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Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a key role for improving the implementation of sustainable forest management at local, regional, and global level. The ICT potential to easily exploit a wider and more up-to-date set of information on the economic, environmental, and so- cial value of forests is of relevant help for the daily work of technicians, land owners, and companies in boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of forest management. The concept of “Precision Forestry” (PF) was developed from the early 2000s, as a branch of precision farming or precision agriculture. PF includes the use of ICT, remote and proximal sensing technologies, and other devices to coordinate and control several processes on a spatial scale (“Precision”) for monitoring, planning, and managing forest resources (“Forestry”). The aim of this monography is to collect and describe some of the most important PF experiences applied or potential- ly useful for the Italian forestry sector. It may represent a reference guide for the stakeholders, such as forest owners, professional technicians, public administrators, and policy makers. The book includes eleven chapters reviewing the main tech- nological tools available in the Italian context and the most recent advances of ICT in forestry, also focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of their practical implementation. The opportunities and challenges of implementing PF meth- ods, practices and technologies are also discussed. In the first two chapters the precision forestry concept and its historical development are introduced. In the third chap- ter some basic elements of ICT, GIS, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), remote/proximal sensing, and related technologies which are essential for a better compre- hension of PF applications are recalled. In chapter 4 recent advances in large scale forest inventories with a focus on mapping and on the spatial estimation of forest variables integrating field surveys and multisource re- motely sensed data are described. Current advancements in the acquisition of field information including Terrestrial La- ser Scanning (TLS), new digital dendrometers, tree-talkers, terrestrial cameras, and APP for portable devices such as smartphones or tablets for dendrometric tree measures and new citizen science applications to support quantitative and qualitative spatial estimation of forest variables over large areas (i.e., forest health, fuel types) are also presented. The chapter ends up with the description of some experiences in the implementation of Forest Information Systems in Italy to provide a simple open-access to such new generation of spatial forest information. In chapter 5 PF tools, instruments, and technologies to sup- port sustainable forest management are illustrated. APPs developed to acquire field plots data to simulate manage- ment operations, the application of photogrammetric tech- nologies from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and TLS data for monitoring with high-spatial scale forest monitoring and for acquiring indicators at single tree level are presented. A de- tailed description of new user-friendly tools for forest roadplanning, design and construction, as well as forest opera- tion planning is also included. Precision forest tree farming (with particular reference to poplar cultivation), useful to promote and increase the prof- itability and sustainability of forest plantations within the Italian context is described in chapter 6. The innovation and enhancement within the supply chain of wood plantations (from planting to harvesting, including monitoring and identification of stress) by soil proximal sensing techniques, Early Warning Systems, and specific software are highlight- ed. Considering the even higher market demands, promoted by the large-scale planting programs for climate changes mit- igation and the demands for propagation material for en- vironmental recovery, innovative techniques and methods supported by ICT in the forest nursery sector are described in chapter 7. In chapter 8 available technologies related to precision har- vesting are analyzed and described taking into consideration the wood chain efficiency, by means of improved commu- nications between the owner/buyer and operators as well as among machineries used in forest operations, health and safety of forest operators, environmental impacts mitigation and recovery, and operators training. Advanced communi- cation systems and sensors for the exchange of data and information between machines, machine-equipments and/or machine-operators, teleoperations and automation are also described. Chapters 9 and 10 are related to wood products traceabil- ity, timber quality assessment as well as the technologies for the optimization of wood transformation processes. The concepts of wood product traceability and tracing, togeth- er with latest digital technologies for the identification and tracking of the logs (i.e., fingerprinting and RFID), are de- tailly reported. Chapter 11 is finally dedicated to the relationship between the EU policy framework and the digitalization process in both agricultural and forestry sectors. The book summarizes, under a proactive and homogeneous framework, PF methods, tools and technologies in relation with the digital transition of the Italian forestry sectors. The authors hope this book will be useful for improving the implementation of sustainable forest management practic- es at all levels in Italy, providing a comprehensive review useful for policy makers, technicians, forestry owners and students.

