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Pubblicazioni Scientifiche
Filtri di ricerca 16 risultati
Pubblicazioni per anno
CrowNet: a trail-camera canopy monitoring system
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Lenzi
,
Alice
,
Minari
,
Emma
,
Guasti
,
Matteo
,
Gisondi
,
Silvia
,
Gonnelli
,
Marco
,
Innocenti
,
Simone
,
Ferrara
,
Carlotta
,
Campanaro
,
Alessandro
,
Ciampelli
,
Paola
,
Cutini
,
Andrea
,
Puletti
,
Nicola
Mostra abstract
Continuous monitoring of forest canopy structure and phenology is pivotal for the assessment of ecosystem responses to environmental variability and changes. The present study evaluated the use of repeat digital trail cameras as a low-cost, flexible, and accessible in situ monitoring solution for quantifying daily canopy attributes, including effective leaf area index (Le) and canopy cover. A trial camera monitoring network (CrowNet) was established encompassing 20 forest stands in Italy, under different management and environmental conditions, resulting in over 44,000 daily images collected over three years. We demonstrated that taking the mean daily canopy attribute allowed to obtain smooth time series from trail cameras, from which phenological transition dates can be inferred. Daily canopy attributes were validated against manual digital cover photography measurement. To further explore the applicability of this monitoring solution, we performed a comparison between daily Le time series derived from a subset of trail cameras located in beech forests and data collected by multitemporal UAV LiDAR. Results demonstrated the close agreement between the two methods across the entire phenological period (start and end of season). We also illustrated use of continuous trail camera estimates to calibrate a vegetation index (NDVI) to infer leaf area and canopy cover from optical multi-temporal UAV data. We further investigated use of trail camera to detect species-specific differences in tree phenology from time series acquired in a mixed oak-hornbeam forest. We found different canopy structure and phenological transition dates in three broadleaved species (oak, ash, hornbeam), supporting the effectiveness of trail cameras for species-oriented phenology monitoring. We conclude that trail cameras provide a reliable solution for daily canopy monitoring, offering a significant cost-effective and flexible alternative to traditional field methods and providing potential to calibrate, validate or integrate remotely-sensed information. However, camera failures during adverse weather, and the need for more efficient image data quality checking procedures, still represent open challenges. Future improvements, such as weatherproof housing and automated pre-processing screening procedures, are therefore recommended for making trail camera fully operational in ground canopy and phenology monitoring. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.
A Semi-Automatic Approach for Tree Crown Competition Indices Assessment from UAV LiDAR
beech forests
individual tree segmentation
precision forestry
size differation index
vertical profile traits
Mostra abstract
Understanding the spatial heterogeneity of forest structure is crucial for comprehending ecosystem dynamics and promoting sustainable forest management. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) LiDAR technology provides a promising method to capture detailed three-dimensional (3D) information about forest canopies, aiding in management and silvicultural practices. This study investigates the heterogeneity of forest structure in broadleaf forests using UAV LiDAR data, with a particular focus on tree crown features and their different information content compared to diameters. We explored a non-conventionally used method that emphasizes crown competition by employing a nearest neighbor selection technique based on metrics derived from UAV point cloud profiles at the tree level, rather than traditional DBH (diameter at breast height) spatial arrangement. About 300 vegetation elements within 10 plots collected in a managed Beech forest were used as reference data. We demonstrate that crown-based approaches, which are feasible with UAV LiDAR data at a reasonable cost and time, significantly enhances the understanding of forest heterogeneity, adding new information content for managers. Our findings underscore the utility of UAV LiDAR in characterizing the complexity and variability of forest structure at high resolution, offering valuable insights for carbon accounting and sustainable forest management. © 2024 by the authors.
