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The European biodiversity and forest strategies rely on forest sustainable management (SFM) to conserve forest biodiversity. However, current sustainability assessments hardly account for direct biodiversity indicators. We focused on forest multi-taxon biodiversity to: i) gather and map the existing information; ii) identify knowledge and research gaps; iii) discuss its research potential. We established a research network to fit data on species, standing trees, lying deadwood and sampling unit description from 34 local datasets across 3591 sampling units. A total of 8724 species were represented, with the share of common and rare species varying across taxonomic classes: some included many species with several rare ones (e.g., Insecta); others (e.g., Bryopsida) were represented by few common species. Tree-related structural attributes were sampled in a subset of sampling units (2889; 2356; 2309 and 1388 respectively for diameter, height, deadwood and microhabitats). Overall, multitaxon studies are biased towards mature forests and may underrepresent the species related to other developmental phases. European forest compositional categories were all represented, but beech forests were overrepresented as compared to thermophilous and boreal forests. Most sampling units (94%) were referred to a habitat type of conservation concern. Existing information may support European conservation and SFM strategies in: (i) methodological harmonization and coordinated monitoring; (ii) definition and testing of SFM indicators and thresholds; (iii) data-driven assessment of the effects of environmental and management drivers on multi-taxon forest biological and functional diversity, (iv) multi-scale forest monitoring integrating in-situ and remotely sensed information. Forest biodiversity Multi-taxon Sustainable management Biodiversity conservation Forest stand structure

In this study we tested a set of indicators of sustainable cork oak forest management in Sardinia (Italy). First, we defined a list of specific indicators derived from attributes collected during the conventional management planning process. Secondly, we selected threshold values consulting a panel of experts on cork forest management. Thirdly, we applied the set of proposed indicators and related thresholds to a database of 361 sample plots and 285 forest compartments, representing 2% of the Sardinian cork oak forests, to test its potential suitability.

Reproductive synchrony among gregarious mammals has a strong adaptive value and may lead to cooperative behaviors aimed at maximizing offspring survival. Additionally, temporal clustering of estrus has important implications on individual mating tactics and ultimately affects the degree of polygamy in a population. Although several studies have examined the reproductive biology of wild boar (Sus scrofa), much remains to be understood about the patterns of timing and synchrony of reproduction in natural populations. We analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution of conception dates in an Italian wild boar population taking into account the effects of environmental and individual factors, in order to determine the main variables influencing the timing of reproduction and to detect the signs of a socially-driven reproductive synchrony. Specifically, for each litter belonging to 354 pregnant sows culled between 2006 and 2013 in a mountain area of Tuscany, we determined the conception date (CD) from an estimate of the mean fetal age and the culling date. We then investigated which factors drove the variation in CD, by implementing linear mixed models, Mantel tests and spatial autocorrelation analyses. The selected model showed significant effects of rainfall, temperatures, and previous and current productivity on CD, as well as a strong correlation of CDs among sows culled in close spatial and temporal proximity (i.e., in the same hunting ground and hunting season). Likewise, autocorrelation analyses and Mantel tests consistently indicated that closer sows had similar conception dates. Overall, our results confirm the effect of resource availability and climate on wild boar reproductive phenology, and suggest socially-driven reproductive patterns, in spite of a high turn-over in social groups due to hunting. Finally, possible advantages and evolutionary implications of reproductive synchrony in wild boar are discussed. Download the complete issue.

In a 22 years old maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) stand, originated from fire, where no silvicultural operations had been applied, stand structure and growth were studied by stem analysis of 102 trees sampled according to their social position.

In Italy management and cultivation techniques of coastal stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) plantations are very important because of the socio-economic aspects related to these type of stands. Understanding stand structure is essential for the choice of the best silvicultural system to be applied to the stand.

The LTER site "Mediterranean Forests" (IT 04 000 T Mediterranean Forests) consists of three ICP Forests Level II intensive monitoring plots (http://icp-forests.net/), belonging to the CONECOFOR National Program (since 1995). The three Research Sites are located in Tuscany (Colognole - LI, TOS1), Lazio (Acquapendente - VT, LAZ1) and Sicily (Godrano - PA, SIC1). Each area is a 50m fenced square area, where passive samplers and automatic survey units are located, which are designed to collect data on the physiological processes that reflect the interactions of trees with their living environment and provide valuable information on the impacts of atmospheric pollution on forests and the alterations produced by polluting compounds on plant growth, on the balance of their foliar nutrients and on the functionality of soils, proving to also possess the right flexibility required by the current knowledge challenges on functioning of semi-natural forest ecosystems. The three areas, so far apart from each other on the national territory, have been included in this LTER macrosito because they represent the woody cenoses of the Mediterranean belt, with a prevalence of tree species from Turkey (Quercus cerris L.) and holm oak (Quercus ilex L.). These woods are characterized by the typical Mediterranean climate (hot and dry summers, mild winters and autumn rainfall), presence of evergreen or sclerophillous plant species, despite submontane and pre-Apennine location (as in the case of the site of Monte Rufeno). However, forest monitoring has a rather high cost that, when not insured by national funds, is sought in other sources of funding, such as European projects. The ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas have been included in several LIFE projects (https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life), including the last one LIFE + ENV13EN000813 "Smart4Action" (Sustainable Monitoring and Reporting to Inform Forest and Environmental Awareness and Protection") which enabled to carry out a "spending review" on the national monitoring network. On the basis of the results obtained, it was possible to calculate which changes in the timing of the monitoring protocols, in the sampling frequencies and in the number of replicas will be feasible in order to obtain significant cost savings, while maintaining the scientific value of the collected data. These results also allowed to select and prioritize the ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas, better responding to the criteria needed to achieve the maximum monitoring efficiency with the least expense. The LAZ1 Monte Rufeno site turned out to belong to this category.

