Classification Of Products Research Articles

Are Scientists Changing their Research Productivity Classes When They Move Up the Academic Ladder?

AbstractWe approach productivity in science in a longitudinal fashion: We track scientists’ careers over time, up to 40 years. We first allocate scientists to decile-based publishing productivity classes, from the bottom 10% to the top 10%. Then, we seek patterns of mobility between the classes in two career stages: assistant professorship and associate professorship. Our findings confirm that radically changing publishing productivity levels (upward or downward) almost never happens. Scientists with a very weak past track record in publications emerge as having marginal chances of becoming scientists with a very strong future track record across all science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields. Hence, our research shows a long-term character of careers in science, with one’s publishing productivity during the apprenticeship period of assistant professorship heavily influencing productivity during the more independent period of associate professorship. We use individual-level microdata on academic careers (from a national registry of scientists) and individual-level metadata on publications (from the Scopus raw dataset). Polish associate professors tend to be stuck in their productivity classes for years: High performers tend to remain high performers, and low performers tend to remain low performers over their careers. Logistic regression analysis powerfully supports our two-dimensional results. We examine all internationally visible Polish associate professors in five fields of science in STEMM fields (N = 4,165 with Nart = 71,841 articles).

Zooplankton communities of small lakes of the Kuibyshev district Novosibirsk region in the spring and summer

In the course of hydrobiological studies conducted in the spring and summer of 2023 on small lakes of the Kuibyshev district of the Novosibirsk region, zooplankton communities were studied, which is relevant in the field of studying the fish food supply. The purpose of this study was to determine the species diversity and quantitative characteristics of zooplankton communities of lakes. Sampling and in-house processing of samples was carried out according to generally accepted methods. The characteristics of zooplanktonic invertebrates in terms of qualitative and quantitative indicators are considered. The assessment of the trophic and feeding capacity of the lakes is given. 16 species of organisms of 12 genera from 9 families were found in the zooplankton, 5 of which are rotifers, 9 are branched crustaceans and 2 are oar-footed crustaceans. It was found that the greatest species diversity was observed in Lake Tsybovo — 13, the smallest in Lake Maloe Puchkovo — 9 taxa. The average zooplankton abundance and biomass in the studied lakes ranged from 16.0 to 67.645 thousand specimens/m3 and from 652.2 to 7118.5 mg/m3, respectively. The maximum average values of zooplankton abundance and biomass were found in Lake Fedino, the minimum values in Lake Cemetery. In terms of frequency of occurrence and specific abundance, Copepods are mainly dominant. The lowest frequency of occurrence and specific abundance is mainly in Rotifera. According to the average indicators of zooplankton biomass, lakes have different trophic status and feeding capacity of the reservoir: from oligotrophic type (low-fat) to eutrophic type (high-fat). Fedino Lake was classified as a high-grade eutrophic reservoir with an increased productivity class. Cemetery Lake with the lowest abundance and biomass indicators was assessed as an oligotrophic reservoir of low productivity class, from the point of view of feeding opportunities for planktophage fish — low-feeding. Tsybovo and Maloe Puchkovo lakes were assessed as mesotrophic reservoirs.

Evaluating the potential for continuous update of enhanced forest inventory attributes using optical satellite data

Abstract Timely and detailed inventories of forest resources are of critical importance to guiding sustainable forest management decisions. As forests occur across large spatial extents, remotely sensed data are often used to augment conventional forest inventory measurements. When combined with field plot measurements, airborne laser scanning (ALS) data can be used to derive detailed enhanced forest inventories (EFIs), which provide spatially explicit and wall-to-wall characterizations of forest attributes. However, these EFIs represent a static point in time, and the dynamic nature of forests, coupled with increasing disturbance and uncertain future conditions, generates a need for the continuous updating of forest inventories. This study used a time series of optical satellite data to update an EFI generated for a large (~690 000 ha) forest management unit in Ontario, Canada, at a two-week interval. The two-phase approach involved first building a relationship between single-year EFI attributes (2018) and spectral variables representing within-year slope, amplitude, and trend of a time series (2000–21) of 14 spectral bands and indices. For each of the 20 strata representing different species groups and site productivity classes, a k-nearest neighbor (kNN) model was developed to impute seven common EFI attributes: aboveground biomass, basal area, stem density, Lorey’s height, quadratic mean diameter, and stem volume. Across all strata, models were generally accurate, with relative root mean square error ranging from 11.47% (canopy cover) to 31.82% (stem volume). In the second phase of the approach, models were applied across the entire study area at two-week intervals in order to assess the capacity of the methodology for characterizing change in EFI attributes over a three-year period. Outputs from this second phase demonstrated the potential of the approach for characterizing changes in EFI values in areas experiencing no change or non-stand replacing disturbances. The methods developed herein can be used for EFI update for any temporal interval, thereby enabling more informed decisions by forest managers to prescribe treatments or understand the current state of forest resources.