Improving Aboveground Biomass Estimation in Beech Forests with 3D Tree Crown Parameters Derived from UAV-LS
Mostra abstract
Accurate estimates of aboveground biomass (AGB) are essential for forest policies to reduce carbon emissions. Unmanned aerial laser scanning (UAV-LS) offers unprecedented millimetric detail but is underutilized in monitoring broadleaf Mediterranean forests compared to coniferous ones. This study aims to design and evaluate a procedure for AGB estimates based on the predictive power of crown features. In the first step, we manually created Quantitative Structure Models (QSMs) for 320 trees using data from UAV laser scanning (UAV-LS), airborne laser scanning (ALS), and co-registered terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). This provided the most accurate non-destructive estimate of aboveground biomass (AGB) in the absence of destructive measurements. For each reference tree we also measured crown projection and crown volume to build two separated models relating AGB to such crown features. In the second phase, we evaluated the potential of UAV-LS for quantifying AGB in a pure European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest and compared it with traditional ALS estimates, using fully automatic procedures. The two obtained tree-level AGB models were then tested using three datasets derived from 35 sampling plots over the same study area: (a) 1130 trees manually segmented (phase-2 reference); (b) trees automatically extracted from ALS data; and (c) trees automatically extracted from UAV-LS data. Results demonstrate that detailed UAV-LS data improve model sensitivity compared to ALS data (RMSE = 45.6 Mg ha<sup>−1</sup>, RMSE% = 13.4%, R2 = 0.65, for the best ALS model; RMSE = 44.0 Mg ha<sup>−1</sup>, RMSE% = 12.9%, R2 = 0.67, for the best UAV-LS model), allowing for the detection of AGB differences even in quite homogenous forest structures. Overall, this study demonstrates the combined use of both laser scanner data can foster non-destructive and more precise AGB estimation than the use of only one, in forested areas across hectare scales (1 to 100 ha). © 2025 by the authors.
LAIr: an R package to estimate LAI from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
Bajocco
,
Sofia
,
Ferrara
,
Carlotta
,
Savian
,
Francesco
,
Ginaldi
,
Fabrizio
,
Puletti
,
Nicola
,
Crecco
,
Lorenzo
,
Bregaglio
,
Simone Ugo Maria
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
Mostra abstract
Leaf area index (LAI) is an important biophysical parameter describing vegetation. LAI is typically retrieved from optical remote sensing by empirical models relating LAI to vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). As the relationship between LAI and NDVI is non-linear and crop type dependant, several specific empirical equations relating LAI to NDVI have been developed using field data. This study presented LAIr, an R package to derive LAI from NDVI data from the most comprehensive library of conversion equations. In the package, the range of functions differs on environmental factors, sensors, and vegetation types, allowing flexibility in choosing appropriate options based on specific application, scale of investigation and data availability. We illustrated the use of the package with a case study to compare a generic LAI product with specific NDVI-based LAI estimations. By leveraging empirical knowledge, LAIr enables accurate and context-specific estimation of LAI. The deployment of an open-source R package serves as a valuable tool for aiding researchers in selecting the most appropriate equations for conducting NDVI-to-LAI conversion. © 2024
Moths in space: The below-canopy structure of forest drives abundance and mobility-related traits of moth communities
La Cava
,
Sara
,
Rijllo
,
Giuseppe
,
Zucco
,
Giada
,
Innocenti
,
Simone
,
Guasti
,
Matteo
,
Puletti
,
Nicola
,
Ferrara
,
Carlotta
,
Scalercio
,
S.
Mostra abstract
The distribution of species is primarily driven by the availability of trophic resources. In a given forest type, insects trophically related to the dominant tree are expected to be evenly distributed due to the abundance of their foodplant. However, their distribution is also influenced by complex relationships with abiotic and biotic parameters such as available space, predatory pressure, and morphometric traits. In this study, we investigated how the three-dimensional structure of space below the canopy may affect the composition of nocturnal lepidoptera communities. To synthesise the complexity of the dispersal behaviour of these insects, we evaluated easily measurable traits such as wingspan and the presence of tympanic organs, both connected to their mobility and thus potentially influenced by the structure of the available flight space. The study was conducted in the Sila National Park (Italy), where 12 sampling sites were selected in pine forests and an additional 12 in beech forests. Forest spatial structure was investigated using a portable terrestrial laser scanner. Moths were sampled monthly using light traps from May to October in both 2019 and 2020. Among measured forest traits, we observed that the space above three meters from the ground is the only factor influencing community composition. Larger species with tympanic organs prefer environments with less space below tree canopies. Our findings could be the starting point for future studies that investigate a potential defence strategy of moths against bats, as tympanate and larger species not only actively avoid chiropter predation but could also choose denser forests because of a lower bat activity. Moths' distribution and community composition thus appear to be significantly shaped by the spatial structure of forests. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.
A co-registration approach between terrestrial and UAV laser scanning point clouds based on ground and trees features
Mostra abstract
Accurate co-registration of terrestrial and aerial point clouds can provide a high-resolution description of tree components across large forest areas. However, a semi-automatic approach for co-registering point clouds is still needed, given the challenges in geospatial data processing, particularly in complex topographical conditions. The main objective of this study is to present the application of a novel procedure for the co-registration of point clouds obtained from terrestrial and UAV surveys in Mediterranean forests. The proposed methodology proves to be promising and will constitute the basis for experimentation on a larger scale. © 2024 Istituto Sperimentale per la Selvicoltura. All rights reserved.