The LTER site "Mediterranean Forests" (IT 04 000 T Mediterranean Forests) consists of three ICP Forests Level II intensive monitoring plots (http://icp-forests.net/), belonging to the CONECOFOR National Program (since 1995). The three Research Sites are located in Tuscany (Colognole - LI, TOS1), Lazio (Acquapendente - VT, LAZ1) and Sicily (Godrano - PA, SIC1). Each area is a 50m fenced square area, where passive samplers and automatic survey units are located, which are designed to collect data on the physiological processes that reflect the interactions of trees with their living environment and provide valuable information on the impacts of atmospheric pollution on forests and the alterations produced by polluting compounds on plant growth, on the balance of their foliar nutrients and on the functionality of soils, proving to also possess the right flexibility required by the current knowledge challenges on functioning of semi-natural forest ecosystems. The three areas, so far apart from each other on the national territory, have been included in this LTER macrosito because they represent the woody cenoses of the Mediterranean belt, with a prevalence of tree species from Turkey (Quercus cerris L.) and holm oak (Quercus ilex L.). These woods are characterized by the typical Mediterranean climate (hot and dry summers, mild winters and autumn rainfall), presence of evergreen or sclerophillous plant species, despite submontane and pre-Apennine location (as in the case of the site of Monte Rufeno). However, forest monitoring has a rather high cost that, when not insured by national funds, is sought in other sources of funding, such as European projects. The ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas have been included in several LIFE projects (https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life), including the last one LIFE + ENV13EN000813 "Smart4Action" (Sustainable Monitoring and Reporting to Inform Forest and Environmental Awareness and Protection") which enabled to carry out a "spending review" on the national monitoring network. On the basis of the results obtained, it was possible to calculate which changes in the timing of the monitoring protocols, in the sampling frequencies and in the number of replicas will be feasible in order to obtain significant cost savings, while maintaining the scientific value of the collected data. These results also allowed to select and prioritize the ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas, better responding to the criteria needed to achieve the maximum monitoring efficiency with the least expense. The LAZ1 Monte Rufeno site turned out to belong to this category.

Significant gaps remain in understanding the response of plant reproduction to environmental change. This is partly because measuring reproduction in long-lived plants requires direct observation over many years and such datasets have rarely been made publicly available. Here we introduce MASTREE+, a data set that collates reproductive time-series data from across the globe and makes these data freely available to the community. MASTREE+ includes 73,828 georeferenced observations of annual reproduction (e.g. seed and fruit counts) in perennial plant populations worldwide. These observations consist of 5971 population-level time-series from 974 species in 66 countries. The mean and median time-series length is 12.4 and 10 years respectively, and the data set includes 1122 series that extend over at least two decades (≥20 years of observations). For a subset of well-studied species, MASTREE+ includes extensive replication of time-series across geographical and climatic gradients. Here we describe the open-access data set, available as a.csv file, and we introduce an associated web-based app for data exploration. MASTREE+ will provide the basis for improved understanding of the response of long-lived plant reproduction to environmental change. Additionally, MASTREE+ will enable investigation of the ecology and evolution of reproductive strategies in perennial plants, and the role of plant reproduction as a driver of ecosystem dynamics. EEA Santa Cruz Fil: Hacket-Pain, Andrew. University of Liverpool. School of Environmental Sciences. Department of Geography and Planning; Reino Unido Fil: Foest, Jessie J. University of Liverpool. School of Environmental Sciences. Department of Geography and Planning; Reino Unido Fil: Pearse, Ian S. U.S. Fort Collins Science Center. Geological Survey; Estados Unidos Fil: LaMontagne, Jalene M. DePaul University. Department of Biological Sciences; Estados Unidos Fil: Koenig, Walter D. University of California Berkeley. Hastings Reservation; Estados Unidos Fil: Vacchiano, Giorgio. University of Milan. Milan Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; Italia. Fil: Bogdziewicz, Michał. Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Biology. Institute of Environmental Biology; Polonia Fil: Bogdziewicz, Michał. University Grenoble Alpes. INRAE, LESSEM; Francia Fil: Caignard, Thomas. Université Bordeaux. INRAE, BIOGECO; Francia Fil: Celebias, Paulina. Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Biology. Institute of Environmental Biology; Polonia Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fil: Ascoli, Davide. University of Torino. Department of Agricultural. Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA); Italia Fil: Gallo, Leonardo Ariel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Gallo, Leonardo Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Marchelli, Paula. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Marchelli, Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentina

