Abstract
Vertical structure is important for understanding forest environment, yet difficult to characterize, especially in temperate heterogeneous forests where the structure is complex. This study used data from a small-footprint airborne laser scanning (ALS) to estimate vegetation coverage in four stratum ranges in a warm temperate forest in Japan: >12 m, 8 - 12 m, 4 - 8 m, and 0 - 4 m in height. Field data were collected in 17 broad-leaved and 12 coniferous sample plots, consisting of the proportion of vegetation cover in each stratum range. The field and ALS measurements were conducted in summer, during leaf-on conditions. Using echo attributes (first, last, intermediate, and only), we calculated the vegetation coverage index (VCI) at 1-m height intervals. The cumulative sum of the VCI (CUMVCI) was then computed and compared with field observations. Linear regression analysis showed that the ALS data gave reasonable estimates of vegetation coverage in the upper two or three stratum ranges in broad-leaved stands, and in the upper two stratum ranges in coniferous stands. The model gave reproducible estimates until approximately 95% of the total returns had been applied. We conclude that ALS data can provide useful information on natural habitats in the management of warm temperate forest.
Highlights
Remote sensing is an effective tool for obtaining spatial information overlarge areas, which enables the development and assessment of management plans for forests and other ecosystems.It can be an attractive alternative to conventional field survey because it has the ability to obtain the measurements from the areas that are limited by accessibility and because the data collection/processing are efficient
The cumulative sum of the VCI (CUMVCI) of all stratum ranges were compared with field measurements
This paper proposed a new technique, the Attribute Based Weighting (ABW) method, for reproducing the vertical distribution of vegetation cover using leaf-on Airborne laser scanner (ALS) data of warm temperate forests
Summary
Remote sensing is an effective tool for obtaining spatial information overlarge areas, which enables the development and assessment of management plans for forests and other ecosystems.It can be an attractive alternative to conventional field survey because it has the ability to obtain the measurements from the areas that are limited by accessibility and because the data collection/processing are efficient. Researchers have described forest structure in terms of stand attributes such as tree height, stem density, diameter at breast height (DBH), and basal area (BA). These attributes are especially useful when applied to homogeneous forests (e.g., boreal coniferous forests); they may not fully describe the complex spatial patterns in heterogeneous forests in the warm temperate zone. Vertical distribution of foliage and woody materials is one of the attributes most commonly used to represent forest stand structure(Brokaw and Lent 1999) and the first in which a quantitative relationship was established between an element of structure and a measure of faunal diversity (McElhinny et al, 2005). In warm temperate forests, vertical distribution of foliage and woody materials could be a good attribute for assessing forest wildlife habitat
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