Abstract
The global distribution of forest trees is essential for monitoring land-use sustainability. For this reason, FAO developed the Global Forest Survey (GFS), a systematic regional level survey with a homogeneous sampling design. Preliminary results revealed an interest in analyzing “Trees Outside Forests” (TOFs). We analyzed more than 11,150 sample GFS plots in temperate FAO-ecozones in Europe through a photo-interpretation approach using FAO’s Collect Earth platform. Our results showed that forest land was the most predominant use of land (41%) in temperate FAO-ecozones in Europe in 2015. Forest IPCC land use followed a moderate upward trend from 2000 to 2015 (0.2%). Trees Outside Forests in temperate FAO-ecozones in Europe accounted for 22% of the inventoried area. Trees Outside Forests represent 30% and 48% of cropland and grassland IPCC land uses, respectively, as well as 75% in settlement uses. Comparing our results with previous studies on the Mediterranean, temperate FAO-ecozone TOFs showed a downward trend in Europe and an upward trend in the Mediterranean area, despite its smaller surface area. The greening of the Common Agricultural Policy may increase the extension of TOFs, although our results may indicate that this effect is not yet evident in the field.
Highlights
Knowledge regarding the global extension and distribution of forest trees is essential for monitoring land-use sustainability [1]
The objective of this study is to study the evolution of the number of trees in partial canopy areas (TOFs) in temperate Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-ecozones in Europe, identifying their trends and the changes in the forests from 2000 to 2015, in connection with the Global Forest Survey (GFS)
In comparison with previous studies, this novel approach revealed significant discrepancies in estimations of forest areas in regions with a high proportion of open forest, highlighting the limitations of mediumto high-resolution satellite images in identifying low tree cover [33]. This approach may have important applications, such as: (i) to clarify the discrepancies in the estimation of low tree cover in Africa [33]; (ii) to detect a slight net increase in overall forest area in the Mediterranean basin [34]; (iii) to detect negative trends in partial canopy cover (PCC) that could be considered a proxy for forest degradation ( PCC includes land-use management of forest ecosystems that are not degraded, an example of which might be the Mediterranean “dehesa”) [40]; (iv) to detect areas that are partially covered by trees, called “Trees Outside Forest” areas (TOFs), which are essential sustainable forest indices in FAO–Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) statistics [2]
Summary
Knowledge regarding the global extension and distribution of forest trees is essential for monitoring land-use sustainability [1]. Monitoring changes in forest area over time is critical for sustainable landscape management, as they may result in long-term losses (e.g., land-use change from forest to agriculture) or gains (e.g., policies on afforestation or natural forest recovery) [2]. Trees Outside Forests (TOFs) refer to trees growing on agricultural land, along roads, railways, and canals, as well as in orchards, parks, gardens, homesteads [4], and forests. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines “a TOF unit as a small group of trees not classified as forest, such as (i) groves with an area of less than 5000 m2 and a Sustainability 2021, 13, 10175.
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