We provided long-term stand and canopy structural data from permanent monitoring plots representative of some most diffuse temperate and Mediterranean forests, under different coppice management regimes. Periodic inventories were performed in the surveyed plots since the 1970s. Annual litterfall production and its partitioning (leaf, woody, reproductive parts) and optical canopy measurements using the LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer were performed every year in fully equipped plots since the 1990s. These data can be used for evaluating the influence of coppice management in the stand and canopy structure, the parametrization of radiative transfer models that require accurate ground truth data, and the calibration of high to medium resolution remotely sensed data. Dataset access is at https://doi.org/10.17632/z8zm3ytkcx.2 . Associated metadata is available at https://agroenvgeo.data.inra.fr/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/2bd2d77f-3cf8-43da-b1b5-9f8196dc017f .

Rapid, reliable and meaningful estimates of forest canopies are essential to the characterization of forest ecosystems. The aim of the research was to conduct a thorough technical appraisal of existing available digital photographic methods for forest canopy estimation. The more traditionally used digital hemispherical photography (DHP), which measures the gap fraction at multiple zenith angles, was compared with methods that measure the gap fraction at a single zenith angle, namely 57° photography and cover photography (DCP). DCP is a more recent canopy photographic method, which measures gap fraction at the zenith (0°). These methods were applied in deciduous forests of beech, chestnut and Turkey oak. All photographic methods provided good indirect estimates of canopy properties, as compared with reference direct methods obtained by littertraps and AccuPAR ceptometers. However, all methods showed different advantages and disadvantages, which were discussed and addressed. Among the methods, DCP showed high potential as a means to quickly obtain inexpensive estimates of forest canopy over large areas, being therefore highly suitable for routine, research and monitoring of forest canopy attributes. The method also appeared particularly suitable for calibrating nadir remotely-sensed canopy estimates, on account of its high vertical resolution imagery. Comparison of logarithm gap fraction averaging procedures implied in DHP allowed defining a protocol for effective leaf area index and apparent clumping index extraction from non segmented analysis of gap fraction, which can be applied to both DHP and LAI-2000 PCA. The results have important implications for the evaluation of satellite-based leaf area index product of airborne laser scanning (LiDAR). Comparisons of compact (point-and-shoot) cameras with digital single lens reflex cameras allowed defining standardized field protocol for image acquisition and software analysis. The outcome can greatly assist canopy photographic methods to achieve the standards of an ideal device. The study also provided a suite of several variables of interest such as light extinction coefficient and crown porosity, which can provide insights towards the characterization of deciduous forests, and which can be further applied for further canopy studies in deciduous stands. L’obiettivo della tesi è di fornire una analisi tecnica approfondita delle metodologie esistenti per la caratterizzazione e la stima degli attributi della copertura forestale basate sull’utilizzo della fotografia digitale. La fotografia emisferica (DHP), tecnica tradizionalmente impiegata in campo forestale, basata su misure multiple simultanee della trasmittanza a diversi angoli zenithali, viene comparata con metodi basati su singole misure della trasmittanza, registrate rispettivamente a 57° gradi e allo zenith (0°); quest’ultima metodologia, detta fotografia cover (DCP), rappresenta la tecnica fotografica di più recente introduzione, basata su singole misure verticali della trasmittanza ottenute tramite l’utilizzo di una focale di 70 mm (focale equivalente 35 mm) orientata allo zenith. Queste metodologie sono state testate in foreste decidue di faggio, castagno e cerro. Tutti le tecniche fotografiche sono risultate accurate per la stima degli attributi forestali della copertura, a partire dal confronto con metodologie dirette di riferimento. Tuttavia, ciascun metodo ha mostrato differenti vantaggi e svantaggi, che vengono analizzati e discussi in dettaglio. Tra le tecniche, la più recente DCP offre notevoli vantaggi in termini di semplicità, rapidità e basso costo, essendo pertanto altamente indicata per l’utilizzo in protocolli di monitoraggio e di ricerca di lungo termine. L’analisi degli algoritmi utilizzati per la stima degli attributi della copertura in DHP ha permesso di definire un protocollo standard per la stima dell’indice di area fogliare effettiva e per la caratterizzazione della eterogeneità spaziale della copertura a differenti scale. Viene infine valutata l’accuratezza delle fotocamere compatte e delle più recenti reflex digitali. L’analisi ha permesso di definire un protocollo per la acquisizione e il processamento delle immagini, che può essere considerato come riferimento per il raggiungimento di alti livelli di accuratezza nell’utilizzo della tecnica fotografica digitale. Dottorato di ricerca in Ecologia forestale