Soil organic carbon (SOC) is important for soil quality and fertility in forest ecosystems. Labile SOC fractions are sensitive to environmental changes, which reflect the impact of short-term internal and external management measures on the soil carbon pool. Organic mulching (OM) alters the soil environment and promotes plant growth. However, little is known about the responses of SOC fractions in

Thinning is a commonly used treatment in forest management which affects the tree root systems. The effects of thinning on element concentrations and seasonal change of roots were evaluated in adjacent oak (Quercus frainetto Ten.) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) stands according to the different root diameter classes. Two replicated control and thinning plots (50 m × 50 m) were set for each species

Forest inventories have always been a primary information source concerning the forest ecosystem state. Various applied survey approaches arise from the numerous important factors during sampling scheme planning. Paramount aspects include the survey goal and scale, target population inherent variation and patterns, and available resources. The last factor commonly inhibits the goal, and compromises

Aboveground biomass (AGB) is a fundamental indicator of forest ecosystem productivity and health and hence plays an essential role in evaluating forest carbon reserves and supporting the development of targeted forest management plans. Here, we proposed a random forest/co-kriging framework that integrates the strengths of machine learning and geostatistical approaches to improve the mapping accuracies

Central Himalayan forested catchments provide fresh water supply and innumerable ecosystem services to millions of people. Hence, the understanding of linkages between forests and water is very crucial for availability and quality of water at catchment scale. Therefore, the present study aims to understand the hydrological response of two forested catchments (namely, Arnigad and Bansigad) in the Central

The double sampling method known as “big BAF sampling” has been advocated as a way to reduce sampling effort while still maintaining a reasonably precise estimate of volume. A well-known method for variance determination, Bruce’s method, is customarily used because the volume estimator takes the form of a product of random variables. However, the genesis of Bruce’s method is not known to most foresters

Larch (Larix Mill.) forests are widely distributed in the upper parts of mountainous areas in China, playing vital roles in constructing mountain landscapes and maintaining mountain environments. Despite their importance, our knowledges on the large-scale patterns of structure characteristics and the relationships between different structure variables are unclear. In this paper, we investigated 155

The age of forest stands is critical information for forest management and conservation, for example for growth modelling, timing of management activities and harvesting, or decisions about protection areas. However, area-wide information about forest stand age often does not exist. In this study, we developed regression models for large-scale area-wide prediction of age in Norwegian forests. For model

Nesting trees and habitat represent the key factor underpinning stand selection by forest-dwelling birds. While two large European species – the black stork (Ciconia nigra L.) and white-tailed eagle (Haliaaetus albicilla L.) – are known to require old, large trees for nesting, we sought to investigate further by comparing species requirements at the levels of the nesting tree, nesting stand, and landscape

Metabolic scaling theory predicts that plant productivity and biomass are both size-dependent. However, this theory has not yet been tested in plant roots. In this study, we tested how metabolic scaling occurs in plants using a comprehensive plant root dataset made up of 1016 observations from natural habitats. We generated metabolic scaling exponents by log-transformation of root productivity versus

We contrast a new continuous approach (CA) for estimating plot-level above-ground biomass (AGB) in forest inventories with the current approach of estimating AGB exclusively from the tree-level AGB predicted for each tree in a plot, henceforth called DA (discrete approach). With the CA, the AGB in a forest is modelled as a continuous surface and the AGB estimate for a fixed-area plot is computed as

Seed dispersal by scatter-hoarding animals can affect the developmental dynamics of plant communities. However, how animals might participate in plant inter-community competition has rarely been investigated. Forest community junction is an area where the competition between plant communities is most prominent and animal activity is more frequent. At present, little is known about how scatter-hoarding

The impacts of selective logging on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) remain largely unexplored. In this study, we analyzed the response of nine variables related to four ecosystem functions (i.e. nutrient cycling, soil carbon stocks, decomposition, and wood production) to five selective logging intensities in a Pinus yunnanensis-dominated forest. We included a control group with no harvest to evaluate

The local pivotal method (LPM) utilizing auxiliary data in sample selection has recently been proposed as a sampling method for national forest inventories (NFIs). Its performance compared to simple random sampling (SRS) and LPM with geographical coordinates has produced promising results in simulation studies. In this simulation study we compared all these sampling methods to systematic sampling.

