Synergies of planning for forests and planning for Natura 2000: Evidences and prospects from northern Italy

Improvements in the management of Natura 2000 sites are essential to achieve the targets set out by the Habitats and Birds Directives of the European Union. A current focus is on the development of management plans, which are fundamental instruments in the implementation of conservation measures. This study explores the viability of using existing forest plans to assist in this purpose. As case study, we consider the regulatory framework of the Veneto Region, northern Italy. We collected quantitative and qualitative data on forest plans at the regional and at three sub-regional spatial scales: local, district, and biogeographical. Forest plans cover about 54% of the terrestrial area of Natura 2000 sites in Veneto, and 75% of Sites of Community Importance in the Alpine biogeographical region. At the local scale of analysis, metrics from forest plans represent a valuable historical record which can be used to interpret the current state and future trends, especially for forests with long management records. These data can be used to assess biodiversity indicators for the monitoring of Natura 2000 forest and non-forest habitats, in compliance with Article 17 of the Habitats Directive. Moreover, the heterogeneous stand conditions which are promoted by some forest management approaches can improve the conservation efforts for some habitats and species. The scale of local forest plans are typically the most appropriate for implementing habitat management strategies. From this study, we conclude that management authorities should take advantage of the wide spatial coverage and distribution of existing forest plans, especially in mountain areas inside and outside the Natura 2000 network, for the successful conservation of European Union habitats and species

Forest land management by satellite: LANDSAT-derived information as input to a forest inventory system

The author has identified the following significant results. Analysis of LANDSAT temporal data, specifically the digitally merged winter and summer scenes, provided the best overall classification results. Comparison of temporal classification results with available ground truth reveal a 94% agreement in the delineation of hardwood categories, a 96% agreement for the combined pine category, and a greater than 50% agreement for each individual pine subcategory. For nearly 1000 acres, compared clearcut acreage estimated with LANDSAT digital data differed from company inventory records by only 3%. Through analysis of summer data, pine stands were successfully classified into subcategories based upon the extent of crown closure. Maximum spectral separability of hardwood and pine stands was obtained from the analysis of winter data

Tennessee Forestry Commission FY 2015 Annual Report

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-department-agriculture-forestry-commission-annual-report/1007/thumbnail.jp

Assessing and Mapping Forest Landscape Quality in China

Forest landscape plays a critical role in the resource management and recreational planning of forest destinations. An assessment of forest landscape quality (FLQ) could reflect the distribution of landscape resources, hence identifying the hotpots and areas with high visual quality and protection values. The objective of this study is to propose, for the first time, a methodology for assessing FLQ at the national level. Based on China’s forestry inventory database, the paper identified landform patterns and vegetative patterns as determinants (including 12 indicators) to establish an evaluation index system, and further implemented and mapped FLQ using the ArcGIS Engine platform. Results show high mountain ranges and tropical areas in China often have a high-quality forest landscape, while low FLQ scores are found in low mountains and foothills. The distribution of the four FLQ levels indicates most forest areas are featured with mediocre- or low- quality landscape values, and the differences of FLQ among different forest types are obvious. Furthermore, there is a relatively low correlation between the total forest area and the area of high-quality forest landscape. Overall, this study could contribute to enriching the existing assessment system for FLQ and to guiding the planning, policy development, and decision-making for China’s forestry administration

Tennessee Forestry Commission 2019 Annual Report

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-department-agriculture-forestry-commission-annual-report/1003/thumbnail.jp

Inventory and Yield Prediction for Natural Forest Management

Information is essential to effective forest management and planning, and its value may be gauged by the potential costs of sub-optimal decisions. Efficient yield prediction demands an integrated approach, embracing many components. All aspects of data collection, storage and analysis must be accorded equal importance. This caveat applies to area estimates, resource estimates and to growth and yield models. Inventory data provide the core of the system, and the success of the system may depend on the cost and ease of data collection. The user interface is also critical, and the flexibility to customize reports to users' requirements is essential

Tennessee Forestry Commission FY 2016 Annual Report

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-department-agriculture-forestry-commission-annual-report/1006/thumbnail.jp

Tennessee Forestry Commission FY 2014 Annual Report

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-department-agriculture-forestry-commission-annual-report/1008/thumbnail.jp

Tennessee Forestry Commission FY 2018 Annual Report

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-department-agriculture-forestry-commission-annual-report/1004/thumbnail.jp