Potential of ALOS2 Polarimetric Imagery to Support Management of Poplar Plantations in Northern Italy
Vaglio Laurin
,
Gaia
,
Mattioli
,
Walter
,
Innocenti
,
Simone
,
Lombardo
,
Emanuela
,
Valentini
,
Riccardo
,
Puletti
,
Nicola
Mostra abstract
Poplar is one of the most widespread fast-growing forest species. In Northern Italy, plantations are characterized by large interannual fluctuations, requiring frequent monitoring to inform on wood supply and to manage the stands. The use of radar satellite data is proving useful for forest monitoring, being weather independent and sensitive to the changes in forest canopy structure, but it has been scarcely tested in the case of poplar. Here, L-band ALOS2 (Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2) dual-pol data were tested to detect clear-cut plantations in consecutive years. ALOS2 quad-pol data were used to discriminate among different age classes, a much complex task than detecting poplar plantations extent. Results from different machine learning algorithms indicate that with dual-pol data, poplar forest can be discriminated from clear-cut areas with 80% overall accuracy, similar to what is usually obtained with optical data. With quad-pol data, four age classes were classified with moderate overall accuracy (73%) based on polarimetric decompositions, three 3 age classes with higher accuracy (87%) based on HV band. Sources of error are represented by poplar areas of intermediate age when stems, branches and leaves were not developed enough to detect by scattering mechanisms. This study demonstrates the feasibility of monitoring poplar plantations with satellite radar, which represents a growing source of information thanks to already-planned future satellite missions. © 2022 by the authors.
Plant functional traits are correlated with species persistence in the herb layer of old-growth beech forests
Campetella
,
Giandiego
,
Chelli
,
Stefano
,
Simonetti
,
Enrico
,
Damiani
,
Claudia
,
Bartha
,
Sándor
,
Wellstein
,
Camilla
,
Giorgini
,
Daniele
,
Puletti
,
Nicola
,
Mucina
,
Ladislav
,
Cervellini
,
Marco
,
Canullo
,
R.
beech
forest
genetics
plant leaf
plant seed
quantitative trait
fagus
forests
plant leaves
heritable
seeds
Mostra abstract
This paper explores which traits are correlated with fine-scale (0.25 m<sup>2</sup>) species persistence patterns in the herb layer of old-growth forests. Four old-growth beech forests representing different climatic contexts (presence or absence of summer drought period) were selected along a north–south gradient in Italy. Eight surveys were conducted in each of the sites during the period spanning 1999–2011. We found that fine-scale species persistence was correlated with different sets of plant functional traits, depending on local ecological context. Seed mass was found to be as important for the fine-scale species persistence in the northern sites, while clonal and bud-bank traits were markedly correlated with the southern sites characterised by summer drought. Leaf traits appeared to correlate with species persistence in the drier and wetter sites. However, we found that different attributes, i.e. helomorphic vs scleromorphic leaves, were correlated to species persistence in the northernmost and southernmost sites, respectively. These differences appear to be dependent on local trait adaptation rather than plant phylogenetic history. Our findings suggest that the persistent species in the old-growth forests might adopt an acquisitive resource-use strategy (i.e. helomorphic leaves with high SLA) with higher seed mass in sites without summer drought, while under water-stressed conditions persistent species have a conservative resource-use strategy (i.e. scleromorphic leaves with low SLA) with an increased importance of clonal and resprouting ability. © 2020, The Author(s).
Effects of climate, soil, forest structure and land use on the functional composition of the understorey in Italian forests
Chelli
,
Stefano
,
Simonetti
,
Enrico
,
Wellstein
,
Camilla
,
Campetella
,
Giandiego
,
Carnicelli
,
Stefano
,
Andreetta
,
Anna
,
Giorgini
,
Daniele
,
Puletti
,
Nicola
,
Bartha
,
Sándor
,
Canullo
,
R.
