Abstract
Contemporary terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is being used widely in forest ecology applications to examine ecosystem properties at increasing spatial and temporal scales. Harvard Forest (HF) in Petersham, MA, USA, is a long-term ecological research (LTER) site, a National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) location and contains a 35 ha plot which is part of Smithsonian Institution's Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO). The combination of long-term field plots, eddy flux towers and the detailed past historical records has made HF very appealing for a variety of remote sensing studies. Terrestrial laser scanners, including three pioneering research instruments: the Echidna Validation Instrument, the Dual-Wavelength Echidna Lidar and the Compact Biomass Lidar, have already been used both independently and in conjunction with airborne laser scanning data and forest census data to characterize forest dynamics. TLS approaches include three-dimensional reconstructions of a plot over time, establishing the impact of ice storm damage on forest canopy structure, and characterizing eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) canopy health affected by an invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Efforts such as those deployed at HF are demonstrating the power of TLS as a tool for monitoring ecological dynamics, identifying emerging forest health issues, measuring forest biomass and capturing ecological data relevant to other disciplines. This paper highlights various aspects of the ForestGEO plot that are important to current TLS work, the potential for exchange between forest ecology and TLS, and emphasizes the strength of combining TLS data with long-term ecological field data to create emerging opportunities for scientific study.
Highlights
Harvard Forest (HF), located in central Massachusetts and acquired by Harvard University in 1907, is one of the oldest and most intensively studied forest research stations in the USA [1]
HF has been used at all systematic levels of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) research, from instrument design, validation, algorithm development and testing to emerging ecological applications
HF TLS studies have contributed to ecological research in several broad ways: (1) TLS has produced measurements of forest structure 7 characteristics with improved efficiency and speed, allowing for wider scale and more frequent ecological observations
Summary
Harvard Forest (HF), located in central Massachusetts and acquired by Harvard University in 1907, is one of the oldest and most intensively studied forest research stations in the USA [1]. A part of the Forestry Program at Harvard, it has a rich history of silvicultural and plant physiological research. HF has been continuously used as an outdoor laboratory to highlight the influence of past land-use history on current-day vegetation structure and function and on ecological processes [2]. In 1988, it became a long-term ecological research (LTER) site to apply an understanding of landscape history, modern and past forest dynamics, and projections of future changes in the regional and global environment [1]
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