Forest harvest operations productivity forecasting: a decisions tree approach

ABSTRACT In recent years, machinery used in forest harvesting operations has incorporated the ability to collect data during the harvesting operation automatically. The processing of these data allows for obtaining new perspectives on the harvest characteristics. In this sense, it is that the development of predictive models for harvest productivity is approached by processing the automatically retrieved data. In turn, these new models pave the way to develop new tools for operations management decision-making processes, providing a data-driven approach. In this case, forest productivity is analyzed based on different harvesting operational configurations defined by stand, trees, species, operators, shifts, etc. which make it possible to adequately predict what the wood-harvested volume will be, and thus, synchronize the rest of the supply chain logistics operations. The data processing is done through decision tree methods. Different methods of decision trees based on exhaustive Chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID), recursive binary partition, and conditional inference based that also uses binary recursive partition are tested. The results show that decision recursive binary partition methods tend to model the entire spectrum of the target variable in a more balanced manner. While exhaustive CHAID-based methods tend to be more accurate in global terms but more unbalanced. As a general comment of the method, global confusion matrices are around 50% accurate, and some operational configurations and productivity classes are predicted with almost 90% accuracy.

Evaluating stumps volume in managed, protective pine stands of the subtaiga forest-steppe region of Middle Siberia

The article evaluates the stump reserves in pine forests of the subtaiga-forest-steppe region of Central Siberia. It was found that in stands with high density (relative density above 1.0) and high productivity (I– II productivity classes), the stump stock ranged from 0.23 to 2.21 m3 per ha 1. The proportion of stump wood in the total timber stock ranged from 0.04% to 0.44%. The majority of stumps (39.1%) were in the 2nd decay class, indicating that the silvicultural practices used in the area were implemented over a decade ago. The mass of stumps ranged from 0.07 to 0.70 t per ha-1, while the stump carbon reserve varied from 0.04 to 0.35 t С per ha-1 .

The young and the old, the fast and the slow: a large-scale study of productivity classes and rank advancement

ABSTRACT We examined a large sample of Polish science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) scientists (N = 16,083) to study rank advancement and productivity in the past 40 years. We used two previously neglected time dimensions – promotion age and promotion speed – to construct individual lifetime biographical and publication profiles. We followed a classificatory approach and the new methodological approach of journal prestige–normalized productivity. All scientists were allocated to different productivity, promotion age, and promotion speed classes (top 20%, middle 60%, and bottom 20%). The patterns found were consistent across all disciplines: scientists in young promotion age classes (and fast promotion speed classes) in the past were currently the most productive. In contrast, scientists in old promotion age classes (and slow promotion speed classes) in the past were currently the least productive. In the three largest disciplines, the young-old promotion age productivity differential for associate professors was 100–200% (150–200% for full professors), and the fast-slow promotion speed productivity differential for associate professors was 80–150% (100–170% for full professors). Our results were partly supported by a regression analysis in which we examined odds ratio estimates of belonging to top productivity classes. To examine the sample, we combined biographical and demographic data collected from the national register of all Polish scientists and publication metadata on all Polish articles indexed in Scopus (N = 935,167).