In questo lavoro è stata esaminata la rinnovazione naturale di specie arboree forestali nella foresta di Vallombrosa in soprassuoli danneggiati dalla tempesta di vento del 2015. Il lavoro è stato condotto in quattro aree di studio che in precedenza ospitavano fustaie di abete bianco e di abete rosso. I rilievi sono stati eseguiti all’interno di transect disposti sui margini e all’interno delle aree disturbate dal vento. Dopo cinque anni dalla tempesta, nelle aree di studio è stata rilevata la presenza di rinnovazione di 11 diverse specie arboree forestali. L’abete bianco è risultata la specie più frequente, associata ad altre conifere come douglasia e pino laricio e a latifoglie decidue come faggio, castagno e cerro. La densità della rinnovazione nelle aree esaminate è compresa tra 0,68 e 1,13 piantine/m2, con un valore medio di 0,83 piantine/m2. Per l’abete bianco, l’indice di rinnovazione di Magini è risultato superiore sui margini delle aree investigate. Lo studio presenta i risultati di un’attività di monitoraggio che può aiutare a migliorare le conoscenze sulle dinamiche dei processi della rinnovazione forestale in aree disturbate da eventi estremi come le tempeste di vento.

Forests play a key role in the carbon cycle and the fight against climate change. Long-term monitoring of forest dynamics represents a key element for understanding forests transformations due to forest harvestings and disturbances including fires, wind storms, frost or drought events, and pathogen attacks. This work aims at mapping and evaluating the forest disturbances that have occurred in Italy since 1985, using Landsat satellite imagery and apposite algorithms. We predicted about 1.8 million forest disturbances occurring during the observation period. Disturbances ranged between 27.923 ha in 2014 and 261.733 ha in 1985. Most of the forest disturbances have been identified in Sicilia and Calabria. Commission errors fluctuated between 29% in 2012 and 65% in 2001 while omission errors were between 8% in 2014 and 88% in 2003. The results that we present in this work can increase our understanding of Italian forests, and serve as basis for future research, while the methodology we applied can support the production of official statistics on forest disturbances.

Poplars are one of the most widespread fast-growing tree species used for forest plantations. Owing to their distinct features (fast growth and short rotation) and the dependency on the timber pric...

Purpose of Review Forests provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) to society, and the demand for ES is growing at the global level. However, how to manage forests for the provision of multiple and sometimes conflicting services is a complex and still unresolved issue. In this study, we reviewed the scientific literature for the period 2010–2020 dealing with forest management and multiple ES in Mediterranean forests, with the aim of (1) outlining the progress in research, (2) identifying knowledge gaps and research needs, and (3) discussing management approaches considering multiple ES. The selected literature was analyzed considering different aspects of multiple ES (e.g., drivers of changes, modeling approaches, trade-offs, and synergies). Recent Findings Our results show that wood production is still one of the main management objectives, with an increasing attention toward non wood forest products. Carbon sequestration and biodiversity were the most investigated regulating functions, but also specific aspects are gaining attention (e.g., lichens for microclimate regulation). Changes in stand structure and density, the impact of coppice vs. high forest, and the effect of management practices vs. abandonment were considered as drivers of change at the stand/management unit scale, while the impact of climate changes and disturbances were considered at the landscape/regional scale using modeling. Summary Despite the progress made in the last decade, our review highlights that further research is needed to fill the gaps in the scientific literature regarding how forest management influences the provision of multiple ES in the Mediterranean region. From a conceptual point of view, there is the need for a shift to a new paradigm based on an adaptable, flexible management, and planning approach to sustain self-organization, adaptive capacity, and overall resilience of Mediterranean forests, overcoming the ecosystem “service” approach; operatively, research should move toward a transdisciplinary approach, which considers problems from a diversity of points of view and involves extended peer communities not only in the dissemination of research results, but also in the research process itself.

Forest planning, forest management, and forest policy require updated, reliable, and harmonized spatial datasets. In Italy a national geographic Forest Information System (FIS) designed to store and facilitate the access and analysis of spatial datasets is still missing. Among the different information layers which are useful to start populating a FIS, two are essential for their multiple use in the assessment of forest resources: (i) forest mapping, and (ii) data from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS). Both layers are not available wall-to-wall for Italy, though different local sources of information potentially useful for their implementation already exist. The objectives of this work were to: (i) review forest maps and ALS data availability in Italy; (ii) develop for the first time a high resolution forest mask of Italy which was validated against the official statistics of the Italian National Forest Inventory; (iii) develop the first mosaic of all the main ALS data available in Italy producing a consistent Canopy Height Model (CHM). An on-line geographic FIS with free access to both layers from (ii) and (iii) was developed for demonstration purposes. The total area of forest and other wooded lands computed from the forest mask was 102.608.82 km2 (34% of the Italian territory), i.e., 1.9% less than the NFI benchmark estimate. This map is currently the best wall-to-wall forest mask available for Italy. We showed that only the 63% of the Italian territory (the 60% of the forest area) is covered by ALS data. These results highlight the urgent need for a national strategy to complete the availability of forest data in Italy.