The assessment of change in forest ecosystems, especially the change of canopy heights, is essential for improving global carbon estimates and understanding effects of climate change. Spaceborne lidar systems provide a unique opportunity to monitor changes in the vertical structure of forests. NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellites, ICESat-1 for the period 2003 to 2009, and ICESat-2 (available

Digital hemispherical photography (DHP) is widely used to estimate the leaf area index (LAI) of forest plots due to its advantages of high efficiency and low cost. A crucial step in the LAI estimation of forest plots via DHP is choosing a sampling scheme. However, various sampling schemes involving DHP have been used for the LAI estimation of forest plots. To date, the impact of sampling schemes on

Metabolic scaling theory (MST) is still in debate because observed allometric exponents often deviate from MST predictions, and can change significantly depending on environment, phylogeny, and disturbance. We assembled published scaling exponents from literatures for three allometric relationships linked to biomass allocation: leaf biomass-diameter (L-D), stem biomass-diameter (S-D), and root biomass-diameter

Many fire-dependent forests have experienced significant declines in species, structural, and functional diversity. These changes are attributed in part to traditional management approaches that were dominated by even-aged regeneration methods such as clearcutting. Variable retention harvesting (VRH) is an ecologically based forestry practice that involves retention of some mature overstory trees and

The nitrogen isotope natural abundance (δ15N) provides integrated information on ecosystem N dynamics, and carbon isotope natural abundance (δ13C) has been used to infer how water-using processes of plants change in terrestrial ecosystems. However, how δ13C and δ15N abundances in plant life and soils respond to N addition and water availability change is still unclear. Thus, δ13C and δ15N abundances

The Siberian moth (Dendrolimus sibiricus) is a serious pest of conifers in Russia, Northern Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. The western border of the pest’s distribution in Russia is disputed, but it is present west of the 60th meridian east. The pest has the potential to defoliate a wide range of conifers. The pest is not present in Norway or other European countries, except Russia. Natural spread

Forest management has historically focused on provisioning of goods (e.g. timber, biomass), but there is an increasing interest to manage forests also to maintain biodiversity and to provide other ecosystem services (ES). We evaluated the effects of firewood harvesting intensity on biodiversity and different ES in three contrasting shrubland sites in northern Patagonia (Argentina). At each site, four

In the early twentieth century, forestry was one of the most important sectors in Norway and an agitated discussion about the perceived decline of forest resources due to over-exploitation was ongoing. To base the discussion on facts, the young state of Norway established Landsskogtakseringen – the world’s first National Forest Inventory (NFI). Field work started in 1919 and was carried out by county

In contrast with the negligible contribution of the forest understorey to the total aboveground phytobiomass of a forest, its share in annual litter production and nutrient cycling may be more important. Whether and how this functional role of the understorey differs across forest types and depends upon overstorey characteristics remains to be investigated. We sampled 209 plots of the FunDivEUROPE

The aim of this study was to construct a nationwide stand age model by using National Forest Inventory (NFI) data and nationwide airborne laser scanning (ALS) data. In plantation forestry, age is usually known. While this is not the case in boreal managed forests, age is still seldom predicted in forest management inventories. Measuring age accurately in situ is also very laborious. On the other hand

The increasing availability of remotely sensed data has recently challenged the traditional way of performing forest inventories, and induced an interest in model-based inference. Like traditional design-based inference, model-based inference allows for regional estimates of totals and means, but in addition for wall-to-wall mapping of forest characteristics. Recently Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-based

Modelling aboveground biomass (AGB) in forest and woodland ecosystems is critical for accurate estimation of carbon stocks. However, scarcity of allometric models for predicting AGB remains an issue that has not been adequately addressed in Africa. In particular, locally developed models for estimating AGB in the tropical woodlands of Ghana have received little attention. In the absence of locally

Central America is one of the most diverse floristic provinces in the world, but comprehensive plant lists for the region are incomplete and need frequent updating. Full geographic ranges of individual species are seldom known. Our detailed forest inventory plots of Panama thus lack a global geographic perspective. In order to provide one, we assembled a thoroughly vetted checklist of all tree species

Land-use change and forest management may alter soil organic matter (SOM) and nutrient dynamics, due in part to alterations in litter input and quality. Acacia was introduced in eucalypt plantations established in the Congolese coastal plains to improve soil fertility and tree growth. Eucalypt trees were expected to benefit from N2 fixed by acacia. However, some indicators suggest a perturbation in

This study aimed to determine the litterfall production, accumulation, decomposition rate and nutrient stocks, and to estimate the soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks in three palm swamp ecosystems with different land use intensities in the Southeast of Brazil. Three palm swamp ecosystems with different land use intensities were evaluated: Agua Doce (AD), conserved area; Capivara (CV), area with

