scholarly journals Stand structure indices as tools to support forest management: an application in Trentino forests (Italy)

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 159-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pastorella ◽  
A. Paletto

Stand structure and species diversity are two useful parameters to provide a synthetic measure of forest biodiversity. The stand structure is spatial distribution, mutual position, diameter and height differentiation of trees in a forest ecosystem and it highly influences habitat and species diversity. The forest stand and species diversity can be measured through indices that provide important information to better address silvicultural practices and forest management strategies in the short and long-term period. These indices can be combined in a composite index in order to evaluate the complex diversity at the stand level. The aim of the paper is to identify and to test a complex index (S-index) allowing to take into account both the tree species composition and the stand structure. S-index was applied in a case study in the north-east of Italy (Trentino province). The results show that the Norway spruce forests in Trentino province are characterized by a medium-low level of complexity (S-index is in a range between 0.14 and 0.46) due to a low tree species composition rather than to the stand structure (diametric differentiation and spatial distribution of trees).  

2008 ◽  
Vol 159 (4) ◽  
pp. 80-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogdan Brzeziecki ◽  
Feliks Eugeniusz Bernadzki

The results of a long-term study on the natural forest dynamics of two forest communities on one sample plot within the Białowieża National Park in Poland are presented. The two investigated forest communities consist of the Pino-Quercetum and the Tilio-Carpinetum type with the major tree species Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Betula sp., Quercus robur, Tilia cordata and Carpinus betulus. The results reveal strong temporal dynamics of both forest communities since 1936 in terms of tree species composition and of general stand structure. The four major tree species Scots pine, birch, English oak and Norway spruce, which were dominant until 1936, have gradually been replaced by lime and hornbeam. At the same time, the analysis of structural parameters indicates a strong trend towards a homogenization of the vertical stand structure. Possible causes for these dynamics may be changes in sylviculture, climate change and atmospheric deposition. Based on the altered tree species composition it can be concluded that a simple ≪copying≫ (mimicking) of the processes taking place in natural forests may not guarantee the conservation of the multifunctional character of the respective forests.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-101
Author(s):  
Thi Thanh Huong Nguyen ◽  
Thi Nhu Quynh Chau

This paper describes the influence of elevation on woody tree species diversity in Nam Kar Natural Reserve of Daklak, of which remote sensing and GIS techniques were used as the tools in biodiversity inventory and assessment. The whole Reserve area was divided into four elevation classes based on DEM (Digital Elevation Model) using GIS technique. Landsat 8 satellite image was employed to stratify the forest into the four strata. A total of 4 transect lines of 100 m in length and 20 m in width (abbreviated as H1, H2, H3, and H4) established in east-west direction representing for 4 elevation classes was used for surveying biodiversity and stand structure. The different diversity indices were compared among the different elevation classes. The relationships between reflectance value of sat- ellite image, forest strata with biodiversity indices were also analysed. The result shows that the diversity of woody tree species is different among elevation classes. Based on sample plots a total of 135 tree species belonging to 42 genera was found in this area. Although a low inverse correlations were found between number of species composition, basal area, and tree density with DNs, most correlation was statistically insignificant 95%. However, a medium relation between forest strata and number of species composition were found with correlation coefficient r = 0.53 (P<0.00) in the area. Nghiên cứu này đánh giá đa dạng thực vật thân gỗ tại khu bảo tồn thiên nhiên Nam Kar theo các cấp độ cao khác nhau. Nghiên cứu đã sử dụng ảnh vệ tinh và kỹ thuật GIS để hỗ trong trong việc điều tra và đánh giá đa dạng sinh học. Toàn bộ khu bảo tồn được chia thành 4 cấp độ cao dựa vào mô hình số độ cao (DEM) được thực hiện bằng kỹ thuật GIS. Ảnh Landsat 8 đã được sử dụng để phân chia rừng thành 4 khối trạng thái. Có 4 ô tiêu chuẩn dạng dải có kích thước 100m chiều dài và 20m chiều rộng được đặt ở từng đai cao (viết tắt là H1, H2, H3, và H4) theo hướng cố định Đông – Tây để điều tra đa dạng sinh học và cấu trúc lâm phần của thực vật thân gỗ ở từng đai cao. Các chỉ số đa dạng sinh học đã được so sánh trong từng cấp độ cao. Mối quan hệ giữa giá trị ảnh, hiện trạng rừng với các chỉ số đa dạng cũng được phân tích. Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy có sự khác biệt về đa dạng loài thực vật thân gỗ theo từng đai cao. Dựa vào ô mẫu nghiên cứu cũng đã ước tính có 135 loài thuộc 42 chi có trong vùng nghiên cứu. Một số đặc điểm lâm phần như thành phần loài, tiết diệt ngang bình quân và mật độ cây có mối tương quan nghịch với giá trị ảnh vệ tinh tuy nhiên mối quan hệ này không có ý nghĩa thống kê ở độ tin cậy 95%. Tuy vậy nghiên cứu cho thấy có mối tương quan tương quan khá chặt giữa số loài và các khối hiện trạng rừng với hệ số tương quan là 0.53 ở mức P<0.00.


