Since climate change projections contain many uncertainties and are normally unable to predict the direction and magnitude of change at the small scale needed by forest managers, some understanding about the functioning of the target forest should be obtained before a robust management strategy can be applied. Structure and regeneration patterns are related to key ecosystem processes which, on ...

Information about how vegetation composition and structure vary quantitatively and spatially with physical environment, disturbance history, and land ownership is fundamental to regional conservation planning. However, current knowledge about patterns of vegetation variability across large regions that is spatially explicit (i.e., mapped) tends to be general and qualitative. We used spatial pre...

We explored the potential of airborne laser scanner (ALS) data to improve Bayesian models linking biodiversity indicators of the understory vegetation to environmental factors. Biodiversity was studied at plot level and models were built to investigate species abundance for the most abundant plants found on each study site, and for ecological group richness based on light preference. The usual ...

The O horizon, or detrital layer, of forest soils is linked to long-term forest productivity and health. Fuel reduction techniques, such as prescribed fire, can alter the thickness and composition of this essential ecosystem component. Developing an understanding of the changes in the chemical composition of forest detritus due to prescribed fire is essential for forest managers and stakeholder...

Surveying primary tropical forest over large regions is challenging. Indirect methods of relating terrain information or other external spatial datasets to forest biophysical parameters can provide forest structural maps at large scales but the inherent uncertainties need to be evaluated fully. The goal of the present study was to evaluate relief characteristics, measured through geomorphometri...

Please cite this article in press as: Millington, J songbirds and timber production. Forest Ecol. The structure of forest stands is an important determinant of habitat use by songbirds, including species of conservation concern. In this paper, we investigate the combined long-term impacts of variable tree regeneration and timber management on stand structure, songbird occupancy probabilities, a...

Vegetation spatial structure including plant height, biomass, vertical and horizontal heterogeneity, is an important factor influencing the exchanges of matter and energy between landscape and atmosphere, and the biodiversity of ecosystems. Regional and global forest biomass and forest structure estimation is essential for understanding and monitoring ecosystem responses to human activities and...

Meteorological simulation tools to model gas exchange phenomena within forests require well defined information of forest structure (e.g., 3D forest models) as a basis for the computation of the turbulent flow shaped by the drag of the vegetation. The paper describes techniques to obtain 3D data describing forest stands from dense terrestrial laser scanner point clouds. In a first step, stems a...

To properly manage urban forests, it is essential to have data on this important resource. An efficient means to obtain this information is to randomly sample urban areas. To help assess the urban forest structure (e.g., number of trees, species composition, tree sizes, health) and several functions (e.g., air pollution removal, carbon storage and sequestration), the Urban Forest Effects (UFORE...

In Austria about half of the entire area (46 %) is covered by forests. The majority of these are highly managed and controlled in growth. But besides timber production forest ecosystems play a multifunctional role including climate control, habitat provision and, especially in Austria, protection of settlements. The interrelationships among climatic, ecological, social and economic dimensions o...