plant height
seed mass
specific leaf area
climate–soil interactions
community-weighted mean
functional biogeography
temperature seasonality
trait–environment relationship
Mostra abstract
Question: In functional biogeography studies, generalizable patterns in the relationship between plant traits and the environment have yet to emerge. Local drivers (i.e., soil, land use, vegetation structure) can increase our understanding of the trait–environment relationship. What is the role of climate and local drivers in shaping abundance-weighted trait patterns of forest understories at biogeographic scales?. Location: Italian forests. Methods: We selected 201 sites that are statistically representative for the heterogeneity of Italian forests across three biogeographic regions (alpine, continental, and mediterranean). Understorey vegetation was recorded for each site on an area of 400 m<sup>2</sup>, together with 25 environmental variables related to climate, soil, land use and forest structure. Specific leaf area (SLA), plant height (H) and seed mass (SM) were obtained from databases. Community-weighted mean (CWM) values were calculated. Variance partitioning was used to identify the relative role of groups of environmental variables on the CWM of traits. Generalized Additive Models were used to assess the relationship between traits and single variables. Results: Climate alone and climate–soil interactions explained the largest proportion of the variation of all the traits (13.7% to 22.8%). Temperature-related factors as well as soil N and P availability were the climatic and edaphic explanatory variables most correlated to trait variation. Forest structure and land use accounted for a smaller percentage of the variation in traits. Land-use factors alone were important in explaining only SLA variation. Conclusions: While climate plays a major role in trait–environment relationships in forest understories, our results highlighted the need to integrate at least soil properties as local drivers of trait variation in broad scale functional biogeography studies of these systems. © 2019 International Association for Vegetation Science
Climate is the main driver of clonal and bud bank traits in Italian forest understories
Chelli
,
Stefano
,
Ottaviani
,
Gianluigi
,
Simonetti
,
Enrico
,
Wellstein
,
Camilla
,
Canullo
,
R.
,
Carnicelli
,
Stefano
,
Andreetta
,
Anna
,
Puletti
,
Nicola
,
Bartha
,
Sándor
,
Cervellini
,
Marco
,
Campetella
,
Giandiego
clonality
community weighted mean (cwm)
plant-environment linkages
resprouting
soil properties
trait-based ecology
Mostra abstract
The study of plant trait-environment links is rarely focused on traits that inform on space occupancy and resprouting (both affecting plant persistence), especially in forest understories. Traits that can effectively capture such key functions are associated with clonality and bud banks. We hypothesized that: 1) climate is the main driver of clonal and bud bank traits, 2) traits related to space occupancy (e.g., greater lateral spread) are more important in more mesic, richer soils forests, and 3) traits related to resprouting ability (e.g., larger bud bank) are more important in more intensively and recently managed forests. We addressed these hypotheses by analysing a unique dataset that is statistically representative of Italian forests heterogeneity and includes three biogeographic regions (Alpine, Continental, Mediterranean). We recorded data for sixteen climatic, soil and management variables. We calculated community weighted mean (CWM) values of seven clonal and bud bank traits for the forest understory vegetation. We used i) redundancy analysis to assess trait-environment relations, and ii) variance partitioning analyses to identifying the relative role of different groups of abiotic variables on CWM variation of all traits combined together, as well as clonal and bud bank traits taken separately. Climate alone had a pervasive effect in determining patterns of clonal and bud bank traits in Italian forest understories, mainly related to the effects of temperature extremes and seasonality. Unexpectedly, soil and management factors alone showed marginal effects on clonal and bud bank traits. However, soil features influenced trait patterns when joined with climate. Our results confirmed that, at the biogeographic scale, climate played a lion-share role in determining persistence-related traits of forest-floor plants. At the local-scale, other interplaying factors (e.g., management, soil variables) may come into play in shaping patterns of the studied plant traits. This study stressed the importance of examining functional trait patterns along complex environmental gradients. © 2019 Elsevier GmbH
Epiphytic lichen diversity and sustainable forest management criteria and indicators: A multivariate and modelling approach in coppice forests of Italy
Brunialti
,
Giorgio
,
Frati
,
Luisa
,
Calderisi
,
Marco
,
Giorgolo
,
Francesca
,
Bagella
,
Simonetta
,
Bertini
,
Giada
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Fratini
,
Roberto
,
Gottardini
,
Elena
,
Cutini
,
Andrea
Mostra abstract
Epiphytic lichens represent one of the most suitable indicators of forest continuity and management, especially in the context of ancient and old-growth forests. Nevertheless, they have not yet been included among Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) indicators to which Pan-European forest policy and governance refer. In addition, currently adopted SFM indicators are mainly designed for high forests rather than coppice forests, despite the fact that today this management system covers more than 10% of the total European forests. In this study we investigated these two issues by examining epiphytic lichen diversity in three coppice forest stands, located in the two Italian regions of Tuscany and Sardinia. In particular, we addressed: i) the role of lichen diversity as SFM indicator and ii) its relationship with consolidated and new SFM indicators dealing with structural, health, biodiversity, protective and socioeconomic functions. Multivariate Factor Analysis and Generalised Linear Models were adopted for data analysis. We found that lichen diversity and the frequency of single sensitive species were mainly related to the biodiversity of plants and fungi (Criterion 4), the health and vitality of the forests (Criterion 2) and their protective functions (Criterion 5). Furthermore, our results show that the lichen species highlighted by the models may represent suitable indicators in long-term studies, especially in relation to complex and interconnected aspects of sustainable forest management. Although our findings represent a first contribute to this issue, more in-depth researches will be needed to clarify further aspects of the complex interactions among SFM indicators in the context of coppice forests. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Drivers of vascular species diversity on floodplain poplar stands: An integrated approach for ecological and functional assessment
Corli
,
Anna
,
Vannucchi
,
Francesca
,
Traversari
,
Silvia
,
Orsenigo
,
Simone
,
Giovannelli
,
Alessio
,
Chiarabaglio
,
Pier Mario
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Calfapietra
,
Carlo
,
Scartazza
,
Andrea
,
Mascherpa
,
Marco Carlo
,
Traversi
,
Maria Laura
,
Cristaldi
,
Luca
,
Trentanovi
,
Giovanni
soil properties
stand structure
management
populus spp.
