Silvicultural tending of seedling stands is important to producing quality timber. However, it is challenging to allocate where and when to apply these silvicultural tending actions. Here, we tested and evaluated two methodological modifications of the ordinary area-based approach (ABA_Ordinary) that could be utilized in the airborne laser scanning-based forest inventories and especially seedling stand characterization. We hypothesize that ABA with added individual tree detection-derived features (ABA_ITD) or correcting edge-tree effects (ABA_Edge) would display improved performance in estimating the tree density and mean tree height of seedling stands. We tested this hypothesis using single-photon laser (SPL) and linear-mode laser (LML) scanning data covering 89 sample plots.

The obtained results supported the hypothesis as the methodological modifications improved seedling stand characterization. Compared to the performance of ABA_ordinary, relative bias in tree density estimation decreased from 17.2% to 10.1% when we applied ABA_ITD. In the case of mean height estimation, the relative root mean square error decreased from 19.5% to 16.3% when we applied ABA_EdgeITD. The SPL technology provided practically comparable or, in some cases, enhanced performance in seedling stand characterization when compared to conventional LML technology. Based on the obtained findings, it seems that the tested methodological improvements should be carefully considered when ALS-based inventories supporting forest management and silvicultural decision-making are developed further.

苗木的造林抚育对生产优质木材很重要。然而，分配这些造林抚育行动的地点和时间是一项挑战。在这里，我们测试和评估了两种基于区域的普通方法（ABA _Ordinary）的方法修改，可用于基于机载激光扫描的森林清查，尤其是苗木林分表征。我们假设 ABA 添加了单个树检测派生特征 (ABA _ITD ) 或校正边缘树效应 (ABA _Edge) 将在估计苗木林分的树密度和平均树高方面表现出更好的性能。我们使用覆盖 89 个样地的单光子激光 (SPL) 和线性模式激光 (LML) 扫描数据检验了这一假设。

获得的结果支持该假设，因为方法学修改改善了幼苗林分特征。与 ABA_{普通的性能相比，当我们应用 ABA ITD}时，树密度估计的相对偏差从 17.2% 下降到 10.1% 。_{在平均高度估计的情况下，当我们应用 ABA EdgeITD}时，相对均方根误差从 19.5% 下降到 16.3%. 与传统的 LML 技术相比，SPL 技术在苗木林分表征方面提供了几乎可比的或在某些情况下增强的性能。根据获得的发现，在进一步开发支持森林管理和造林决策的基于 ALS 的清单时，似乎应该仔细考虑经过测试的方法改进。