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Knowledge of forest biomass is an essential parameter for managing the forest in a sustainable way, as forest biomass data availability and reliability are necessary for forestry and forest planning, but also for the carbon market as well as to support the local economy in the mountain and inner areas. However, the accurate quantification of the above-ground biomass (AGB) is still a challenge both at the local and global levels. The use of remote sensing techniques with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms can be an excellent trade-off between resolution, scale, and frequency data of AGB estimation. In this study, we evaluated the combined use of RGB images from UAV, LiDAR data and ground truth data to estimate AGB in a forested watershed in Southern Italy. A low-cost AGB estimation method was adopted using a commercial fixed-wing drone equipped with an RGB camera, combined with the canopy information derived by LiDAR and validated by field data. Two modelling methods (stepwise regression, SR and random forest, RF) were used to estimate forest AGB. The output was an accurate maps of AGB for each model. The RF model showed better accuracy than the Steplm model, and the R2 increased from 0.81 to 0.86, and the RMSE and MAE values were decreased from 45.5 to 31.7 Mg ha-1 and from 34.2 to 22.1 Mg ha-1 respectively. We demonstrated that by increasing the computing efficiency through a machine learning algorithm, readily available images can be used to obtain satisfactory results, as proven by the accuracy of the Random forest above biomass estimation model.

The recognition of the key role of forests in contrasting the dramatic effects of climate change and biodiversity crisis is the pillar of many initiatives on a global, European, and national scale calling for afforestation campaigns. The Italian forest nursery sector is currently inadequate to meet the demand for tree seedlings for the national campaigns. Forest nursery production is characterized by regional or local companies that are remarkably different from each other in organization and efficiency. It is therefore urgent to develop a comprehensive restructuring of the entire sector to be able to respond to the specific needs of forestry projects in Italy and Europe. In this paper, we present a series of key principles and criteria aimed at guiding the renaissance of the sector. Strategic actions are proposed by integrating research, governance, public/private partnership, training, and communication. The strategic approach presented is based on a collaborative structure integrating various skills and responsibilities. The first step is an expert review of the Basic Materials (BM) included in the National Register thanks to the development of the genetic studies of forest stands and the inclusion of shrub and herbaceous species, essentials for ecosystem restoration projects counteracting the biodiversity crisis. A series of actions concerns the aspects of certification, voluntary or prescriptive, of the quality of BM, and the ultimate harmonization of national production to European standards. Particular importance needs to be devoted to the collection, evaluation, and conservation of seeds to develop innovative solutions both for the production of BM and for specific implementation phases of afforestation projects and ecosystem restoration. The governance phase might be implemented through the creation of interregional centers with the duty of collecting and conserving seeds, thus enhancing the existing experiences of outstanding regional and provincial tree nurseries with the support of the National Centers for the study and conservation of Forest Biodiversity. Furthermore, the promotion of partnerships between public and private companies and the creation of a shared and accessible national platform represent strategic actions of primary importance. A fundamental role is then assigned to the implementation of training programs and the construction of an open and incremental communication plan. Thanks to these actions it will be possible to place forest nurseries at the center of the relationships between tree planting and afforestation plans and programs, integrated forest design, implementation of new forests, and their adaptive management.

Forests cover nearly 40% of European land, with different country percentage and patchy distribution. The European forestry sector highlights that forest areas have different ownership: private (by firms, individual, or organizations) and public (State, communities or municipalities). The number of forestry holdings, size of landholding, and ownership types influence and drive forest management, governance and various other socio-economic linked issues. Moreover, forest owners determine management objectives and policies which influence the application of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) practices. Several tools were developed to promote SFM, including forest certification. Numerous forest certification schemes are present across the world but the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) are those prevalent. However, a map of certified forests is lacking, although mapping would be essential to locate the percentage of forest that are certified to be sustainably managed. The study mapped forest certification across 43 European states, according to 499 FSC and 284 PEFC reports and assessed the proportion of certified forest area on public and private land and the rate of increase. This research was carried out collecting information on European certified forest companies/owners and locating geographically their forests at sub-national level (regions, NUTS 2). The database of the Joint COST Action FACESMAP/UNECE/FAO was an important data source. At European level, about six percent of the forest is certified under FSC scheme, while about seven percent under PEFC scheme. As forest certification is a useful tool to manage forests aiming at the integration of economic, ecological and social sustainability, the knowledge of the location and area of certified forest in Europe could be important in motivating decision makers to increase these sustainably managed areas.