In the medieval period the Casentino was an important center for iron working and for the production of charcoal necessary for this activity. Between XIII and XIV centuries the Guidi family owned various ironworks in the localities of Cetica and Raggiolo. In this area companies of charcoal burners were active and used local forest resources for the production of charcoal. In this study we mapped the old charcoal kiln sites over an area of 1841 hectares located west of the center of Raggiolo. The charcoal kiln sites were mapped by photointerpretation of LiDAR-derived images. The results are discussed on the basis of the historical events that occurred in the study area between the end of the XIII and the first decades of the XIV century.

This study was carried out in the Regional Park of San Rossore (Italy) where we found natural regeneration of Stone pine (Pinus piena L.) in an even-aged stand of pine. The objectives of our study were to characterize the forest structure of the Stone pine stand and to quantify the natural regeneration of pine. Our results show that natural regeneration of P. pinea in the Park of San Rossore is a reachable target, however an adequate management is needed. The results are discussed with the intention of providing knowledge to support management of Stone pine forests along the Tyrrhenian coast.

The future dynamics of forest species and ecosystems depend on the effects of climate change and are related to forest management strategies. The expected impacts of climate change are linked to forest growth and productivity. An increase in the length of the growing season and greater productivity are likely as well as shifts in average climatic values and more variable frequencies, intensities, durations and timings of extreme events. The main aim of this work is to assess and describe the climatic requirements for Italian forest tree species. We used 7.272 field observations from Italian National Forest Inventory plots and average annual temperatures and precipitation as interpolated from raster maps with 1 km spatial resolution. On this basis we evaluated the current observed distributions of the 19 most important tree species in Italy with respect to potential climatic limits based on expert knowledge and the available literature. We found that only 46% of the observations fall within the potential joint temperature and precipitation limits as defined by expert knowledge. For precipitation alone, 70% of observations were within the potential limits, and for temperature alone, 80% of observations were within the potential limits. Similarity between current observed and potential limits differ from species-to-species with broadleaves in general more frequently distributed within the potential climatic limits than conifers. We found that ecological requirements and potential information should be revised for some species, particularly for the Pinus genus and more frequently for precipitation. The results of the study are particularly relevant given the threat of climate change effects for Italian forests which are broadly acknowledged to be a biodiversity hotspot. Further investigations should be aimed at modelling the effects of climate changes on Italian forests as a basis for development of mitigation and adaptation forest management strategies.

On October 29, 2018, the Vaia storm hits the North-Eastern regions of Italy by wind gusts exceeding 200 km h-1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. This contribution illustrates the methodology adopted in the emergency phase to estimate forest damages caused by Vaia storm, both in terms of damaged forest areas and growing stock volume of fallen trees. 494 Municipalities registered forest damages caused by Vaia, destroyed or intensely damaged forest stands amounted to about 42.500 ha, spread in Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and, only marginally, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. The growing stock volume of fallen trees was about 8.5 millions m3.

The Italian forest area has been increasing for several decades, but it is largely under conditions of abandonment due to the suspension of any form of active management. The article highlighted the positive aspects and the critical issues inherent in this situation. On a landscape scale, abandonment is seen as a positive factor that can determine the improvement of biodiversity over time but, since it mainly affects the forests of mountain areas, there is a real risk of compromising important protective functions that contribute to guaranteeing the quality of life of local communities, especially in the face of climate change. Logging operations always have a significant impact on stands but only through silviculture, if implemented with a systemic approach, it is possible to give the forest structure and composition that make it adequate to carry out protective functions. Forestry must therefore be relaunched as a tool to guarantee biological functionality, perpetuity and the use of the forest, increasing resistance, resilience and adaptability of the ecosystems in the face of global change