Детрит в высокополнотных сосновых насаждениях подтаежно-лесостепного района Средней Сибири

At the present time, certain harmful effects are observed that affect forest ecosystems. They are forest fires, phytopathogenic activities, and invasive influence, in addition to changes in climatic conditions, in particular an increase in temperature. The study is intended to determine the potential stock of wood and carbon compounds in detritus. The principal categories for it are snags, downed dead wood, and stumps. Additionally, it predicts the amount of wood residues in the conditions of the taiga forest-steppe subzone of Central Siberia. A coarse woody detritus was examined in the structurally pure forests of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). A circular area of constant radius was used as an accounting unit. The cause woody detritus in snag was 82 %, in downed dead wood was 16 % (1.5–18.3 m3‧ha–1), in stumps was 2 % (0–2.6 m3‧ha–1). The content of detritus was found in only 11 % of the total stock of the stand. The environmental quality at the location of growth had a strong effect on the amount of detritus because of the growth rate of the trees, which is higher in the ideal conditions. Most of the coarse woody detritus (66.4 %) was accumulated in the stands of productivity class I, which was almost double that in the stands of productivity class II (33.6 %). The carbon content in snags, downed dead wood, and stumps was higher in high-density stands (0.81 or more) than in medium-density stands (0.6–0.8). The age and average height of the stand were considerable indicators for predicting stocks of wood and carbon in snags. The amount of wood and carbon in the downed dead wood also depended on the growth density and total stock of wood at the location. The regression equations were generated to predict the volume of the coarse wood detritus. According to the results, it can be concluded that in the investigated stands the destructive processes were identified, which were determined by the concentration of detritus. The production of detritus was activated by both age composition, when a major part of the trees enters the mature or overmature stages, and biogenic factors, which were stimulated by pathogenesis and climatic changes. For citation: Vais A.A., Varaksin G.S., Mamedova S.K., Anuev E.A., Gerasimova O.A. Detritus Inside High Density Pine Stands in the Taiga Forest-Steppe Subzone of Central Siberia. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 3, pp. 9–20. (In Russ.). https:// doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-3-9-20

Once highly productive, forever highly productive? Full professors’ research productivity from a longitudinal perspective

This longitudinal study explores persistence in research productivity at the individual level over academic lifetime: can highly productive scientists maintain relatively high levels of productivity. We examined academic careers of 2326 Polish full professors, including their lifetime biographical and publication histories. We studied their promotions and publications between promotions (79,027 articles) over a 40-year period across 14 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) disciplines. We used prestige-normalized productivity in which more weight is given to articles in high-impact than in low-impact journals, recognizing the highly stratified nature of academic science. Our results show that half of the top productive assistant professors continued as top productive associate professors, and half of the top productive associate professors continued as top productive full professors (52.6% and 50.8%). Top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top transitions in productivity classes occurred only marginally. In logistic regression models, two powerful predictors of belonging to the top productivity class for full professors were being highly productive as assistant professors and as associate professors (increasing the odds, on average, by 179% and 361%). Neither gender nor age (biological or academic) emerged as statistically significant. Our findings have important implications for hiring policies: hiring high- and low-productivity scientists may have long-standing consequences for institutions and national science systems as academic scientists usually remain in the system for decades. The Observatory of Polish Science (100,000 scientists, 380,000 publications) and Scopus metadata on 935,167 Polish articles were used, showing the power of combining biographical registry data with structured Big Data in academic profession studies.

Biota of floodplain lakes of the Ob river in the lower reaches of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station