soil enzymatic activities
vascular plants diversity
Mostra abstract
Biodiversity restoration is pivotal to enhance natural ecological processes in riparian ecosystems, affected by intensive human impact. Improving the riparian area functionality through new plantations is an effective Nature-based Solution. Poplar plantations have great potential for preventing soil erosion and providing habitats, but their impact on biodiversity has been little studied. Aims of this study were to: (1) investigate the effect of different poplar woodland management on vascular species diversity; (2) define the main drivers of vascular plant species richness, community composition, invasiveness and functional strategies. In three sites (Po river, Italy), an integrated survey protocol was applied to assess vascular species diversity, stand structure and soil properties. For each site, three stands with different management (cultivated, semi-natural and natural) were surveyed. Differences among all stand structural parameters and the management types were found. Tree diameter did not change between natural and seminatural stands but mean quadratic diameter of seminatural stands (28.1 cm) was similar to cultivated ones (26.8 cm). While cultivated stands showed the highest species richness (mean 28 species), semi-natural stands showed the highest number of native species (82 %) and an efficient soil N cycle (microbial N limitation, MNL < 0). The total Ca and MNL in soil resulted the main drivers of species diversity in the studied poplar stands. Semi-natural stands highlighted the best trade-off amongst vascular plant species diversity, invasiveness and soil process. The used integrated approach was effective and extendable to ecological and functional assessment of poplar riparian forests under different management gradients. © 2025 The Authors
Silvicultural regime shapes understory functional structure in European forests
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Napoleone
,
Francesca
,
Ricotta
,
Carlo
,
Ferrara
,
Carlotta
,
Fusaro
,
Lina
,
Balducci
,
Lorenzo
,
Trentanovi
,
Giovanni
,
Bradley
,
Owen
,
Kovács
,
Bence
,
Mina
,
Marco
,
Cerabolini
,
Bruno Enrico Leone
,
Vandekerkhove
,
Kris
,
de Smedt
,
Pallieter
,
Lens
,
Luc
,
Hertzog
,
Lionel R.
,
Verheyen
,
Kris
,
Hofmeister
,
Jeňýk
,
Hošek
,
Jan
,
Matula
,
Radim
,
Doerfler
,
Inken
,
Müller
,
Jörg C. C.
,
Weisser
,
Wolfgang W.
