scholarly journals Ownership Patterns Drive Multi-Scale Forest Structure Patterns across a Forested Region in Southern Coastal Oregon, USA

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Vivian Griffey ◽  
Bryce Kellogg ◽  
Ryan Haugo ◽  
Van Kane
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Patch Size ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Landscape Configuration ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Structure Patterns ◽  
Ownership Types ◽  
Structure Class

Research Highlights: We used airborne lidar to assess the multi-scalar patterns of forest structure across a large (471,000 hectare), multi-owner landscape of the Oregon Coast Range, USA. The results of this study can be used in the development and evaluation of conservation strategies focused on forest management. Background and Objectives: Human management practices reflect policy and economic decisions and shape forest structure through direct management and modification of disturbance regimes. Previous studies have found that land ownership affects forest cover, patch dynamics, structure, and ecosystem function and services. However, prior assessments of forest structure across landscapes and ownerships have been limited by a lack of high-fidelity forest structure measurements across a large spatial extent. We addressed three research questions: (1) What distinct classes of forest structure exist across our study area? (2) How does the distribution and pattern of forest structure vary among types of owners at scales of patches, ownership types, and subregion, and is this independent of property size? and (3) What implications do the fine and sub-regional scale patterns have for landscape configuration goals under recent updates to the Northwest Forest Plan? Materials and Methods: We examined forest structure patterns by identifying six statistically distinct classes of forest structure and then examining their distribution across and within ownership types. We used these structure classes to examine their area within each ownership class, mean patch size, and intermixing at multiple scales. Results and Conclusion: We found that the six different forest structure classes in the study area can be interpreted as two assemblages: production-style forests, principally on private lands, and structurally complex forests, principally on public lands. We found that land ownership objectives resulted in distinct landscape patterns of forest structure as measured by mean structure class patch size and intermixing of different structure class patches. Finally, we found that forest structure differed between public and private lands but differed comparatively little among ownership types within those two broad categories.

scholarly journals Big trees drive forest structure patterns across a lowland Amazon regrowth gradient

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tassiana Maylla Fontoura Caron ◽  
Victor Juan Ulises Rodriguez Chuma ◽  
Alexander Arévalo Sandi ◽  
Darren Norris
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Forest Regrowth ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Amazonian Forests ◽  
Mammal Diversity ◽  
Structure Patterns ◽  
Plot Type

AbstractDegraded Amazonian forests can take decades to recover and the ecological results of natural regeneration are still uncertain. Here we use field data collected across 15 lowland Amazon smallholder properties to examine the relationships between forest structure, mammal diversity, regrowth type, regrowth age, topography and hydrology. Forest structure was quantified together with mammal diversity in 30 paired regrowth-control plots. Forest regrowth stage was classified into three groups: late second-regrowth, early second-regrowth and abandoned pasture. Basal area in regrowth plots remained less than half that recorded in control plots even after 20–25 years. Although basal area did increase in sequence from pasture, early to late-regrowth plots, there was a significant decline in basal area of late-regrowth control plots associated with a decline in the proportion of large trees. Variation in different forest structure responses was explained by contrasting variables, with the proportion of small trees (DBH < 20 cm) most strongly explained by topography (altitude and slope) whereas the proportion of large trees (DBH > 60 cm) was explained by plot type (control vs. regrowth) and regrowth class. These findings support calls for increased efforts to actively conserve large trees to avoid retrogressive succession around edges of degraded Amazon forests.

Differences in forest disturbance among land ownership types in Poland during and after socialism

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 73-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kuemmerle ◽  
J. Kozak ◽  
V. C. Radeloff ◽  
P. Hostert
Keyword(s):  
Forest Disturbance ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Ownership Types

Using airborne LiDAR to assess spatial heterogeneity in forest structure on Mount Kilimanjaro

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1881-1894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Getzin ◽  
Rico Fischer ◽  
Nikolai Knapp ◽  
Andreas Huth
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Heterogeneity ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Mount Kilimanjaro

scholarly journals Amazon forest structure generates diurnal and seasonal variability in light utilization

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 19043-19072 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Morton ◽  
J. Rubio ◽  
B. D. Cook ◽  
J.-P. Gastellu-Etchegorry ◽  
M. Longo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Forest Productivity ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Amazon Forest ◽  
Light Saturation ◽  
Light Utilization ◽  
Saturation Effects