An overview of typical lakes of the floodplain system of the river is presented. Ob in the lower reaches of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station, data on the species structure and biomass of fish, zoobenthos and zooplankton are presented. Most lakes of the Ob floodplain have an elongated channel-like shape and have a constant hydrological connection with the channels of the Ob River. The area of the lakes does not exceed 40 hectares. According to the research results, the zooplankton of the lakes is represented by 20 species, the total number of zooplankton varied from 50 620 copies/m3 (Kolkhoznoye lake) to 477 740 copies/m3 (Bolshoy Elbak lake). The biomass of zooplankton in the surveyed lakes was 2488–3443 mg/ m3. 24 species were found in the zoobenthos of floodplain lakes, the total number of zoobenthos varied from 887 copies/m2 (Kolkhoznoye lake) to 3468 copies/m2 (Bolshoy Elbak Lake). The biomass of zoobenthos varied from 3,100 to 38,152 g/m2. According to the indicators of zooplankton biomass, lakes are characterized as reservoirs of beta-mesotrophic type, i.e. of the middle productivity class, according to the classification of feeding capacity — as reservoirs above the average feeding capacity for planktophagous fish. On the development of zoobenthos lake. Vilannoe refers to high–fed, eutrophic type reservoirs, high productivity class, Kolkhoznoye lake — to medium-fed, mesotrophic type reservoirs, moderate productivity class, Bolshoy Elbak lake refers to high-fed reservoirs of mesotrophic type of medium productivity class. The main species of ichthyofauna of floodplain lakes are the firebrand rotan (Perccottus glenii) and silver carp (Carassius gibelio). The biomass of the ichthyofauna is 45.1–100.9 kg/ha. As a result of the study, it was revealed that commercial development of the ichthyofauna of these lakes is impractical, but their use for commercial fish farming is possible.

Uncertainties in the adaptation of alpine pastures to climate change based on remote sensing products and modelling

Over the last century, the management of pastoral systems has undergone major changes to meet the livelihood needs of alpine communities. Faced with the changes induced by recent global warming, the ecological status of many pastoral systems has seriously deteriorated in the western alpine region. We assessed changes in pasture dynamics by integrating information from remote-sensing products and two process-based models, i.e. the grassland-specific, biogeochemical growth model PaSim and the generic crop-growth model DayCent. Meteorological observations and satellite-derived Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) trajectories of three pasture macro-types (high, medium and low productivity classes) in two study areas - Parc National des Écrins (PNE) in France and Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso (PNGP) in Italy - were used as a basis for the model calibration work. The performance of the models was satisfactory in reproducing pasture production dynamics (R2 = 0.52 to 0.83). Projected changes in alpine pastures due to climate-change impacts and adaptation strategies indicate that: i) the length of the growing season is expected to increase between 15 and 40 days, resulting in changes in the timing and amount of biomass production, ii) summer water stress could limit pasture productivity; iii) earlier onset of grazing could enhance pasture productivity; iv) higher livestock densities could increase the rate of biomass regrowth, but major uncertainties in modelling processes need to be considered; and v) the carbon sequestration potential of pastures could decrease under limited water availability and warming.

Assessment of the state of aquatic bioresources and the feasibility of involving floodplain lakes of the Ob river in the upper reaches of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station in fishing

An overview of typical lakes of the floodplain system of the river is presented. Ob in the upper reaches of the Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station. Data on the species structure, abundance and biomass of zooplankton, zoobenthos and fish are presented. Most of the lakes of the left-bank floodplain of the Ob have an elongated channel-like shape and a constant hydrological connection with the channels of the Ob river. The lakes are located in a low floodplain and are completely flooded by flood waters even in low-water years. The area of the lakes does not exceed 40 hectares. The zooplankton of the lakes is represented by 16 species, the total number varied from 360 copies/m3 (lake Epanchino) to 36 530 copies/m3 (lake Komendantskoye), the biomass was 13.8–229.0 mg/m3. According to the development of zooplankton, all the floodplain lakes studied belong to low-feeding, ultra-oligotrophic type reservoirs, the lowest productivity class. 13 species were found in the zoobenthos of floodplain lakes, the total number varied from 172 specimens/m2 (lake Chernoe) to 860 specimens/m2 (lake Baigachevskoe), biomass — from 0.513 to 4.196 g/m2. On the development of zoobenthos lake. Epanchino refers to medium–fed, mesotrophic type reservoirs, the other three — to low-fed, oligotrophic type reservoirs, low productivity class. The main species of ichthyofauna of floodplain lakes are pike (Esox lucius Linnaeus), river perch (Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus) and silver carp (Carassius gibelio Bioch). Pike at the age of 3+ — 4+ years dominates in lake populations, perch — 2+ years. The biomass of the ichthyofauna is 15,3–45,8 kg/ha. According to the ichthyomass, floodplain lakes of the lower reaches belong to the oligotrophic and mesotrophic type of reservoirs, low and medium productivity class.