Natural afforestation of former agricultural lands with alder species is common in Europe. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation by actinomycetes associated with alder species has been widely used for improvement of soil properties of abandoned agricultural lands, but relatively little is known of the interactions of these processes with soil type and chemical composition. We conducted a space-for time study

Under ongoing climate and land-use change, biodiversity is continuously decreasing and monitoring biodiversity is becoming increasingly important. National Forest Inventory (NFI) programmes provide valuable time-series data on biodiversity and thus contribute to assessments of the state and trends in biodiversity, as well as ecosystem functioning. Data quality in this context is of paramount relevance

Forests are an important component of the global carbon (C) cycle and can be net sources or sinks of CO2, thus mitigating or exacerbating the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. While forest productivity is often inferred from national-scale yield tables or from satellite products, forest C emissions resulting from dead organic matter decay are usually simulated, therefore it is important

Schima genus of Theaceae is confined to subtropics and tropics of South, East and Southeast Asia. Thirteen species of Schima are distributed in subtropical China. Many of them appear as dominant canopy species in the subtropical forests. To date, Schima species richness distribution patterns of China have remained unknown. Meanwhile, there has been a longtime debate as to whether forests dominated

Climate change may strongly influence soil erosion risk, namely through variations in the precipitation pattern. Forests may contribute to mitigate the impacts of climate change on soil erosion and forest managers are thus challenged by the need to define strategies that may protect the soil while addressing the demand for other ecosystem services. Our emphasis is on the development of an approach

The LiBackpack is a recently developed backpack light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system that combines the flexibility of human walking with the nearby measurement in all directions to provide a novel and efficient approach to LiDAR remote sensing, especially useful for forest structure inventory. However, the measurement accuracy and error sources have not been systematically explored for this system

Soil and vegetation have a direct impact on the process and direction of plant community succession, and determine the structure, function, and productivity of ecosystems. However, little is known about the synergistic influence of soil physicochemical properties and vegetation features on vegetation restoration. The aim of this study was to investigate the co-evolution of soil physicochemical properties

Forest canopy height is a key forest structure parameter. Precisely estimating forest canopy height is vital to improve forest management and ecological modelling. Compared with discrete-return LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), small-footprint full-waveform airborne LiDAR (FWL) techniques have the capability to acquire precise forest structural information. This research mainly focused on the influence

The accurate estimation of soil nutrient content is particularly important in view of its impact on plant growth and forest regeneration. In order to investigate soil nutrient content and quality for the natural regeneration of Dacrydium pectinatum communities in China, designing advanced and accurate estimation methods is necessary. This study uses machine learning techniques created a series of comprehensive

In the original publication of this article Pukkala, 2020 the Fig. 6 is not correct, the correct figure is as below. The error in this Correction and low quality Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 have been updated in the original article and the caption of Fig. 5 was modified.

Fires have a fundamental impact on phytocoenoses and, depending on the size of the fire, can have a positive or negative effect. The role of fires in the formation of the species composition of plants, restoration of stands and changes in soil properties is well studied. However, the long-term relationship between forest management methods, soil properties and epigeic entomofauna assemblages in post-fire

Scenario analyses that evaluate management effects on the long-term provision and sustainability of forest ecosystem services and biodiversity (ESB) also need to account for disturbances. The objectives of this study were to reveal potential trade-offs and synergies between ESB provision and disturbance predisposition at the scale of a whole country. The empirical scenario model MASSIMO was used to

Forested landscapes are valuable sources of ecosystem services especially in areas dedicated to intense agricultural activities. Distance from forest margin is known to influence the wild bee community in the landscape surrounding forested patches. Yet little is known regarding how bee communities distribute themselves in landscapes that exhibit different forest successional states. We examined how

Tropical forests play a fundamental role in the provision of diverse ecosystem services, such as biodiversity, climate and air quality regulation, freshwater provision, carbon cycling, agricultural support and culture. To understand the role of forests in the carbon balance, aboveground biomass (AGB) estimates are needed. Given the importance of Brazilian tropical forests, there is an urgent need to

Experimental manipulations of tree diversity have often found overyielding in mixed-species plantations. While most experiments are still in the early stages of stand development, the impacts of tree diversity are expected to accumulate over time. Here, I present findings from a 31-year-old tree diversity experiment (as of 2018) in Japan. I find that the net diversity effect on stand biomass increased

Global warming has brought many negative impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, which makes the vulnerability of ecosystems one of the hot issues in current ecological research. Here, we proposed an assessment method based on the IPCC definition of vulnerability. The exposure to future climate was characterized using a moisture index (MI) that integrates the effects of temperature and precipitation. Vegetation

