS) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program for nearly a century, uses RS technology extensively. Here we review the history of the use of RS in FIA, beginning with general background on NFI, FIA, and sampling statistics, followed by a description of the evolution of RS technology usage, beginning with paper aerial photography and ending with present day applications and future directions. The goal of this review is to offer FIA’s experience with NFI-RS integration as a case study for other countries wishing to improve the efficiency of their NFI programs.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 2605-2613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sören Wulff ◽  
Per Hansson ◽  
Jesper Witzell

The design of the Swedish National Forest Inventory as well as the National Forest Damage Inventory is a sparse sample of systematically allocated plots. In this study data were combined from these two independent inventories to estimate geographical distribution, area extension, and disease development of a Gremmeniella abietina (Lagerb.) Morelet epidemic. For the combined data the standard error for estimated total area of affected Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var.latifolia Engelm.) forests was about 11%. Assessments of the proportion of pine trees with fresh shoot blight infection shows that changes larger than 1% are significantly (p < 0.05) estimated. By testing in pairwise cross inventory, it was shown that the accuracy of the assessment of total shoot blight symptoms was fairly good in 2001–2002, with a κ statistic of 0.59–0.61. Severely damaged trees were identified with an agreement of κ = 0.81. The total area of pine forest both slightly and severely affected by G. abietina during 2001–2003 was estimated to be 484 000 ha. Three geographically separate damage centres were distinguished. Thus, despite a relatively sparse sample plot density, the national forest inventories have good potential for estimating the geographical distribution, areal extent, and dispersal of extensive damage outbreak. Results are dependent on the inventories being carried out with an accurate identification of target objects.


2015 ◽  
pp. 9-32
Author(s):  
Damjan Pantic ◽  
Dragan Borota

A comparative analysis of National Forest Inventories (NFI) of many countries, including Serbia was made in the manuscript, in terms of methodology and in terms of the definition of different information collected about forest ecosystems. Further development of the NFI Serbia was also analyzed. It was determined that there are differences in national methodologies, but that they are not substantial and do not constitute an obstacle to the creation of uniform databases of forests at the regional and global levels as a prerequisite for political and professional action aimed at protecting and ensuring sustainability of all forest functions. Contrary to that, differences between national definitions for information that are collected by inventory are numerous, distinct and as such represent a major obstacle to the mentioned aspirations. The solution of the problem is standardization, i.e. in the far more acceptable harmonization process (adaptation) NFI, whereby such frameworks of that activity are imposed by the FAO (globally) and COST Action E43 (mainly in the European region). NFI Serbia, on the threshold of second realization, is burdened with a numerous institutional, organizational and methodological problems and dilemmas, inherited from the first measurement of Serbian forests. Therefore, an urgent recruitment of relevant experts is necessary to resolve and overcome problems, in order to ensure all the prerequisites for a successful implementation and obtaining reliable data of the second NFI, so that the future NFI can be alleviated of the conditions in which it is currently located.


Silva Fennica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jari Miina ◽  
Inka Bohlin ◽  
Torgny Lind ◽  
Jonas Dahlgren ◽  
Kari Härkönen ◽  
...  

Bilberry ( L.) and lingonberry ( L.) can be a part of healthy diet and are important for many animals. Two approaches are described to assessing their vegetation cover and berry yield via national forest inventory (NFI) observations. The aim was to provide estimates and predictions of the abundance and yield of the species at regional and national levels in Finland and Sweden. In Finland, the model-based predictions are used in evaluating the impacts of cutting intensity on forest berries needed in forest-related decision making. In Sweden, seasonal inventory-based estimates are used to evaluate the annual national and regional berry yields, and in a forecasting system aimed at large public and berry enterprises. Based on the NFI sample plots measured between 2014 and 2018, the total annual yields are estimated to be 208 Mkg of bilberry and 246 Mkg of lingonberry on productive forest land (increment at least 1 m ha year) in Finland, and 336 and 382 Mkg respectively in Sweden (average of NFI inventories in 2015–2019). The predicted development of berry yields is related to the intensity of cuttings in alternative forest management scenarios: lower removals favoured bilberry, and higher removals lingonberry. The model-based method describes the effects of stand development and management on berry yields, whereas the inventory-based method can calibrate seasonal estimates through field observations. In providing spatially and timely more accurate information concerning seasonal berry yields, an assessment of berry yields should involve the elements of both inventory-based and model-based approaches described in this study.Vaccinium myrtillusV. vitis-idaea3–1–1


2009 ◽  
Vol 160 (11) ◽  
pp. 334-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Mollet ◽  
Niklaus Zbinden ◽  
Hans Schmid

Results from the monitoring programs of the Swiss Ornithological Institute show that the breeding populations of several forest species for which deadwood is an important habitat element (black woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, middle spotted woodpecker, lesser spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, three-toed woodpecker as well as crested tit, willow tit and Eurasian tree creeper) have increased in the period 1990 to 2008, although not to the same extent in all species. At the same time the white-backed woodpecker extended its range in eastern Switzerland. The Swiss National Forest Inventory shows an increase in the amount of deadwood in forests for the same period. For all the mentioned species, with the exception of green and middle spotted woodpecker, the growing availability of deadwood is likely to be the most important factor explaining this population increase.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Atkinson ◽  
David M. Edwards ◽  
Frank Søndergaard Jensen ◽  
Alexander P. N. van der Jagt ◽  
Ben R. Ditchburn ◽  
...  

Abstract Key message National Forest Inventories (NFIs) hold promise for monitoring and valuing of non-productive forest functions, including social and recreational services. European countries use a range of methods to collect social and recreational information within their NFI methodologies. Data collected frequently included general and recreation-specific infrastructure, but innovative approaches are also used to monitor recreational use and social abuse. Context Social and recreational indicators are increasingly valued in efforts to measure the non-productive value of forests in Europe. National Forest Inventories (NFIs) can be used to estimate recreational and social usage of forest land at a national level and relate this use to other biophysical, spatial and topographical features. Nonetheless, there is little information concerning the extent. Aims The study aims to identify the coverage of social and recreational data present in European NFIs including the types of data recorded as part of the NFI methodologies across European countries. It also aims to examine contrasting methods used to record social and recreational data and present recommendations for ways forward for countries to integrate these into NFI practice. Methods A pan-European questionnaire was designed and distributed to 35 counties as part of the EU-funded project Distributed, Integrated and Harmonised Forest Information for Bioeconomy Outlooks (DIABOLO). The questionnaire probed countries on all social and recreational data that was included within NFIs. Qualitative response data was analysed and recoded to measure the extent of social and recreational data recoded in European NFIs both as a function of the number of variable categories per country and the number of countries recording particular variables. Results Thirty-one countries reported at least one social or recreational variable over 12 categories of data. The most frequently recorded variables included ownership, general transport infrastructure and recreation-specific infrastructure. Countries collecting data over many different categories included Switzerland, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Luxemburg and Denmark. Conclusion The study proposes a specific set of indicators, based upon countries with well-developed social and recreational data in their NFIs, which could be used by other countries, and report on the extent to which these are currently collected across Europe. It discusses results and makes a series of recommendations concerning priorities for the inclusion of social and recreational data in European NFIs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document