[Key message]: The adoption of new silvicultural methods and approaches requires an understanding of the differencesbetween those and“old”or“conventional”approaches, along with extensive training to break previous knowledge bias., [Context]: Forestry is in transition towards ecosystem-based management, and new silvicultural approaches are appearingworldwide. However, the adoption of an alternative silvicultural approach is difficult in practice., [Aims]: We analyzed the effect of forestry background and demographic variables (gender and age) of 24 raters on the application of thesystemic approach (SA) and the conventional approach (CA) in the Northern Apennines (Italy) and compared this with tree markingperformed by experts., [Methods]: Data were analyzed as raters’departures from experts’selections at the stand and the individual tree level. Theprobability of tree selection was also calculated., [Results]: At the stand level, raters with forestry background performed the SA as if they were marking for crown thinning,whereas the CA was less intense than experts’crown thinning. Non-foresters differentiated poorly between the SA and the CA. Atthe individual tree level, background and gender affected tree selection., [Conclusion]: The adoption of the SA as a silvicultural system may be conditioned by previous knowledge. The differencebetween SA and CA remains unclear when it comes to non-foresters. Gender was a more important variable than age in selectingwhich trees would be harvested., LIFE+ PProSpoT (Policy and Protection of Sporadic tree species in Tuscany forests, LIFE09 ENV/IT/000087).

International audience; AbstractKey messageThis work analyses the rate of recovery of the spectral signal from clearcut areas of coppice Mediterranean forests using Landsat Time Series (LTS). The analysis revealed a more rapid rate of spectral signal recovery than what was found in previous investigations in boreal and temperate forests.ContextThe rate of post-disturbance vegetation recovery is an important component of forest dynamics.AimsIn this study, we analyze the recovery of the spectral signal from forest clearcut areas in Mediterranean conditions when the coppice system of forest management is applied.MethodsWe used LTS surface reflectance data (1999–2015).We generated an annual reference database of clearcuts using visual interpretation and local forest inventory data, and then derived the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) spectral trajectories for these clearcuts. From these spectral trajectories, we calculated the Years to Recovery or Y2R, the number of years it takes for a pixel to return to within a specified threshold (i.e., 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%) of its pre-disturbance value. Spectral recovery rates were then corroborated using measures of canopy height derived from airborne laser scanning (ALS) data.ResultsThe coppice system is associated with rapid recovery rates when compared to rates of recovery from seeds or seedlings in temperate and boreal forest conditions. We found that the Y2R derived from the spectral trajectories of post-clearcut NBR and NDVI provided similar characterizations of rapid recovery for the coppice system of forest management applied in our study area. The ALS measures of canopy height indicated that the Y2R metric accurately captured the rapid regeneration of coppice systems.ConclusionThe rapid rate of spectral recovery associated with the coppice system is 2–4 years, which contrasts with values reported in boreal and temperate forest environments, where spectral recovery was attained in approximately 10 years. NBR is an effective index for assessing rapid recovery in this forest system.

Growing demand for wood products, combined with efforts to conserve natural forests, have supported a steady increase in the global extent of planted forests. Here, a two-phase sampling strategy for large-scale assessment of the total area and the total wood volume of fast-growing forest tree crops within agricultural land is presented. The first phase is performed using tessellation stratified sampling on high-resolution remotely sensed imagery and is sufficient for estimating the total area of plantations by means of a Monte Carlo integration estimator. The second phase is performed using stratified sampling of the plantations selected in the first phase and is aimed at estimating total wood volume by means of an approximation of the first-phase Horvitz-Thompson estimator. Vegetation indices from Sentinel-2 are exploited as freely available auxiliary information in a linear regression estimator to improve the design-based precision of the estimator based on the sole sample data. Estimators of the totals and of the design-based variances of total estimators are presented. A simulation study is developed in order to check the design-based performance of the two alternative estimators under several artificial distributions supposed for poplar plantations (random, clustered, spatially trended). An application in Northern Italy is also reported. The regression estimator turns out to be invariably better than that based on the sole sample information. Possible integrations of the proposed sampling scheme with conventional national forest inventories adopting tessellation stratified sampling in the first phase are discussed.

