Probabilistic sampling and estimation for large-scale assessment of poplar plantations in Northern Italy

Corona, Piermaria; Chianucci, Francesco; Marcelli, A.; Gianelle, Damiano; Fattorini, Lorenzo; Grotti, Mirko; Puletti, Nicola; Mattioli, Walter

doi:10.1007/s10342-020-01300-9

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Part of them were of technical nature and can be more or less easily implemented. The use of a probabilistic sampling design, such as the stratified random sampling design, could substantially increase the objectivity of the monitoring (McGarvey et al 2016;Corona et al 2020;Maccherini et al 2020), while the inclusion of other taxa and of other survey approaches (e.g., the dendrometric survey of forest vegetation; De Yao et al 2019) can provide valuable information on the habitat conservation status. Nevertheless, a probabilistic sampling design might not be effective for habitats characterized by a limited distribution and/or a linear surface which could be underrepresented.…”

Section: Discussion From the Workhopmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring

Bonari¹,

Fantinato²,

Lazzaro³

et al. 2021

Plant Sociology

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Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring.

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Section: Discussion From the Workhopmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring

Bonari¹,

Fantinato²,

Lazzaro³

et al. 2021

Plant Sociology

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“…In addition, these plantations play a role in carbon capture and, therefore, in the mitigation of climate change [2,3]. Hence, the implementation of such plantations is widespread in many parts of Europe [2] and worldwide [4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biomass quantification using non-destructive methods necessarily requires the use of predictive calculations based on the direct non-destructive collection of growth-related data. In this regard, there have been many advances in modeling across all fields of forest science, including SRC plantations [4,7]. Allometric models, which relate diameter at breast height (or other easily measurable variables) to biomass, are those most commonly used in forest inventories and have also been employed in the case of SRC plantations to estimate available biomass [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Non-Destructive Estimation of Aboveground Biomass in Short-Rotation Poplar Coppices

et al. 2023

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Poplar plantations in high-density and short-rotation coppices (SRC) are a suitable way for the fast production of wood that can be transformed into bioproducts or bioenergy. Optimal management of these coppices requires accurate assessment of the total standing biomass. However, traditional field inventory is a challenging task, given the existence of multiple shoots, the difficulty of identifying terminal shoots, and the extreme high density. As an alternative, in this work, we propose to develop individual stool and plot biomass models using metrics derived from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) as predictors. To this aim, we used data from a SRC poplar plantation, including nine plots and 154 individual stools. Every plot was scanned from different positions, and individual stools were felled, weighed, and dried to compute aboveground biomass (AGB). Individual stools were segmented from the cloud point, and different TLS metrics at stool and plot level were derived following processes of bounding box, slicing, and voxelization. These metrics were then used, either alone or combined with field-measured metrics, to fit biomass models. Our results indicate that at individual-stool level, the biomass models combining TLS metrics and easy to measure in field metrics (stool diameter) perform similarly to the traditional allometric models based on field inventories, while at plot scales, TLS-derived models show superiority over traditional models. Our proposed methodology permits accurate and non-destructive estimates of the biomass fixed in SRC plantations.

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“…The largest plantations occur in Canada and China, followed by Europe with France and Italy providing the main areas of plantation. In Italy, about 43,400 hectares are located in Northern Italy in the Po valley (Corona et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it does not cover the demand from industry, which is increasingly interested in optimizing supplies through an in-depth knowledge of the areas of growth and regional cultivation. In Italy an inventory of poplar crops has now been completed (Corona et al 2020) but the likely future impact of climate change on cultivation and production is unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universal reaction norms for the sustainable cultivation of hybrid poplar clones under climate change in Italy

Marchi¹,

Bergante²,

Ray³

et al. 2022

iForest

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The cultivation of hybrid poplar clones is increasing worldwide. Hundreds of hectares of plantations now occur across Europe and other continents such as North America, using tested clones and novel genotypes. Research effort aims are to develop fast growing disease-and pest-resistant clones to improve production quality and quantity. In this study the phenotypic plasticity of poplar clones was tested across environmental and temporal gradients. The growth performance of 49 hybrid poplar clones recorded between 1980 and 2021 was analysed using a mixed-effects model with climatic data as a predictor variable. Clones were aggregated into two groups according to their breeding protocol (i.e., standard clone, and improved material) and their growth modelled for future climate scenarios of RCPs 2.6 and 8.5 using a downscaled version of the variants 01 and 21 of UKCP18 climate projections dataset for three 30year normal period time-slices: 2030s, 2040s, 2050s. The fitted growth models showed highly significant results, explaining more than 85% of the variance, with a mean relative absolute error of approximately 2%. Improved material showed more resistance to warmer and drier climates and less sensitivity to the changing climate. While no unique pattern was found when comparing growth performances, new improved clones were more productive than older clones (e.g., 'I-214') with an additional benefit of resistance to rust and pests. Spatial predictions confirmed the Po valley as the most important geographic area for poplar cultivation in Italy, but zones in Central and Southern Italy show potential. However, the Po Valley is also where poplars are predicted to be suitable in the next decades with large uncertainties. The analysis identified the need for more research on the topic of poplar breeding. For example, models using the most extreme (warm and dry) climate projection, variant 01 of RCP8.5 of the UKCP18, exceeded the historic climate threshold, and predictions used model extrapolation, with associated statistical uncertainty. Therefore, predictions should be considered with care and more research effort is required to test clones over wider environmental conditions.

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Probabilistic sampling and estimation for large-scale assessment of poplar plantations in Northern Italy

Cited by 6 publications

References 29 publications

Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring

Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring

Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Non-Destructive Estimation of Aboveground Biomass in Short-Rotation Poplar Coppices

Universal reaction norms for the sustainable cultivation of hybrid poplar clones under climate change in Italy

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