Using Spectral Indices Derived from Remote Sensing Imagery to Represent Arthropod Biodiversity Gradients in a European Sphagnum Peat Bog

Monitoring of peatlands is an important conservation issue. We investigated communities of soil mites (Acari: Oribatida, Mesostigmata) inhabiting a relatively undisturbed European boreal mire characterized by a mosaic of oligotrophic and meso-eutrophic areas. We assess the potential of using remote sensing approach as a mapping and predictive tool for monitoring productivity and arthropod biodiversity in a peat bog. In georeferenced plots, Acari biodiversity, water table level, water pH and plot productivity class on the oligotrophic-eutrophic gradient were recorded. Data from the Landsat 8 OLI sensor were used to calculate several spectral indices known to represent productivity and surface moisture gradients in terrestrial ecosystems. We then explored the relationship between spectral indices, environmental gradients and biodiversity of mites. We found that several spectral indices were significantly and consistently correlated with local environmental variables and biodiversity of soil mites. The Excess Green Index performed best as a predictor of plot trophic class on the oligotrophic-eutrophic gradient and showed significant relationship with Oribatida diversity in 2016. However, following hot summer in 2019, there was no significant relationship between abundance and species richness of Oribatida and remotely sensed data; there was a weak correlation between abundance of Mesostigmata and spectral indices which represent surface moisture gradient (e.g., Normalised Difference Moisture Index). We discuss advantages and challenges of using spectral indices derived from remote sensing imagery to map biodiversity gradients in a peatland.

Desenvolvimento de queijo processado tipo Maasdam com baixo teor de sódio

ABSTRACT The article assesses the effect of different potassium emulsifying salts concentrations on physicochemical, colorimetric, and texture characteristics of processed cheese manufactured using Maasdam. Except for pH, physicochemical parameters remained unchanged, but the gradual substitution of sodium emulsifying salts with potassium-based salts influenced color and texture. Treatments with at least 50% potassium salts showed a reduction of at least 30% of sodium. The sodium decrease allows the product's classification as processed cheese with low-sodium content (<140mg per 56.7g serving). The data obtained present substantial information that can help the dairy industries develop newly reduced-sodium products.

Forecasting production in thinned clonal stands of Tectona grandis in Eastern Amazonia

Aim of the study: We investigated the most suitable thinning ages and intensities to maximize productivity and minimize the rotation age of Tectona grandis clonal plantations in the Brazilian Eastern Amazon.
 Area of study: Capitão Poço, State of Pará, Eastern Amazonia, Brazil.
 Materials and methods: We used diameter, height, and volume data from 72 permanent plots measured on nine occasions. We determined the classification of forest sites using the generalized algebraic difference approach (GADA). Clutter’s segmented model was used to simulate different intensities of basal area reduction, determining the technical ages according to the projected increments.
 Main results: The polymorphic site curves generated by the GADA method revealed that there were sites with different productive characteristics. The Clutter model produced compatible projections of basal area and volume that followed the behavior of the productivity classes. The final production was maximized when three thinning intensities (basal area reductions) were applied: 1st thinning (50%), between the ages of 3.5 to 4.2 years; 2nd thinning (50%), between the ages of 6.1 to 7.3 years; and 3rd thinning (25%), between the ages of 10.6 to 12.8 years. Projected rotation ages ranged from 13.9 to 16.6 years earlier than seminal plantings. The simulations increased the net volume by 8.3%, on average, compared to no thinning.
 Research highlights: Simulations with three thinnings maximized production compared to the no thinning scenario. The time interval between thinnings was less than five years. The research results can help forest management decision-making and reveal production increases of T. grandis clonal stands in a shorter time.