2005 ◽  
Vol 156 (12) ◽  
pp. 521-524
Author(s):  
Peter Burschel

The current environmental characteristics of forests are marked by considerable change. Increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and a warmer climate have led to a new way of looking at the forest and its management. An important part of this, for example, is whether climate changes will challenge the existing tree species composition or whether forest management can exert an attenuating influence on climate warming in the way it deals with CO2. The accumulation of carbon in living substances and the soil is ensured by sustainability concepts and realised with silvicultural experience.


Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 140 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Godlee ◽  
Francisco Maiato Gonçalves ◽  
José João Tchamba ◽  
Antonio Valter Chisingui ◽  
Jonathan Ilunga Muledi ◽  
...  

Seasonally dry woodlands are the dominant land cover across southern Africa. They are biodiverse, structurally complex, and important for ecosystem service provision. Species composition and structure vary across the region producing a diverse array of woodland types. The woodlands of the Huíla plateau in southwest Angola represent the extreme southwestern extent of the miombo ecoregion and are markedly drier than other woodlands within this ecoregion. They remain understudied, however, compared to woodlands further east in the miombo ecoregion. We aimed to elucidate further the tree diversity found within southwestern Angolan woodlands by conducting a plot-based study in Bicuar National Park, comparing tree species composition and woodland structure with similar plots in Tanzania, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We found Bicuar National Park had comparatively low tree species diversity, but contained 27 tree species not found in other plots. Plots in Bicuar had low basal area, excepting plots dominated by Baikiaea plurijuga. In a comparison of plots in intact vegetation with areas previously disturbed by shifting-cultivation agriculture, we found species diversity was marginally higher in disturbed plots. Bicuar National Park remains an important woodland refuge in Angola, with an uncommon mosaic of woodland types within a small area. While we highlight wide variation in species composition and woodland structure across the miombo ecoregion, plot-based studies with more dense sampling across the ecoregion are clearly needed to more broadly understand regional variation in vegetation diversity, composition and structure.


2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 74-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Štefančík

The paper is a contribution to the research on problems of thinnings in mixed (spruce-fir-beech) stands situated in the 5<sup>th</sup> forest altitudinal zone (beech with fir) in the central part of Slovakia. The research was carried out on two series of permanent research plots established in 1972. Each of the series consists of three partial plots where one plot was tended by free crown thinning in the framework of whole-area tending. On the second plot a non-whole-area tending was realised while the third ones were left without planned silvicultural treatment as controls. Dynamic changes in tree species composition, stand structure, qualitative and quantitative production including silvicultural analysis of seven thinning interventions were evaluated for a period of 29 years. A&nbsp;special attention was paid to development of future crop trees which are the main bearers of stand quality and quantity. The changes were compared with respect to differences between the plots with whole-area and non-whole-area long-term silvicultural treatment and the control plot (without treatments).


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