Abstract. The complex three-dimensional (3-D) structure of tropical forests generates a diversity of light environments for canopy and understory trees. Understanding diurnal and seasonal changes in light availability is critical for interpreting measurements of net ecosystem exchange and improving ecosystem models. Here, we used the Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART) model to simulate leaf absorption of photosynthetically active radiation (lAPAR) for an Amazon forest. The 3-D model scene was developed from airborne lidar data, and local measurements of leaf reflectance, aerosols, and PAR were used to model lAPAR under direct and diffuse illumination conditions. Simulated lAPAR under clear sky and cloudy conditions was corrected for light saturation effects to estimate light utilization, the fraction of lAPAR available for photosynthesis. Although the fraction of incoming PAR absorbed by leaves was consistent throughout the year (0.80–0.82), light utilization varied seasonally (0.67–0.74), with minimum values during the Amazon dry season. Shadowing and light saturation effects moderated potential gains in forest productivity from increasing PAR during dry season months when the diffuse fraction from clouds and aerosols was low. Comparisons between DART and other models highlighted the role of 3-D forest structure to account for seasonal changes in light utilization. Our findings highlight how directional illumination and forest 3-D structure combine to influence diurnal and seasonal variability in light utilization, independent of further changes in leaf area, leaf age, or environmental controls on canopy photosynthesis. Changing illumination geometry constitutes an alternative biophysical explanation for observed seasonality in Amazon forest productivity without changes in canopy phenology.

Determinants of Chinese and European Privet (Ligustrum sinense and Ligustrum vulgare) Invasion and Likelihood of Further Invasion in Southern U.S. Forestlands

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Hsuan Wang ◽  
William E. Grant
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Fire Disturbance ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Public Land ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Artificial Regeneration ◽  
South Central

AbstractChinese and European privets are among the most aggressive invasive shrubs in forestlands of the southern United States. We analyzed extensive field data collected by the U.S. Forest Service covering 12 states to identify potential determinants of invasion and to predict likelihood of further invasion under a variety of possible management strategies. Results of multiple logistic regression, which classified 75% of the field plots correctly with regard to species presence and absence, indicated probability of invasion is correlated positively with elevation, adjacency (within 300 m) to waterbodies, mean extreme maximum temperature, site productivity, species diversity, natural regeneration, wind disturbance, animal disturbance, and private land ownership and is correlated negatively with slope, stand age, site preparation, artificial regeneration, distance to the nearest road, fire disturbance, and public land ownership. Habitats most at risk to further invasion (likelihood of invasion > 10%) under current conditions occur throughout Mississippi, with a band stretching eastward across south-central Alabama, and in eastern Texas and western Louisiana. Invasion likelihoods could be reduced most by conversion to public land ownership, followed by site preparation, fire disturbance, artificial regeneration, and elimination of animal disturbance. While conversion of land ownership may be neither feasible nor desirable, this result emphasizes the opportunity for reducing the likelihood of invasions on private lands via increased use of selected management practices.

Assessment of forest structure with airborne LiDAR and the effects of platform altitude

2006 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas R. Goodwin ◽  
Nicholas C. Coops ◽  
Darius S. Culvenor
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Airborne Lidar

scholarly journals Characterizing vertical forest structure using small-footprint airborne LiDAR

2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 171-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Zimble ◽  
David L. Evans ◽  
George C. Carlson ◽  
Robert C. Parker ◽  
Stephen C. Grado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Small Footprint

scholarly journals Application of the Conservation Planning Tool Zonation to Inform Retention Planning in the Boreal Forest of Western Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
François-Nicolas Robinne ◽  
J. John Stadt ◽  
Christopher W. Bater ◽  
Charles A. Nock ◽  
S. Ellen Macdonald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Dispersion Analysis ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Post Harvest ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Retention Forestry

