Stand structure, tree density as well as tree spatial pattern define natural dynamics and competition process. They are therefore parameters used to define any silvicultural management type. This work aims to report first data resulting from a silvicultural experiment in beech forests. The objective of the trial is testing the structure manipulation in terms of diversity and the reduction of inter-tree competition of different thinning approaches. Alternative thinning methods have been applied in two independent experimental sites located in the pre-Alps and southern Apennines, in Italy. Specific goals were to: (i) verify the impact early after thinning implementation on forest structure through a set of diversity and competition metrics resulting from a literature review; (ii) the sensitivity of tested indexes to detect effectively thinning manipulation. Main results show the low sensitivity of stand structure indexes and the ability of competition metrics to detect thinning outcome.

The main objective is to improve a method that aims at evaluating forest multifunctionality from a technical and practical point of view. A methodological approach - based on the index of forest multifunctionality level - is proposed to assess the "fulfilment capability" of a function providing an estimate of performance level of each function in a given forest. This method is aimed at supporting technicians requested to define most suitable management guidelines and silvicultural practices in the framework of a Forest Landscape Management Plan (FLMP). The study area is the Matese district in southern Apennines (Italy), where a landscape planning experimentation was implemented. The approach includes the qualitative and quantitative characterization of selected populations, stratified by forest category by a sampling set of forest inventory plots. A 0.5 ha area around the sample plot was described by filling a form including the following information: site condition, tree species composition, stand origin and structure, silvicultural system, health condition, microhabitats presence. In each sample plot, both the multifunctionality assessment and the estimate of the effect of alternative management options on ecosystem goods and services, were carried out. The introduction of the term "fulfilment capability" and the modification of the concept of priority level - by which the ranking of functions within a plot is evaluated - is an improvement of current analysis method. This enhanced approach allows to detect the current status of forest plot and its potential framed within the whole forest. Assessing functional features of forests with this approach reduces the inherent subjectivity and allows to get useful information on forest multifunctionality to support forest planners in defining management guidelines consistent with current status and potential evolutive pattern.

Natural resources management requires several parameters estimate in order to support the identification of the best alternatives to forest areas management. In particular, forest ecosystems require a complex and increasing set of descriptive information, where forest inventories put up important information, however not in a continuous spatial way. Lately, several scientific researches have been focusing on establishing methodologies to relate data from field to those obtained from multispectral images. Modeling these relations can extend the estimates of forest inventory data to not sampled areas. This research evaluated performance of non-parametric analysis using the K-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) on SPOT 5 images. It evaluated the results obtained from the spatialization of some forest attributes in a forest area located at Molise, Italy. Among several methodologies for spatial distance calculations, the use of multiregressive non-parametric distances revealed the best results. Density and number of species on the ground revealed a Pearson correlation coefficient of = 0.58 as compared to data obtained from multispectral images, lightly lower than the obtained for basal area and volume, which were = 0.62 and 0.71, respectively.