Airborne discrete return light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds covering forested areas can be processed to segment individual trees and retrieve their morphological attributes. Segmenting individual trees in natural deciduous forests however remained a challenge because of the complex and multi-layered canopy. In this chapter, we present (i) a robust segmentation method that avoids a...

Shrub encroachment (SE) is a phenomenon in which grasses and herbaceous vegetation are replaced by woody shrubs. Many previous studies have highlighted the effects of SE on soil respiration rates nutrient storage, but little known about impacts microbiota. While work considered shrubs to be non-species specific or as single intervening species, we selected an Ampelodemsos mauritanicus grassland...

Two main theories have attempted to explain variation in plant species composition (β-diversity). Niche theory proposes that most of the variation is related to environment (environmental filtering), whereas neutral theory posits that dispersal limitation is the main driver of β-diversity. In this study, we first explored how α- and β-diversity of plant functional groups defined by growth form ...

While top-down control plays an important role in shaping both natural and agricultural food webs, we lack insights into how effects vary across spatial scales. We used a multi-scale survey of coffee pests diseases by arboreal ants to examine if colony location creates small-scale mosaic around trees the strength that varies between sites at landscape scale. investigated pest disease levels on ...

Leafing phenology of two dry-forest sites on soils of different depth (S = shallow, D = deep) at Shipstern Reserve, Belize, were compared at the start of the rainy season (April–June 2000). Trees 2.5 cm dbh were recorded weekly for 8 wk in three 0.04-ha plots per site. Ten species were analysed individually for their phenological patterns, of which the three most common were Bursera simaruba, M...

The desirable structure of longleaf pine forests, which generally includes a relatively open canopy of pines, very few woody stems in the mid-story, and a well-developed, herbaceous ground layer, provides critical habitat for flora and fauna and contributes to ecosystem function. Current efforts to restore longleaf pine to upland sites dominated by second-growth loblolly pine require informatio...

greenhouse gases have been of serious global concern to environmentalists. enteric ruminal fermentation and manure are seen to be responsible for global warming. based on a better understanding of positive tan-nin effects on ruminant nutrition, the feeding value of browse trees and shrubs containing tannin, their roles on methanogenic rumen microbes in overcoming the production of enteric ferme...

this study aims at assessing the impact of land use change (from forest areas to forest parks) on some silvicultural characteristics of stands under recreational land use in boloran natural forest park, kuhdasht. for this purpose, three zones including non-recreation, extensive recreation and intensive recreation regions were chosen. in each zone 30 sample plots in a systematic random design (1...