Policy interventions and competing management paradigms shape the long-term distribution of forest harvesting across the landscape

Industrial economic models of natural resource management often incentivize the sequential harvesting of resources based on profitability, disproportionately targeting the higher-value elements of the environment. In fisheries, this issue is framed as a problem of "fishing down the food chain" when these elements represent different trophic levels or sequential depletion more generally. Harvesting that focuses on high grading the most profitable, productive, and accessible components of environmental gradients is also thought to occur in the forestry sector. Such a paradigm is inconsistent with a stewardship ethic, entrenched in the forestry literature, that seeks to maintain or enhance forest condition over time. We ask 1) how these conflicting paradigms have influenced patterns of forest harvesting over time and 2) whether more recent conservation-oriented policies influenced these historical harvesting patterns. We use detailed harvest data over a 47-y period and aggregated time series data that span over a century on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada to assess temporal changes in how logging is distributed among various classes of site productivity and terrain accessibility, corresponding to timber value. Most of this record shows a distinct trend of harvesting shifting over time to less productive stands, with some evidence of harvesting occurring in increasingly less accessible forests. However, stewardship-oriented policy changes enacted in the mid-1990s appear to have strongly affected these trends. This illustrates both a profit-maximizing tendency to log down the value chain when choices are unconstrained and the potential of policy choices to impose a greater stewardship ethic on harvesting behavior.

Potential Hydrological Impacts of Planting Switchgrass on Marginal Rangelands in South Central Great Plains

Woody plant encroachment is an ongoing global issue. In the Southern Great Plains of the United States, the rapid encroachment and coalescence of woody plants are transforming herbaceous-dominated rangelands into woodlands with a detrimental impact on water quality and quantity. In this study, we conducted modeling simulations to assess how converting juniper (Juniperus virginiana) woodland and low to moderately productive grassland into switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) biomass production system would affect streamflow and sediment yields in the Lower Cimarron River, Oklahoma. First, the grassland areas in the basin were divided into productivity classes suitable for rangeland activities based on the soil productivity index. Next, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool was used to develop the basin hydrologic model, calibrated and validated for streamflow in five gaging stations with a percent bias of <10%, Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency index of >0.76, and R2 of >0.77. Then, the model was used to simulate evapotranspiration (ET), streamflow, groundwater recharge, and sediment loads under different land use conversion scenarios. Results showed that converting existing juniper woodlands, ~4% of the basin, to switchgrass had limited impacts on the water budget and sediment yield. A hypothetical scenario of converting low to moderately productive rangeland to switchgrass increased annual ET by 2.6%, with a decrease in streamflow by 10.8% and a reduction in sediment yield by 39.2% compared to the baseline model. Results indicated that switchgrass could be considered a potential land use alternative to address the juniper encroached grassland with minimal loss in streamflow but a substantial reduction in sediment yield in the southcentral region of the Great Plains.

Macrozoobenthos of large lakes of the Omsk region

The results of hydrobiological studies during the growing season of 2020 are presented. Qualitative and quantitative indicators of macrozoobenthos as a food resource of lakes Ik and Saltaim-Tenis are studied. In the lake Ik 7 taxa of macrozoobenthos exclusively of the class insects (Insecta) were registered. In the zoobenthos of lake Saltaim-Tenis 9 taxa of three classes were noted: insects, oligochaetes (Oligochаeta), and roundworms (Nematoda). In a comparative analysis of the species similarity of the zoobenthos of the lake Ik from the lake Saltaim-Tenis, the Jaccard coefficient was 0,8, which indicates the complete correspondence of the species compositions of these lakes. Common to the lakes were species characteristic of mesoand eutrophic water bodies Ch. gr. plumosus, C. defectus, E. carbonaria, G.glaucus, P. choreus, P. ferrugineus, C. salinarius. The average seasonal number of zoobenthos of the lake Ik reached 747±47 ind./m2, Saltaim-Tenis was 67±4,6 ind./m2, which is 11 times less than in lake Ik. Biomass of zoobenthos of the lake Ik was characterized by high rates throughout the season and averaged 25,9±4,21 g/m2, Saltaim-Tenis averaged 2,62±0,2 g/m2, which is 9,8 times less than in lake Ik. The maximum abundance and biomass of zoobenthos in lake Ik, observed in spring. On the lake Saltaim-Tenis, the highest abundance was recorded in autumn, biomass — in summer. The minimum values of zoobenthos abundance on both lakes were noted in summer, biomass — in autumn. The ecological state of the lakes has been established. Trophic status of the lake Ik estimated from the summer biomass of zoobenthos corresponds to the β-eutrophic type, high productivity class, very high-feeding water body. The lake Saltaim-Tenis, according to the summer indicators of zoobenthos biomass, belongs to the medium-feeding water body. According to the trophic status, it belongs to the α-mesotrophic type of the moderate productivity class.