A number of hypotheses and theories, such as the Janzen-Connell hypothesis, have been proposed to explain the natural maintenance of biodiversity in tropical and temperate forest ecosystems. However, to date the details of the processes behind this natural maintenance are still unclear. Recently two new nearest-neighbour characteristics were proposed and in this paper we demonstrate how they can contribute

Forest management affects the viability of forest grouse populations, causing alterations to habitat quality. At the regional level, common targets for wood harvesting and safeguarding of specific habitats are negotiated between various stakeholders. Analysing potential trade-offs between forest grouse habitats and wood production in the region could support resource-smart decision making. In this

When auxiliary information in the form of airborne laser scanning (ALS) is used to assist in estimating the population parameters of interest, the benefits of prior information from previous inventories are not self-evident. In a simulation study, we compared three different approaches: 1) using only current data, 2) using non-updated old data and current data in a composite estimator and 3) using

Much land is subject to damage by construction, development and exploitation with consequent loss of environmental function and services. How might the loss be recovered? This article develops principles of environmental rehabilitation. Key issues include the following. Rehabilitation means restoring the previous condition. Whether or not to restore is not a technical but a value judgement. It is subject

Deep Learning Algorithms (DLA) have become prominent as an application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Techniques since 2010. This paper introduces the DLA to predict the relationships between individual tree height (ITH) and the diameter at breast height (DBH). A set of 2024 pairs of individual height and diameter at breast height measurements, originating from 150 sample plots located in stands of

Modern remote sensing methods enable the prediction of tree-level forest resource data. However, the benefits of using tree-level data in forest or harvest planning is not clear given a relative paucity of research. In particular, there is a need for tree-level methods that simultaneously account for the spatial distribution of trees and other objectives. In this study, we developed a spatial tree

National forest inventories (NFI) have a long history providing data to obtain nationally representative and accurate estimates of growing stock. Today, in most NFIs additional data are collected to provide information on a range of forest ecosystem functions such as biodiversity, habitat, nutrient and carbon dynamics. An important driver of nutrient and C cycling is decomposing biomass produced by

Large area forest inventories often use regular grids (with a single random start) of sample locations to ensure a uniform sampling intensity across the space of the surveyed populations. A design-unbiased estimator of variance does not exist for this design. Oftentimes, a quasi-default estimator applicable to simple random sampling (SRS) is used, even if it carries with it the likely risk of overestimating

Net primary productivity (NPP) in forests plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, it is not well known about the increase rate of China’s forest NPP, and there are different opinions about the key factors controlling the variability of forest NPP. This paper established a statistics-based multiple regression model to estimate forest NPP, using the observed NPP, meteorological and

Gap models are individual-based models for forests. They simulate dynamic multispecies assemblages over multiple tree-generations and predict forest responses to altered environmental conditions. Their development emphases designation of the significant biological and ecological processes at appropriate time/space scales. Conceptually, they are with consistent with A.G. Tansley’s original definition

Forest inventories are increasingly based on airborne laser scanning (ALS). In Finland, the results of these inventories are calculated for small grid cells, 16 m by 16 m in size. Use of grid data in forest planning results in the additional requirement of aggregating management prescriptions into large enough continuous treatment units. This can be done before the planning calculations, using various

In Mediterranean mountain socio-ecosystems, both grazing by livestock and the dry season may influence tree regeneration. However, the relative contributions of these drivers are poorly known, even though present and future canopy composition might result from past and present variations in climate and herbivore density. This study aims to test how semi-feral cattle presence and season affect tree

Inbreeding in seed orchards is expected to increase with the advancement of breeding cycles, which results in the delivery of crops with suboptimal genetic gain, reduced genetic diversity, and lower seed set. Here, a genetic distance-dependent method for clonal spatial deployment in seed orchards was developed and demonstrated, which reduced the inbreeding levels. The method’s main evaluation parameter

Understanding the spatial pattern and driving factors of forest carbon density in mountainous terrain is of great importance for monitoring forest carbon in support of sustainable forest management for mitigating climate change. We collected the forest inventory data in 2015 in Shanxi Province, eastern Loess Plateau of China, to explore the spatial pattern and driving factors of biomass carbon density

Karst areas in southwestern China exhibit ecological degradation in the form of rocky desertification. Local governments launched large-scale afforestation and other ecological restoration programs to curb this trend. Soil thickness is a key limiting factor for vegetation restoration in Karst areas, but the relationship between ecological restoration and soil thickness remains unclear. Further, afforestation