,
Helback
,
Jan
,
Schall
,
Peter
,
Fischer
,
Markus
,
Heilmann-Clausen
,
Jacob
,
Riis-Hansen
,
Rasmus
,
Goldberg
,
Irina
,
Aude
,
Erik
,
Kepfer-Rojas
,
Sebastian
,
Kappel Schmidt
,
Inger
,
Riis-Nielsen
,
Torben
,
Mårell
,
Anders
,
Dumas
,
Yann
,
Janssen
,
Philippe
,
Paillet
,
Yoan
,
Archaux
,
Frédéric
,
Xystrakis
,
Fotios
,
Tinya
,
Flóra
,
Ódor
,
Péter
,
Aszalós
,
Réka
,
Bölöni
,
János
,
Cutini
,
Andrea
,
Bagella
,
Simonetta
,
Sitzia
,
Tommaso
,
Brazaitis
,
Gediminas
,
Marozas
,
Vitas
,
Ujházyová
,
Mariana
,
Ujházy
,
Karol
,
Máliš
,
František
,
Nordén
,
Björn
,
Burrascano
,
Sabina
functional diversity
functional redundancy
forest understory
sustainable forest management
unmanaged forests
ecosystem resilience
silvicultural regime
Mostra abstract
Managing forests to sustain their diversity and functioning is a major challenge in a changing world. Despite the key role of understory vegetation in driving forest biodiversity, regeneration and functioning, few studies address the functional dimensions of understory vegetation response to silvicultural management. We assessed the influence of the silvicultural regimes on the functional diversity and redundancy of European forest understory. We gathered vascular plant abundance data from more than 2000 plots in European forests, each associated with one out of the five most widespread silvicultural regimes. We used generalized linear mixed models to assess the effect of different silvicultural regimes on understory functional diversity (Rao's quadratic entropy) and functional redundancy, while accounting for climate and soil conditions, and explored the reciprocal relationship between three diversity components (functional diversity, redundancy and dominance) across silvicultural regimes through a ternary diversity diagram. Intensive silvicultural regimes are associated with a decrease in functional diversity and an increase in functional redundancy, compared with unmanaged conditions. This means that although intensive management may buffer communities' functions against species or functional losses, it also limits the range of understory response to environmental changes. Policy implications. Different silvicultural regimes influence different facets of understory functional features. While unmanaged forests can be used as a reference to design silvicultural practices in compliance with biodiversity conservation targets, different silvicultural options should be balanced at landscape scale to sustain the multiple forest functions that human societies are increasingly demanding. © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Applied Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.
Where are we now with European forest multi-taxon biodiversity and where can we head to?
Burrascano
,
Sabina
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Trentanovi
,
Giovanni
,
Kepfer-Rojas
,
Sebastian
,
Sitzia
,
Tommaso
,
Tinya
,
Flóra
,
Doerfler
,
Inken
,
Paillet
,
Yoan
,
Nagel
,
Thomas A.
,
Mitić
,
Božena
,
Morillas
,
Lourdes
,
Munzi
,
Silvana
,
Van Der Sluis
,
Theo
,
Alterio
,
Edoardo
,
Balducci
,
Lorenzo
,
de Andrade
,
Rafael Barreto
,
Bouget
,
Christophe
,
Giordani
,
P.
,
Lachat
,
Thibault
,
Matošević
,
Dinka
,
Napoleone
,
Francesca
,
Nascimbene
,
Juri
,
Paniccia
,
Chiara
,
Roth
,
Nicolas
,
Aszalós
,
Réka
,
Brazaitis
,
Gediminas
,
Cutini
,
Andrea
,
D'Andrea
,
Ettore
,
de Smedt
,
Pallieter
,
Heilmann-Clausen
,
Jacob
,
Janssen
,
Philippe
,
Kozák
,
Daniel
,
Mårell
,
Anders
,
Mikoláš
,
Martin
,
Nordén
,
Björn
,
Matula
,
Radim
,
Schall
,
Peter
,
Svoboda
,
Miroslav
,
Ujházyová
,
Mariana
,
Vandekerkhove
,
Kris
,
Wohlwend
,
Michael Rudolf
,
Xystrakis
,
Fotios
,
Aleffi
,
Michele
,
Ammer
,
Christian
,
Archaux
,
Frédéric
,
Asbeck
,
Thomas
,
N Avtzis
,
Dimitrios N.
,
Ayasse
,
Manfred
,
Bagella
,
Simonetta
,
Balestrieri
,
Rosario
,
Barbati
,
Anna
,
Basile
,
Marco
,
Bergamini
,
Ariel
,
Bertini
,
Giada
,
Biscaccianti
,
Alessandro Bruno
,
Boch
,
Steffen
,
Bölöni
,
János
,
Bombi
,
Pierluigi
,
Boscardin
,
Yves
,
Brunialti
,
Giorgio
,
Bruun
,
Hans Henrik
,
Buscot
,
François
,
Byriel
,
David Bille
,
Campagnaro
,
Thomas
,
Campanaro
,
Alessandro
,
Chauvat
,
Matthieu
,
Ciach
,
Michał
,
Čiliak
,
Marek
,
Cistrone
,
Luca
,
Pereira
,
Joaò Manuel Cordeiro
,
Daniel
,
Rolf
,
de Cinti
,
Bruno
,
de Filippo
,
Gabriele
,
Dekoninck
,
Wouter
,
Di Salvatore
,
Umberto
,
Dumas
,
Yann
,
Elek
,
Zoltán
,
Ferretti
,
Fabrizio
,
Fotakis
,
Dimitrios G.