Simulation, calibration and validation protocols for the model 3D-CMCC-CNR-FEM: a case study in the Bonis’ watershed (Calabria, Italy). At present, the climate changes issue is perhaps the greatest threat that is affecting people and the environment. Forest ecosystems have a key role in the mitigation of climate change. In this context, the prediction of the evolution and growth dynamics of the forests including carbon and water fluxes, and in relation to forest management has become a primary objective. The present study aims at defining a protocol for data collection and the workflow for using the 3D-CMCC-CNR-FEM model in a small mountain watershed in the Calabria region. Within this work we synergistically integrate data coming from different methods (e.g., LiDAR, eddy covariance and sample area) to predict forest dynamics (growth, carbon and water fluxes). Carbon and water fluxes will be simulated considering also the effects of forest management.

CO2 fluxes from soil, together with soil water content and temperature have been measured over one solar year in an even-aged beech forest (Fagus Sylvatica L.) in southern Italy. We investigated the effects of three different harvested biomass removal treatments (traditional, innovative, unharvested control) on soil respiration (Rs) in three plots from May 2014 to April 2015, with the aim to evaluate the effects of such silvicultural practices on the CO2 respired from the forest floor. The influence of soil temperature and soil moisture on soil respiration was also analysed. Rs showed large variations among the treatments, with the innovative treatment resulting in significantly higher soil respiration than control and traditional treatments. There were no significant differences in soil temperature between the treatments, whereas soil water content was statistically different only in the innovative treatment. The study showed that the mean soil respiration increased with thinning intensity, confirming that after harvesting, residues remaining on the forest floor and decomposing roots may contribute to raise soil respiration, due to the higher microbial activity.

In the last decades, the ecological, economic and social analysis of benefits provided by ecosystem to society has coved a great importance in the scientific international literature. The main studies focuses on three aspects: ecosystem services potential supply, demand and use. The potential supply is defined as the ecosystem biophysical capacity to supply services, while the demand represents the amount of service desired by the society. The third aspect considers the current use of a ecosystem service in order to satisfy the social demand. This study focused on the evaluation of social demand on ecosystem services provided by forests at local level (Calabria region) under the project “ALForLab”. The main objective of the present study is to analyze the stakeholders’ opinions and preferences of forest sector in Calabria Region about relevance of forest ecosystem services and categories of ecosystem services. The study, conducted in four areas (Pollino, Sila, Catena Costiera and Serre Calabre), was structured in three steps: (i) identification and classification of stakeholders (stakeholder analysis); (ii) administration of a questionnaire to the previously identified stakeholders; (iii) statistical analysis of the data collected by questionnaire. Stakeholders’ opinions and preferences were analyzed in order to highlight the differences between study areas and groups of stakeholders. At the end of the stakeholder analysis, 320 stakeholders were identified and contacted, 71 of whom filled in the questionnaire (response rate of 22%). The results show that the two main categories of ecosystem services are the supporting services and regulating services. According to the stakeholders’ opinions the three most important forest ecosystem services are: biodiversity, landscape and hydrogeological protection. Landscape is particularly important because it is strictly linked to the cultural value and social identity of a territory. This survey show that the characteristics and peculiarities of each study area are the main factors that influence the stakeholders’ preferences on single elements of the landscape. In the study areas characterized by a high natural value (Pollino, Sila and Serre Calabre) the stakeholders consider the natural elements of the landscape (forests and water bodies) as the most important, while in the most urbanized study area (Catena Costiera) the anthropic and cultural elements have a key importance. Finally, the stakeholders consider the forest fires, the illegal cuttings and the forest management abandonment the three main important threat factors to forests functionality in Calabria.

In Italy, the value of bioeconomy is 251 billion € and more than 1.7 million of workforce is employed in this sector. The forest-wood chain cover about 15% of total value of bioeconomy. The consultation draft of Italian Bioeconomy Strategy was presented on November 22, 2016. This document identifies three macro-sectors (agrifood, marine bioeconomy, forestry and biobased industry) with the respective objectives and priorities. In addition, some Italian regions are organizing to devise a regional strategy detailing the key points of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy and Italian Bioeconomy Strategy in accordance with local peculiarities. In order to develop a regional strategy for the forest sector it is important to investigate the social demands and needs involving the local stakeholders. The aim of the study is to investigate the stakeholders’ opinions of Calabria Region (Italy) about the priorities of forest-wood chain to include in the future regional bioeconomy strategy. The stakeholders’ opinions were collected through the face-to-face administration of a structured questionnaire to 99 local stakeholders. The respondents assessed the importance of a set of objectives aimed to enhance the forest-wood chain at local level (economic exploitation of wood products; diffusion of forest certification; orientation of production to market demand; coordination of forest-wood-energy chain’s actors; implementation of environmental and cultural forest values; improvement of the level of mechanization in wood processing; improvement of the efficiency of forestry workers). In addition, the respondents assessed the capacity of some specific activities to achieve the above mentioned objectives. The collected data were used to define two strategies aimed to enhance the forest-wood chain in Calabria Region. The results show that for the interviewed stakeholders the main three objectives are: the implementation of environmental and cultural forest values, the improvement of the efficiency of forestry workers, and the diffusion of forest certification. In addition, the stakeholders highlighted the importance of the activities of environmental education for the citizens and the professional training courses for the forest operators. Finally, the diffusion of forest certification is a key issue for the interviewed stakeholders. This issue can be achieved facilitating the access of the certified products to the market and creating a chain-of-custody system for the wood products.

