Key Attributes for Monitoring and Assessment of Australian Forests: A Land Management Perspective

The rapid technological development of active and passive remote sensing has proved of great value for forest monitoring and assessment worldwide. To make full use of this development, Australian land managers need efficient routines and tools tailored for operations in Australian landscapes. The development of these tools should focus on the most important forest attributes from a land management perspective. This paper presents the results of a web-based survey sent to people directly or indirectly involved in land management. The survey results indicate their current needs in terms of key forest attributes necessary for efficient management, decision making, and for fulfilling reporting obligations. Tree height, canopy health and condition, crown density, floristic composition, aboveground biomass, stem density, forest extent, and fire frequency/severity were among the most important attributes identified by the survey respondents. Moreover, many respondents highlighted the importance of continuous monitoring over time in order to detect changes. A literature review was conducted to examine how primary attributes can be combined to form composite attributes for a variety of purposes. A composite attributes, such as canopy health or aboveground biomass, can be estimated based on a combination of primary attributes. A primary attribute can be equally important as a composite product, if it is necessary for its accurate estimation.