,
Frank
,
Tamás
,
Frey
,
Julian
,
Giancola
,
Carmen
,
Gömöryová
,
Erika
,
Gosselin
,
Marion
,
Gosselin
,
Frédéric
,
Goßner
,
Martin M.
,
Götmark
,
Frank
,
Haeler
,
Elena
,
Hansen
,
Aslak Kappel
,
Hertzog
,
Lionel R.
,
Hofmeister
,
Jeňýk
,
Hošek
,
Jan
,
Johannsen
,
Vivian Kvist
,
Justensen
,
Mathias Just
,
Korboulewsky
,
Nathalie
,
Kovács
,
Bence
,
Lakatos
,
Ferenc
,
Landivar
,
Carlos Miguel
,
Lens
,
Luc
,
Lingua
,
Emanuele
forest biodiversity
biodiversity conservation
forest stand structure
multi-taxon
sustainable management
Mostra abstract
The European biodiversity and forest strategies rely on forest sustainable management (SFM) to conserve forest biodiversity. However, current sustainability assessments hardly account for direct biodiversity indicators. We focused on forest multi-taxon biodiversity to: i) gather and map the existing information; ii) identify knowledge and research gaps; iii) discuss its research potential. We established a research network to fit data on species, standing trees, lying deadwood and sampling unit description from 34 local datasets across 3591 sampling units. A total of 8724 species were represented, with the share of common and rare species varying across taxonomic classes: some included many species with several rare ones (e.g., Insecta); others (e.g., Bryopsida) were represented by few common species. Tree-related structural attributes were sampled in a subset of sampling units (2889; 2356; 2309 and 1388 respectively for diameter, height, deadwood and microhabitats). Overall, multi-taxon studies are biased towards mature forests and may underrepresent the species related to other developmental phases. European forest compositional categories were all represented, but beech forests were over-represented as compared to thermophilous and boreal forests. Most sampling units (94%) were referred to a habitat type of conservation concern. Existing information may support European conservation and SFM strategies in: (i) methodological harmonization and coordinated monitoring; (ii) definition and testing of SFM indicators and thresholds; (iii) data-driven assessment of the effects of environmental and management drivers on multi-taxon forest biological and functional diversity, (iv) multi-scale forest monitoring integrating in-situ and remotely sensed information. © 2023 The Authors
Handbook of field sampling for multi-taxon biodiversity studies in European forests
Burrascano
,
Sabina
,
Trentanovi
,
Giovanni
,
Paillet
,
Yoan
,
Heilmann-Clausen
,
Jacob
,
Giordani
,
P.
,
Bagella
,
Simonetta
,
Bravo-Oviedo
,
Andrés
,
Campagnaro
,
Thomas
,
Campanaro
,
Alessandro
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
de Smedt
,
Pallieter
,
Itziar
,
García Mijangos
,
Matošević
,
Dinka
,
Sitzia
,
Tommaso
,
Aszalós
,
Réka
,
Brazaitis
,
Gediminas
,
Cutini
,
Andrea
,
D'Andrea
,
Ettore
,
Doerfler
,
Inken
,
Hofmeister
,
Jeňýk
,
Hošek
,
Jan
,
Janssen
,
Philippe
,
Kepfer-Rojas
,
Sebastian
,
Korboulewsky
,
Nathalie
,
Kozák
,
Daniel
,
Lachat
,
Thibault
,
Lõhmus
,
Asko
,
López
,
Rosana
,
Mårell
,
Anders
,
Matula
,
Radim
,
Mikoláš
,
Martin
,
Munzi
,
Silvana
,
Nordén
,
Björn
,
Pärtel
,
Meelis
,
Penner
,
Johannes
,
Runnel
,
Kadri
,
Schall
,
Peter
,
Svoboda
,
Miroslav
,
Tinya
,
Flóra
,
Ujházyová
,
Mariana
,
Vandekerkhove
,
Kris
,
Verheyen
,
Kris
,
Xystrakis
,
Fotios
,
Ódor
,
Péter
Mostra abstract
Forests host most terrestrial biodiversity and their sustainable management is crucial to halt biodiversity loss. Although scientific evidence indicates that sustainable forest management (SFM) should be assessed by monitoring multi-taxon biodiversity, most current SFM criteria and indicators account only for trees or consider indirect biodiversity proxies. Several projects performed multi-taxon sampling to investigate the effects of forest management on biodiversity, but the large variability of their sampling approaches hampers the identification of general trends, and limits broad-scale inference for designing SFM. Here we address the need of common sampling protocols for forest structure and multi-taxon biodiversity to be used at broad spatial scales. We established a network of researchers involved in 41 projects on forest multi-taxon biodiversity across 13 European countries. The network data structure comprised the assessment of at least three taxa, and the measurement of forest stand structure in the same plots or stands. We mapped the sampling approaches to multi-taxon biodiversity, standing trees and deadwood, and used this overview to provide operational answers to two simple, yet crucial, questions: what to sample? How