Remote sensing tools are increasingly being used to survey forest structure. Most current methods rely on GPS signals, which are available in above-canopy surveys or in below-canopy surveys of open forests, but may be absent in below-canopy environments of dense forests. We trialled a technology that facilitates mobile surveys in GPS-denied below-canopy forest environments. The platform consist...

Patterns of buttress formation in tropical trees vary greatly within and among species. In Kibale National Park, Uganda, some form of a buttress was found on 23% of the 78 species (1785 trees) sampled from a variety of distantly related families. Large differences in buttress formation were documented within a single family and even within the same genus. Previous studies have suggested that bu...

Savannas’ defining feature is a scattered tree layer. However, woody plants have encroached savannas throughout the world, altering tree densities and potentially modifying regeneration dynamics. We used a replicated large-scale restoration experiment with Midwestern oak savannas (USA) to understand spatial patterns of regeneration by the dominant overstory species, Quercus alba. Q. alba is not...

An understorey model is created for an area of broadleaf, deciduous woodland in eastern England using airborne LiDAR data from winter 2003 (leaf-off conditions) and summer 2005 (leaf-on). The woodland is ancient, semi-natural broadleaf and has a heterogeneous structure, with a mostly closed canopy overstorey and a patchy understorey layer beneath. In places, particularly in the centre of the st...

Phytophthora root rot (PRR) infects the roots of avocado trees, resulting in reduced uptake of water and nutrients, canopy decline, defoliation, and, eventually, tree mortality. Typically, the severity of PRR disease (proportion of canopy decline) is assessed by visually comparing the canopy health of infected trees to a standardised set of photographs and a corresponding disease rating. Althou...

We quantified structural attributes in three alluvial flat old-growth coast redwood stands. Tree size parameters and occurrences of distinctive features (e.g., burls, goose pens) were similar between stands. Occurrence of distinctive features was greater among larger trees. Tree sizefrequency distributions conformed to a reverse-J diameter distribution. The range of tree sizes was similar betwe...

Japanese black bears often break branches when climbing trees and feeding on fruit in canopies, thereby creating small canopy gaps. However, the role of black bear-created canopy gaps has not been evaluated in the context of multiple forest dynamics. Our hypothesis was that small canopy gaps created by black bears improve light conditions, which facilitates fruiting of adult fleshy-fruited plan...

Forest pathogens and insects can accelerate tree mortality, increase stand structural heterogeneity, and alter tree community composition. In northern California, the canopy trees Abies concolor var. lowiana (Gord. & Glend.) Lemmon (white fir) and Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirbel) Franco (Douglas-fir) co-occur but vary in shade tolerance and regenerative abilities following disturba...

In large samples of trees > or = 1 cm dbh (more than 1 million trees and 3000 species), in six lowland tropical forests on three continents, we assigned species with >30 individuals to one of six classes of stature at maturity (SAM). We then compared the proportional representation of understory trees (1-2 cm dbh) among these classes. The understory of the three Asian sites was predominantly co...