This research explores the potential benefits of fusing active and passive medium resolution satellite-borne sensor data for forest structural assessment. Image fusion was applied as a means of retaining disparate data features relevant to modeling and mapping of forest structural attributes in even-aged (4-11 years) Eucalyptus plantations, located in the southern Kwazulu-Natal midlands of Sout...

— Are parks effective in forest conservation? This study examines data from 163 forests in 13 countries to determine the necessity of legally established protected areas for forest conservation and alternative conditions and institutions that may conserve forests. The results show no statistically significant differences in forest conditions between legally protected forests and forests governe...

forests are an important economic source for human and have key role in nutrient cycle, hydrology and ecosystem performance, any interference in this vital ecosystem causes to damage to forests. mechanical logging and road construction in forest areas have led to much soil compaction. soil physical and chemical properties were studied in parts of road and non-road in the darabkola forest of ira...

Forests of the coastal plain region of the southern United States are unique in their productivity, biodiversity, and economic value. However, natural and anthropogenic disturbances may trigger forest age structure and spatial distribution variation. Detecting and predicting tree species distribution patterns can help to understand the dynamics of disturbances in order to develop adequate fores...

Cloud forests harbor high levels of orchid diversity. However, due to the high fragmentation of these forests in the Andes, combined with the pressure for new agricultural land, orchid diversity is highly threatened. Despite this worrying scenario, few studies have assessed the effects of habitat loss specifically on orchid assemblages in the Andes. The aim of this study was to analyze the edge...

Avian diversity is under increasing pressures. It is thus critical to understand the ecological variables that contribute to large scale spatial distribution of avian species diversity. Traditionally, studies have relied primarily on two-dimensional habitat structure to model broad scale species richness. Vegetation vertical structure is increasingly used at local scales. However, the spatial a...

The detection of forest types and structure parameters is of major importance for the design of forest inventories, for the application of forest management practices as well as for the monitoring of biodiversity in the context of the NATURA 2000 network. For these purposes the use of additional information about the natural behaviour of forest structure within classification processes of satel...

The horizontal and vertical (3D) structure of Earth’s forested ecosystems are of great significance to their ecological functioning and societal uses. Recent research suggests that using LIDAR, SAR, INSAR and optical multi-spectral (VIR) together can allow one to obtain accurate estimates of parameters for forest 3D structure and biomass. However, the spatial coverage that can be expected of a ...