to sample? The most commonly sampled taxonomic groups are vascular plants (83% of datasets), beetles (80%), lichens (66%), birds (66%), fungi (61%), bryophytes (49%). They cover different forest structures and habitats, with a limited focus on soil, litter and forest canopy. Notwithstanding the common goal of assessing forest management effects on biodiversity, sampling approaches differed widely within and among taxonomic groups. Differences derive from sampling units (plots size, use of stand vs. plot scale), and from the focus on different substrates or functional groups of organisms. Sampling methods for standing trees and lying deadwood were relatively homogeneous and focused on volume calculations, but with a great variability in sampling units and diameter thresholds. We developed a handbook of sampling methods (SI 3) aimed at the greatest possible comparability across taxonomic groups and studies as a basis for European-wide biodiversity monitoring programs, robust understanding of biodiversity response to forest structure and management, and the identification of direct indicators of SFM. © 2021 The Authors
Testing an expanded set of sustainable forest management indicators in Mediterranean coppice area
Cutini
,
Andrea
,
Ferretti
,
Marco
,
Bertini
,
Giada
,
Brunialti
,
Giorgio
,
Bagella
,
Simonetta
,
Chianucci
,
Francesco
,
Fabbio
,
Gianfranco
,
Fratini
,
Roberto
,
Riccioli
,
Francesco
,
Caddeo
,
C.
,
Calderisi
,
Marco
,
Ciucchi
,
B.
,
Corradini
,
Stefano
,
Cristofolini
,
Fabiana
,
Cristofori
,
Antonella
,
Di Salvatore
,
Umberto
,
Ferrara
,
Carlotta
,
Frati
,
Luisa
,
Landi
,
Sara
,
Marchino
,
Luca
,
Patteri
,
Giacomo
,
Piovosi
,
Maurizio
,
Roggero
,
Pier Paolo
,
Seddaiu
,
Giovanna
,
Gottardini
,
Elena
silviculture
coppice conversion
coppice natural evolution
coppice system
environmental monitoring
sfm criteria
Mostra abstract
Although coppice forests represent a significant part of the European forest area, especially across southern Countries, they received little attention within the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) processes and scenarios, whose guidelines have been mainly designed to high forests and national scale. In order to obtain “tailored” information on the degree of sustainability of coppices on the scale of the stand, we evaluated (i) whether the main coppice management options result in different responses of the SFM indicators, and (ii) the degree to which the considered SFM indicators were appropriate in their application at stand level. The study considered three different management options (Traditional Coppice TC, coppice under Natural Evolution NE, and coppice under Conversion to high forest by means of periodical thinning CO). In each of the 43 plots considered in the study, which covered three different European Forest Types, we applied a set of eighteen “consolidated” SFM indicators, covering all the six SFM Criteria (FOREST EUROPE, 2020) and, additionally, tested other sixteen novel indicators shaped for agamic forests and/or applicable at stand level. Results confirmed that several consolidated indicators related to resources status (Growing stock and Carbon stock), health (Defoliation and Forest damage), and socio-economic functions (Net revenue, Energy and Accessibility) were highly appropriate for evaluating the sustainability of coppice at stand level. In addition, some novel indicators related to resources status (Total above ground tree biomass), health (Stand growth) and protective functions (Overstorey cover and Understorey cover) proved to be highly appropriate and able to support the information obtained by the consolidated ones. As a consequence, a subset of consolidated SFM indicators, complemented with the most appropriate novel ones, may represent a valid option to support the evaluation of coppice sustainability at stand level. An integrated analysis of the SFM indicators showed that NE and CO display significant higher environmental performances as compared with TC. In addition, CO has positive effects also on socio-economic issues, while TC -which is an important cultural heritage and a silvicultural option that may help to keep local communities engaged in forestry – combines high wood harvesting rates with dense understory cover. Overall, each of the three management options showed specific sustainability values; as a consequence, their coexistence at a local scale and in accordance with the specific environmental conditions and the social-economic context, is greatly recommended since it may fulfill a wider array of sustainability issues. © 2021