Introduction to hemispherical photography in forestry

Hemispherical photography is profusely used in climatology and forest sciences in association with geomatics technology. It is possible to get a detailed record of the canopy and estimate, both of the same structure and understory light transmission, both variables important for forest inventory and management of natural regeneration. Hemispherical photography equipment have very diverse applications, even in artistic photography, and their cost is low compared to specific instruments. Particular knowledge of optics, photography and digital image processing is required to correctly use this technique. The objective of the work is to explain the principle of operation of the hemispherical photography on estimation of structural parameters of forests. This is discussed in terms of optics and photography, digital image processing and estimation of structural parameters. Understanding of these aspects is relevant when it comes to purchasing a computer, capture photographs in the field and use specific software for processing.  Photos are raster files, which can be understood as an array of n rows by m columns, where each cell is a pixel. So a raster is displayed as an image, it is necessary to establish a color space and color depth. It is important to note that in the capture of the photography major errors occur, depending on the geographical region, because it is very difficult to meet the ideal lighting conditions.La fotografía hemisférica es profusamente utilizada en climatología y ciencias forestales en vinculación con tecnología geomática. ­Permite obtener un registro detallado de los claros del dosel y estimar, tanto la estructura del mismo, como la transmisión de luz al sotobosque, ambas variables de gran importancia para el inventario forestal y el manejo de la regeneración natural. Debido a que los equipos de fotografía hemisférica tienen usos muy diversos, incluso en fotografía artística, su costo es bajo en comparación con instrumentos específicos. Para utilizar esta técnica correctamente se requiere de conocimientos particulares de óptica, fotografía y procesamiento digital de imágenes. El objetivo del trabajo es explicar el principio de funcionamiento de la fotografía hemisférica en estimación de parámetros estructurales de bosques. Para ello se discute sobre óptica y fotografía, procesamiento digital de imágenes y estimación de parámetros estructurales. Conocer estos aspectos es relevante para adquirir un equipo, capturar fotografías en el terreno y utilizar softwares específicos para su procesamiento. Las fotografías son archivos raster, los cuales pueden entenderse como una matriz de n filas por m columnas, donde cada celda es un pixel. Para que un raster se visualice como una imagen es necesario establecer un espacio y una profundidad de color. Es importante tener en cuenta que en la captura de la fotografía se producen muchos errores, ya que dependiendo de la región geográfica es muy difícil satisfacer las condiciones ideales de iluminación.Fil: Díaz, Gastón Mauro. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lencinas, Jose Daniel. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: del Valle, Hector Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

MASTREE+: Time-series of plant reproductive effort from six continents.

Significant gaps remain in understanding the response of plant reproduction to environmental change. This is partly because measuring reproduction in long-lived plants requires direct observation over many years and such datasets have rarely been made publicly available. Here we introduce MASTREE+, a data set that collates reproductive time-series data from across the globe and makes these data freely available to the community. MASTREE+ includes 73,828 georeferenced observations of annual reproduction (e.g. seed and fruit counts) in perennial plant populations worldwide. These observations consist of 5971 population-level time-series from 974 species in 66 countries. The mean and median time-series length is 12.4 and 10 years respectively, and the data set includes 1122 series that extend over at least two decades (≥20 years of observations). For a subset of well-studied species, MASTREE+ includes extensive replication of time-series across geographical and climatic gradients. Here we describe the open-access data set, available as a.csv file, and we introduce an associated web-based app for data exploration. MASTREE+ will provide the basis for improved understanding of the response of long-lived plant reproduction to environmental change. Additionally, MASTREE+ will enable investigation of the ecology and evolution of reproductive strategies in perennial plants, and the role of plant reproduction as a driver of ecosystem dynamics

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project

The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity