The formation of a canopy gap results in changes to the microenvironment which, in turn, affect litter decomposition and nutrient release. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects in differently sized gaps and non-gaps remain poorly understoo...
Forest canopy gaps are important to ecosystem dynamics. Depending on tree species, small canopy openings may be associated with intra-crown porosity and with space among crowns. Yet, literature on the relationships between very fine-scaled patterns o...
Canopy gaps and their associated processes play an important role in shaping forest structure and dynamics. Understanding the information about canopy gaps allows forest managers to assess the potential for regeneration and plan interventions to enha...
A reliable estimation and monitoring of tree canopy cover or shade distribution is essential for a sustainable cocoa production via agroforestry systems. Remote sensing (RS) data offer great potential in retrieving and monitoring vegetation status at...
Forest gaps are important structural elements in forest ecology to which various conservation-relevant, photophilic species are associated. To automatically map forest gaps and detect their changes over time, we developed a method based on Digital Su...
Several decades of research have shown that canopy gaps drive tree renewal processes in the temperate deciduous forest biome. In the literature, canopy gaps are usually defined as canopy openings that are created by partial or total tree death of one...
Accurate mapping of selective logging (SL) serves as the foundation for additional research on forest restoration and regeneration, species diversification and distribution, and ecosystem dynamics, among other applications. This study aimed to model...
Forest degradation continues to increase globally, threatening biodiversity and the survival of species. In this context, identifying intact, old-growth forest stands is both urgent and vital to ensure their existence and multiple contributions to so...
Canopy gaps are small-scale openings in forest canopies which offer suitable micro-climatic conditions for tree regeneration. Field mapping of gaps is complex and time-consuming. Several studies have used Canopy Height Models (CHM) derived from airbo...
Efficient and accurate identification of canopy gaps is the basis of forest ecosystem research, which is of great significance to further forest monitoring and management. Among the existing studies that incorporate remote sensing to map canopy gaps,...
Terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) have the potential to revolutionise measurement of the three-dimensional structure of vegetation canopies for applications in ecology, hydrology and climate change. This potential has been the subject of recent resear...
Canopy gaps can result in abiotic heterogeneities and diverse niches from gap borders to centers, potentially affecting fine root decompositions mediated by soil fungal communities. Despite extensive discussions on the relationship between soil fungi...
Delineating canopy gaps and quantifying gap characteristics (e.g., size, shape, and dynamics) are essential for understanding regeneration dynamics and understory species diversity in structurally complex forests. Both high spatial resolution optical...
Much research in forest ecology has been devoted to examining the effect of gap formation on regeneration dynamics. However, comparatively little research has examined the process of gap closure, in which larger trees bordering the gap grow laterally...
Airborne laser scanning (ALS) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) are two ways to obtain forest three-dimensional (3D) spatial information. Due to canopy occlusion and the features of different scanning methods, some of the forest point clouds acqui...
The study of density and growth of pine, birch and oak seedlings and saplings in canopy gaps in the urban boreal forest in Riga, Latvia, indicates that natural regeneration can increase diversity in small gaps caused by tree mortality, and can ensure...
Canopy gaps are vital microhabitats for forest carbon cycling and species regeneration, whose accurate extraction is crucial for ecological modeling and smart forestry. However, traditional monitoring methods have notable limitations: ground-based me...
Canopy gaps are pivotal for monitoring forest ecosystem dynamics. Conventional field methods are time-consuming and labor intensive, making them impractical for regional mapping and systematic monitoring. Gaps may be delineated using airborne lidar o...
Trace metals can enter natural regions with low human disturbance through atmospheric circulation; however, little information is available regarding the filtering efficiency of trace metals by forest canopies. In this study, a representative subalpi...
Background and Objectives: The landscape aesthetic service (LAS) is a crucial ecosystem service in subalpine forests of the mountain and ravine regions of the Tibetan Plateau, especially in autumn; it can provide important ecological and economic val...
The understory of temperate forests harbour most of the plant species diversity present in these ecosystems. The maintenance of this diversity is strongly dependent on canopy gap formation, a disturbance naturally happening in non-managed forests, wh...
Artificial canopy gaps (forest openings) are frequently used as an element of regeneration cutting. The development of regeneration in gaps can be controlled by selecting a relevant size and shape for the gap, which will regulate the radiation microc...
Logging operations change the forest environment by creating a heterogeneous canopy with a range of different microenvironments that differ mostly in light intensity and level of soil disturbance. In this study, the growth characteristics and archite...
Phenological gaps exert a significant influence on the growth of dwarf bamboos. However, how dwarf bamboos respond to and exploit these phenological gaps remain enigmatic. The light environment, soil nutrients, leaf morphology, maximum photosynthetic...
The structural complexity, especially canopy and gap structure, of old‐growth forests affects the spatial variation of soil respiration (Rs). Without considering this variation, the upscaling of Rs from field measurements to the forest site will be b...
This paper investigates how variation in forest structural characteristics affects the water retention capacity of gaps and forests in fir-beech forests in the Dinaric Karst. Forests are identified as a key element of the landscape for provision of p...
Insect communities in tropical forests tend to be structured vertically and with respect to tree fall gaps and edges. Furthermore, insect communities vary over time. Insight into such habitat specificity and temporal variation is needed to design and...
Canopy volume is a crucial biological parameter for assessing tree growth, accurately estimating forest Above-Ground Biomass (AGB), and evaluating ecosystem stability. Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) are advanced pr...
Gap-scale disturbances drive successional and structural development patterns in most forest ecosystems. Although fire-maintained Pinus palustris woodlands are less light limited than closed canopy forests, gap-scale disturbance processes may still i...
Background: Understorey plants are key to maintaining forest structure and functioning. They protect the soil, improve its structure and fertility, reduce water run-off and sustain the below-ground biota, amongst other ecological services. However, l...
In forest ecosystems, natural and anthropogenic disturbances alter canopy structure, understory vegetation, amount of woody debris, and the properties of litter and soil layers. The magnitude of these environmental changes is context-dependent and de...
Remote sensing technologies like airborne laser scanning (ALS) and digital aerial photogrammetry (DAP) have emerged as efficient tools for detecting and analysing canopy gaps (CGs). Comparing these technologies is essential to determine their functio...
The presented study demonstrates a bi-sensor approach suitable for rapid and precise up-to-date mapping of forest canopy gaps for the larger spatial extent. The approach makes use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) red, green and blue (RGB) images on s...
Old-growth forests are a unique source of information for close-to-nature silviculture. In the National Nature Reserve Dobročský prales (Slovakia), a remnant of mixed old-growth forests of the Western Carpathians, we analyzed changes in tree s...
Background: Crown fires are often intense and fast spreading and hence can have serious impacts on soil, vegetation, and wildlife habitats. Fire managers try to prevent the initiation and spread of crown fires in forested landscapes through fuel mana...
Research Highlights: This paper proposes a new method for hemispherical forest canopy image segmentation. The method is based on a deep learning methodology and provides a robust and fully automatic technique for the segmentation of forest canopy hem...
The canopy reflectance model is the physical basis of remote sensing inversion. In canopy reflectance modeling, the geometric optical (GO) approach is the most commonly used. However, it ignores the description of a multiple-scattering contribution,...
Studying regeneration processes in oak-dominated forests requires a multi-faceted approach that considers local factors, disturbances, management actions, and tree responses. Our aims were to quantify the carbon and water-use responses of saplings an...
Forest leaf area index (LAI) is a key characteristic affecting a field canopy microclimate. In addition to traditional professional measuring instruments, smartphone-based methods have been used to measure forest LAI. However, when smartphone methods...
The gap fractions of three mature hemi-boreal forest stands in Estonia were estimated using the LAI-2000 plant canopy analyzer ( LI-COR Biosciences, Lincoln, NE, USA), the TRAC instrument (Edgewall, Miami, FL, USA), Cajanus’ tube, hemispherical...
The effect of forest harvesting on the composition and structure of a temperate coniferous forest in Mexico was evaluated after three harvesting periods from 2007–2015. In this forest, we identified seven families and eight tree species. The dominant...
Terrestrial laser scanning of forest structure is used increasingly in place of traditional technologies; however, deriving physical parameters from point clouds remains challenging because LiDAR returns do not have defined areas or volumes. While vo...
Forest understory vegetation is largely influenced by disturbances and given local abiotic conditions. Our research focuses on the early response of understory vegetation to various forest management intensities in Dinaric fir-beech forests in Sloven...
To best conserve wetlands and manage associated ecosystem services in the face of climate and land-use change, wetlands must be routinely monitored to assess their extent and function. Wetland extent and function are largely driven by spatial and tem...
Both vegetation multi-angular and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) remote sensing data are indirectly and directly linked with 3D vegetation structure parameters, such as the tree height and vegetation gap fraction, which are critical elements in...
Gaps are openings within tropical forest canopies created by natural or anthropogenic disturbances. Important aspects of gap dynamics that are not well understood include how gaps close over time and their potential for contagiousness, indicating whe...
Spaceborne laser altimetry waveform estimates of canopy Gap Fraction (GF) vary with respect to discrete return airborne equivalents due to their greater sensitivity to reflectance differences between canopy and ground surfaces resulting from differen...
Since the mid-19th century, Pinus nigra plantations have played a key role in the restoration of degraded European landscapes. Nowadays, these plantations are aging and prone to natural disturbances, insect infestations, and diseases. For their succe...
Logging, including selective and illegal activities, is widespread, affecting the carbon cycle and the biodiversity of tropical forests. However, automated approaches using very high resolution (VHR) satellite data (≤1 m spatial resolution) to acc...
Profile radar allows direct characterization of the vertical forest structure. Short-wavelength, such as Ku or X band, microwave data provide opportunities to detect the foliage. In order to exploit the potential of radar technology in forestry appli...
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