Abstract
Monitoring silviculture through accurate assessment of the density and height of trees in young (10–25 years) stands is a critical component of sustainable forest management. Reporting species composition and height of young stands that regenerate after harvest and renewal treatments ensures planned targets have been achieved. In the boreal regions of Ontario, operational assessment of young stand conditions is conducted using qualitative visual and/or higher cost quantitative plot-based field assessments. High resolution three-dimensional digital imagery can be collected using manned aircraft across large forest management areas for stereo-photo interpretation. Our objective was to evaluate the accuracy of stereo-photo interpretation of species-specific tree counts and height in plots in digital imagery, and the effect of resolution on interpretation accuracy. Digital imagery (7-cm and 10-cm resolution) was acquired across nine stands representing common regeneration types. Prior to imagery acquisition, marked plots were established and assessed in the field; 177 plots were used in the analysis. Higher resolution imagery improved accuracy of total and conifer tree counts and conifer heights. Interpreted counts of white birch trees and height estimates of deciduous stems were not accurate using the leaf-off imagery, and interpreters could not differentiate spruce from fir.
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