Texture is a primary variable affecting the total amount of carbon stock in the soil. The standard methods for determining soil texture, however, are still conducted manually and are largely time-consuming. Reflectance spectroscopy in the visible, near infrared (Vis-NIR, 350-2500 nm) spectral region could be an alternative to standard laboratory methods. The aim of this paper was to develop calibration models based on laboratory Vis-NIR spectroscopy and PLSR analysis to estimate the texture (sand: 2-0.05 mm; silt: 0.05-0.002 mm; clay:

The release of organic compounds from roots is a key process influencing soil carbon (C) dynamics and nutrient availability in terrestrial ecosystems. Through this process, plants stimulate microbial activity and soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization thus releasing nitrogen (N) that sustains gross and net primary production (GPP and NPP, respectively). Root inputs also contribute to SOM formation. In this study, we quantified the annual net root-derived C input to soil (Net-Croot) across six high fertility forests using an in-growth core isotope technique. On the basis of Net-Croot, wood and coarse root biomass changes, and eddy covariance data, we quantified net belowground C sequestration. Belowground C accumulation and GPP were inversely related to soil C:N, but not to climate or stand age. Soil C content and C:N were also related to soil texture. At these high fertility sites, biomass growth did not change with soil C:N; however, biomass growth-to-GPP ratio significantly increased with increasing soil C:N. This was true for both our six forest sites and for another 23 high fertility sites selected at a global scale. We suggest that, at high fertility sites, plant N demand interacts with soil C:N stoichiometry and microbial activity, resulting in higher allocation of C to above ground tree biomass with increasing soil C:N ratio. When C:N is high, microbes have a low C use efficiency, respire more of the fresh C inputs by roots and prime SOM decomposition, thereby increasing N availability for tree uptake. Soil C sequestration would therefore decrease, whereas the extra N released during SOM decomposition can promote tree growth and ecosystem C sink allocation in aboveground biomass. Conversely, C is sequestered in soil when low soil C:N promotes microbial C use efficiency and new SOM formation and stabilization on clay particles.

Foliar nutrients in Italian forests: results from the 1995-2009 monitoring network sites CONECOFOR. In 1995, the Italian Forest Service (CFS) established the National Network for Forest Ecosystem Monitoring (CONECOFOR) with the aim to study the ecological interactions among structural and functional components of forest stands. In the 31 permanent plots of the CONECOFOR Network, surveys are carried out including vegetation, trees crown condition, chemistry of leaves and soils, tree growth, atmospheric deposition, climate, microclimate, ozone and biodiversity. These surveys are carried out by CFS in collaboration with several scientific institutions. In such context, IBAF/CNR is specifically involved in the investigation of foliage chemical content. The foliar nutritional status was analyzed in 25 sites, taking as a reference the values published by the ICP-Forests and those published in the literature. The study involved 7 forest species (Quercus cerris, Q. petraea, Q. robur, Q. ilex, Fagus sylvatica, Carpinus betulus and Picea abies) investigating the concentrations of the major macronutrients as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S) and calcium (Ca) and the N/P ratio. In beech, N, S and K were found in quite high concentrations, though without showing imbalances due to concentration excesses. Ca and Mg are present in very high concentrations, highlighting the possibility of imbalances, especially in relation to the other nutrients. For these two nutrients, spruce shows substantially balanced conditions as also for N/P ratio. For deciduous Oaks nutrients arewithin the parameters of normality, with the exception of Ca. This has been observed in 4 out of the 6 studied sites, with potential indication of nutritional imbalances related to Calcium. Nutrient concentrations in Holm oak are within the average of published data, except for Ca and Mg of site TOS-1, the former being slightly low, the latter being unusually high, in relation to the peculiar soil Mg content of the above site. Considering the coefficient of variation (CV), the variability of the different elements, taking in account all species, presents the following ranking: K ≈ P > Ca> Mg ≈ N / P > S> N. On those sites presenting the longer time-series (12 out of the 25 studied sites), a more detailed analysis has been performed in order to verify the existence of trends along the monitoring period for each nutrient. Calcium, Mg and N/P show a steady decrease during the considered time span. Such trend is less marked for Ca than for Mg and N/P. Phosphorus and K show an increasing trend while no common trends have been highlighted for N and S. Overall, the study provides relevant data on status and dynamics of nutrients in Italian forest ecosystems.

