From tree-related microhabitats to ecosystem management: A tree-scale investigation in productive forests in Estonia

Kõrkjas, Maarja; Remm, Liina; Lõhmus, Piret; Lõhmus, Asko

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118245

Cited by 1 publication

(4 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Although limitations for fully successful implementation are still emerging, technological progress will make it possible to obtain information on threatened species, thus informing nature-based forest management. (5) In future studies, we suggest including other taxonomic groups related to forest structural traits (e.g., small mammals, spiders, amphibians, lichens, fungi, and bryophytes). This will ensure the comprehensive monitoring of forest ecosystems to identify biodiversity hotspots more effectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to studies of beetle and bird communities and TreMs distributions, ALS data hold great potential for analyzing the relationship between forest structure and animal diversity [31]. ALS-based approaches are, therefore, increasingly being used to explore, explain, and predict biodiversity given the promising results and replicability of procedures [5,35,59]. However, the relationship between ALS data and multi-taxon biodiversity has seldom been explored.…”

Section: Relationship Between Als Data and Multi-taxon Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, many studies have focused on the ecological relationships between forests' structural variables and forest biodiversity indicators (e.g., tree-related microhabitats) and wildlife (e.g., beetles and birds) to identify models of biodiversity and priority Forests 2024, 15, 660 2 of 17 areas for both management and conservation [4]. Thus, the structural complexity of forest habitats can help in predicting the compositional structure of animal communities [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forests' structure components, such as tree height and diameter, canopy cover, the presence of deadwood, and tree-related microhabitat abundance, are assumed to be relevant for specific categories of organisms [5,21]. These ecological components strongly influence beetles and birds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tree-Related Microhabitats and Multi-Taxon Biodiversity Quantification Exploiting ALS Data

Parisi,

D’Amico,

Vangi

et al. 2024

Forests

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The quantification of tree-related microhabitats (TreMs) and multi-taxon biodiversity is pivotal to the implementation of forest conservation policies, which are crucial under the current climate change scenarios. We assessed the capacity of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data to quantify biodiversity indices related to both forest beetle and bird communities and TreMs, calculating the species richness and types of saproxylic and epixylic TreMs using the Shannon index. As biodiversity predictors, 240 ALS-derived metrics were calculated: 214 were point-cloud based, 14 were pixel-level from the canopy height model, and 12 were RGB spectral statistics. We used the random forests algorithm to predict species richness and the Shannon diversity index, using the field plot measures as dependent variables and the ALS-derived metrics as predictors for each taxon and TreMs type. The final models were used to produce wall-to-wall maps of biodiversity indices. The Shannon index produced the best performance for each group considered, with a mean difference of −6.7%. Likewise, the highest R2 was for the Shannon index (0.17, against 0.14 for richness). Our results confirm the importance of ALS data in assessing forest biodiversity indicators that are relevant for monitoring forest habitats. The proposed method supports the quantification and monitoring of the measures needed to implement better forest stands and multi-taxon biodiversity conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%