On the distribution and productivity of mountain grasslands in the Gran Paradiso National Park, NW Italy: A remote sensing approach

Mountain grazing lands are key constituents of the natural, economical and cultural heritage, but at the same time sensitive to climate and land use change, hence requiring urgent adaptation and management strategies. These must be based on a better understanding of the distribution of mountain pastoral resources across space and time.In this study we model the distribution and the productivity of grassland surfaces in a topographically complex protected area (Gran Paradiso National Park, 710 km2) in north-western Italian Alps. The objective of our work was threefold: a) modelling the distribution of mountain grasslands across the entire park at a 20-meters spatial resolution, b) classify pastoral surfaces according to productivity classes, and c) according to thirteen pastoral categories. We used a random forest approach to combine a massive terrain vegetation survey as ground truth, with remote-sensing-derived, climatic and topographic layers as predictors.Grassland presence/absence was classified with high accuracy (up to 88%) and, compared to the standard Copernicus European Grassland Product, revealed the presence of extensive high altitude grassland areas potentially available for wild herbivores. Grassland productivity was modelled with remarkably high accuracy both according to three broad productivity classes (90% accuracy) and to a more detailed classification into thirteen pastoral categories (83% accuracy). Productivity estimates agree well with satellite-derived leaf area index maps and with area-averaged NDVI seasonal patterns.We conclude that combining tailored field campaigns and high-resolution remote sensing allows for robust prediction of grassland distribution and productivity even in complex terrains. This information can contribute to improve the management of pastoral resources and promote effective adaptation strategies.

Field methods for making productivity classes for site-specific management of wheat

Field methods for making productivity classes for site-specific management of wheat

Cross-classes domain inference with network sampling for natural resource inventory

There are two distinct types of domains, design- and cross-classes domains , with the former extensively studied under the topic of small-area estimation. In natural resource inventory, however, most classes listed in the condition tables of national inventory programs are characterized as cross-classes domains, such as vegetation type, productivity class, and age class. To date, challenges remain active for inventorying cross-classes domains because these domains are usually of unknown sampling frame and spatial distribution with the result that inference relies on population-level as opposed to domain-level sampling. Multiple challenges are noteworthy: (1) efficient sampling strategies are difficult to develop because of little priori information about the target domain; (2) domain inference relies on a sample designed for the population, so within-domain sample sizes could be too small to support a precise estimation; and (3) increasing sample size for the population does not ensure an increase to the domain, so actual sample size for a target domain remains highly uncertain, particularly for small domains. In this paper, we introduce a design-based generalized systematic adaptive cluster sampling (GSACS) for inventorying cross-classes domains. Design-unbiased Hansen-Hurwitz and Horvitz-Thompson estimators are derived for domain totals and compared within GSACS and with systematic sampling (SYS). Comprehensive Monte Carlo simulations show that (1) GSACS Hansen-Hurwitz and Horvitz-Thompson estimators are unbiased and equally efficient, whereas the latter outperforms the former for supporting a sample of size one; (2) SYS is a special case of GSACS while the latter outperforms the former in terms of increased efficiency and reduced intensity; (3) GSACS Horvitz-Thompson variance estimator is design-unbiased for a single SYS sample; and (4) rules-of-thumb summarized with respect to sampling design and spatial effect improve precision. Because inventorying a mini domain is analogous to inventorying a rare variable, alternative network sampling procedures are also readily available for inventorying cross-classes domains. ⁃ Generalized systematic adaptive cluster sampling devised for inventorying cross-classes domains ⁃ Unbiased Hansen-Hurwitz and Horvitz-Thompson estimators derived for domain estimation ⁃ Analytical and empirical comparisons made within GSACS and with systematic sampling ⁃ GSACS provides estimates identical to SS using observations fewer on the order of 20%–40% ⁃ Network sampling procedures including GSACS are efficient for inventorying small domains