A semi-empirical model has been used to estimate total net primary productivity, canopy transpiration and the water use efficiency under actual and future climate projections (B1 and A2 IPCC Scenarios) of two deciduous (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus cerris) and one evergreen tree species (Quercus ilex) growing in Italy. In response to changes in the air temperature, the two deciduous species showed a strong reduction of NPP values, whereas the evergreen one showed very limited reductions. Under future warmer conditions, Q. ilex proved to be the best adapted species, probably for its drought-tolerant water-saving strategy, while Q. cerris suffered a reduction of transpiration, due to stomatal closure which was sensitive to the change of evaporative demand. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) values did not increase in the B1 and A2 scenarios, indicating a non-conservative water-saving strategy, which likely affected the distribution pattern of Q. cerris under these conditions. Similar functional behaviour have been noted for F. sylvatica, although this species adopted a water spending strategy, typical of species growing in mesic environments, that could represent a risk for survival of beech population under extreme air temperature change. In this respect, the reduced suitable area for this species under the A2 scenario could reduce the possibilities of an upward shift toward higher altitudes.

Italy entered the International Long Term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) in 2006, contributing a group of research sites in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems to the global network. Five forest sites are included in the Italian Network. They are representative of the main forest ecosystems in Italy and integrate 15 research stations managed by different institutes. Starting from LTER rationale and basic concepts, the first part of the paper reviews the status of LTER Italy forest sites, the strengths resulting from multidisciplinary expertise and site management, current activities and available datasets. Long term data series on key environmental parameters show the high scientific value of these sites, where monitoring and/or research is still ongoing. But two main LTER issues are currently arising in the international context: (1) overall consistency of datasets; (2) harmonization of sampling methods. For this reason, the second part of the paper investigates the suitability of Italian forest sites to address recommended long term research topics and ecological issues of global concern and to investigate the shift from in-site monitoring to cross-site cooperation and inter-site research.

Science-based approaches in addressing future risks and challenges for forests require close collaboration among the communities operating different monitoring and research networks as well as experts in process and large-scale modelling. Results of the COST FP0903 conference which took place in October 2010 in Rome, reveal valuable results from different European forest monitoring and research networks. However, the need for closer integration of these activities is obvious. In this paper, representatives from major European networks recommend a new approach for forest monitoring and research in Europe, based on a reasonable number of highly instrumented “supersites” and a larger number of intensive monitoring plots linked to these. This system needs to be built on existing infrastructures but requires increased coordination, harmonisation and a joint long term platform for data exchange and modelling.

Data from existing monitoring programmes such as ICP Forests, ICP Integrated Monitoring and EMEP, as well as from large-scale international projects such as CarboEurope IP and NitroEurope, can be used to answer questions about the impacts of air pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems and the feedbacks of forest to climate. However, for full use to be made of the available data, a number of questions need to be answered related to the availability, accessibility, quality and comparability of the data. For example, how can these databases be accessed, e.g., freely, over the internet, on request, by authorisation? How should intellectual property rights be protected, while improving access to data? What possibilities exist for harmonisation? Which quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures have been used and for how long? These and other relevant questions are discussed.

The “Allometric, Biomass and Carbon factors” database (ABC factors database) was designed to facilitate the estimation of the biomass carbon stocks of forests in order to support the development and the verification of greenhouse gas inventories in the LULUCF sector (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry). The database contains several types of expansion, conversion and combined factors, by various tree species or species groups that can be used to calculate biomass or carbon of forests of Eurasian region from proxy variables (e.g., tree volume) that may come from forest inventories. In addition to the factors, and depending on the information that was available in the cited source, the database indicates: (1) the biomass compartments involved when the factor was developed; and (2) the possible applicability of the factor, e.g. by country or by ecological regions. The applicability of the factors is either suggested by the source itself, or the type of source (e.g. National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report), or was based on the expert judgement by the compilers of the database. Finally, in order to facilitate the selection of the most appropriate of the data, the web-based interface provides the possibility to compare several factors that may come from different sources. The ABC factors database is freely available at the URL: http://afoludata.jrc.it/data_fs.cfm, in the web site AFOLU-DATA, funded and hosted by the Joint Research Centre (European Commission, DG-JRC).

A recent study based on inventory data from the RAINFOR network, published in the journal Science, reported a relevant effect of an anomalous dry year (2005) on biomass accumulation and mortality in Amazon old-growth forests. Results were obtained by comparing inventory data taken before and after the dry year and point to biomass losses in consequence of drought. These losses were driven by large mortality increases at some plots and by small but diffuse declines in growth. If upscaled to the area affected by drought, the release of carbon (1.21 PgC) would be much larger than that resulting from deforestation in the area (0.3÷0.8 PgC) and would offset the carbon gained in the recent past (0.5 PgC). As the frequency of extreme dry years is expected to increase in future climate scenarios, regional carbon balances may be strongly impacted with a positive feedback on climate change. The main results of the paper are briefly presented and commented.