Retention forestry is an approach in which live trees and other components of forest structure are retained within harvested areas. A primary objective of retention forestry is to maintain biodiversity and to hasten post-harvest recovery of forest structure and function. Retention is now a key element in sustainable forest management practices in many regions of the world. However, locating where retention should be placed to best achieve management objectives is a challenging problem, and evidence-based approaches to operational applications are rare. We suggest here that harvest planners could benefit from the use of systematic conservation planning principles and methods to inform retention design. Specifically, we used a conservation planning—or prioritization—tool, Zonation, to create spatially-explicit scenarios of retention harvesting in a boreal mixedwood forest in northwestern Alberta, Canada. Scenarios were informed by several environmental variables related to site productivity; in particular, we used a metric of wetness (depth-to-water from the Wet Areas Mapping algorithm) that is based on airborne lidar-derived terrain models previously shown to correlate with patterns in post-harvest forest regeneration and biodiversity. The nine retention scenarios examined here related to the placement of retention focused to drier, mesic, or wetter sites in combination with other prioritization constraints. Results were compared with an existing harvest plan to assess differences in the spatial pattern of retention (e.g., percent overlapping area, number of patches, size of the patches). We also tested for the homogeneity of forest attributes (e.g., tree species, deciduous density) between scenarios and the existing harvest plan using multivariate dispersion analysis. Our results showed limited commonalities among scenarios compared to the existing harvest plan; they were characterized as having limited spatial overlap, and more and smaller patches with the use of a timber-cost constraint further affecting retention patterns. While modeling results significantly differed from current retention practices, the approach presented here offers flexibility in testing different scenarios and assessing trade-offs between timber production and conservation goals using a standardized conservation planning toolkit.

scholarly journals Agricultural Landscape Composition Linked with Acoustic Measures of Avian Diversity

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Adam P. Dixon ◽  
Matthew E. Baker ◽  
Erle C. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Landscape Configuration ◽  
High Resolution Mapping ◽  
Resolution Mapping

Measuring, monitoring, and managing biodiversity across agricultural regions depends on methods that can combine high-resolution mapping of landscape patterns with local biodiversity observations. This study explores the potential to monitor biodiversity in agricultural landscapes by linking high-resolution remote sensing with passive acoustic monitoring. Land cover maps produced using a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) and PlanetScope (PS) satellite imagery were used to investigate relationships between landscape patterns and an acoustically derived biodiversity index (vocalizing bird species richness) across 12 agricultural sample locations equipped with acoustic recorders in Iowa, USA during the 2018 growing season. Statistical assessment revealed a significant direct association between vocalizing bird richness and percent noncrop vegetation cover. High spatial resolution (1 m) UAS mapping produced stronger statistical associations than PS-based maps (3 m) for landscape composition metrics. Landscape configuration metrics (Shannon’s diversity index, contagion, perimeter-area-ratio, and circumscribing circle index) were either cross-correlated with composition metrics or unusable owing to complete landscape homogeneity in some agricultural landscape samples. This study shows that high resolution mapping of noncrop vegetation cover can be linked with acoustic monitoring of unique bird vocalizations to provide a useful indicator of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Influence of Natural and Anthropogenic Linear Canopy Openings on Forest Structural Patterns Investigated Using LiDAR

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udayalakshmi Vepakomma ◽  
Daniel Kneeshaw ◽  
Louis De Grandpré
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
High Density ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Power Lines ◽  
Gap Fraction ◽  
Spruce Stands ◽  
Edge Influence ◽  
Forest Conditions

In much of the commercial boreal forest, dense road networks and energy corridors have been developed to access natural resources with unintended and poorly understood effects on surrounding forest structure. In this study, we compare the effects of anthropogenic and natural linear openings on surrounding forest conditions in black spruce stands (gap fraction, tree and sapling height, and density). Forest structure within a 100 m band around the edges of anthropogenic (roads and power lines), natural linear openings (streams), and a reference black spruce forest was measured by identifying individual stems and canopy gaps on recent high density airborne LiDAR canopy height models. CUSUM curves were used to assess the distance of edge influence. Forests surrounding anthropogenic openings were found to be gappier, less dense, and have smaller trees than those around natural openings. Forests were denser around natural and anthropogenic linear openings than in the reference forest with edge effects observed up to 24–75 m and 18–54 m, respectively, into the forest. A high density of saplings in the gappier forests surrounding anthropogenic openings may eventually lead to a higher forest biomass in the zone area surrounding roads as is currently observed around natural openings.

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