We present a novel approach for the prediction of forest growing stock volume based on explanatory variables from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) image photogrammetry without relying on the availability of a digital terrain model. This DTM-independent approach was developed to avoid the need for a detailed DTM, which is instead required in traditional photogrammetry to obtain relative heights above the terrain. The method, following an Area Based Approach (ABA), was tested in a boreal forest on a flat area in Norway and in a temperate mixed forest in a mountain steep terrain in Italy, on the basis of aerial images acquired with a SenseFly eBee Ag fixed-wing UAV. The plot level predictive performance of the models based on the DTM-independent metrics were evaluated against the results based on two more traditional approaches based on: (i) metrics from UAV photogrammetric data normalized using a DTM from airborne laser scanning (ALS), and (ii) metrics from ALS data. Percent root mean square error of predictions against measured values (RMSE%) was used for quantifying the performance of the different tests. Results revealed that the DTM-independent approach produced comparable results with both the traditional photogrammetric and ALS methods (the RMSE% ranged between 15.9% and 16.7% in Italy, and between 16.3% and 17.9% in Norway). Our results demonstrated that UAV photogrammetry can be used effectively for predicting forest growing stock volume even when high-resolution DTMs are not available, hence increasing the potentiality of UAVs in forest monitoring and inventory.

The spatial prediction of growing stock volume is one of the most frequent application of remote sensing for supporting the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. For such a purpose data from active or passive sensors are used as predictor variables in combination with measures taken in the field in sampling plots. The Sentinel-2 (S2) satellites are equipped with a Multi Spectral Instrument (MSI) capable of acquiring 13 bands in the visible and infrared domains with a spatial resolution varying between 10 and 60 m. The present study aimed at evaluating the performance of the S2-MSI imagery for estimating the growing stock volume of forest ecosystems. To do so we used 240 plots measured in two study areas in Italy. The imputation was carried out with eight k-Nearest Neighbours (k-NN) methods available in the open source YaImpute R package. In order to evaluate the S2-MSI performance we repeated the experimental protocol also with two other sets of images acquired by two well-known satellites equipped with multi spectral instruments: Landsat 8 OLI and RapidEye scanner. We found that S2 worked better than Landsat in 37.5% of the cases and in 62.5% of the cases better than RapidEye. In one study area the best performance was obtained with Landsat OLI (RMSD = 6.84%) and in the other with S2 (RMSD = 22.94%), both with the k-NN system based on a distance matrix calculated with the Random Forest algorithm. The results confirmed that S2 images are suitable for predicting growing stock volume obtaining good performances (average RMSD for both the test areas of less than 19%).

Climate change is an unprecedented issue in modern times, with significant implications on the status of forest ecosystems and the multiple benefits they provide. Climate change is also a dynamic and complex issue that increases uncertainty about what future forests will look like. Because of these unpredictable effects, forest managers could benefit from monitoring, rather than modelling, tools to assess the effect of management on the status and trends of forest resources. Sustainable Forest Management is based on the principle of maintaining and enhancing the long-term health of forest ecosystems while providing environmental, economic, social, and cultural opportunities for current and future generations. The objective of the FRESh LIFE project is to demonstrate the possible integration of remote sensing technologies, in order to provide high resolution spatial information on selected SFM indicators under Forest Europe process, at the forest management unit scale. In this study we present the activities of the FRESh LIFE project carried out in a Mediterranean study area (Central Italy) to create a Forest Information System (DSS). Forest inventory data and high resolution remote sensing data acquired by drones (UAV) were used to produced maps of SFM Indicators. These maps were implemented in the Forest Information System to support forest managers in the decision making process

Production of wood charcoal in the Mediterranean countries started over two millennia ago and vanished almost completely only in the last century. The legacy of this activity are thousands of abandoned charcoal kiln platforms, in which soil and vegetation characteristics are deeply affected. Understanding the consequences of such effects at the forest level demands a better knowledge of the density, distribution and morphology of these sites, as well as the influence of forest type and local geomorphological characteristics. We examined these aspects using field surveys and Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data in 1-ha sample quadrats distributed along an altitudinal gradient in three major forest types of Central Italy, namely evergreen sclerophyllous forest, oak-dominated thermophilous deciduous forest and montane beech forest. We found on average 5.5 kiln sites per ha. The highest overall surface proportion covered by charcoal platforms was recorded in oak-dominated forests, due to their generally larger size. In beech forests, kiln platforms were more numerous than in the other two forest types, but smaller. Density was intermediate in the sclerophyllous forests, where the overall proportion of surface was lowest. The charcoal-enriched soil layer was usually single and continuous (e.g. not interrupted by mineral layers). The thickness of this layer was similar in the three forest types, but increased with slope inclination. Several features of our kiln platforms such as density and shape were distinct from others in Central and Northern Europe, probably reflecting different forest histories and purposes for which they were built. Using ALS, we could detect all kiln platforms in beech forest on steep slopes and approximately 75% of the kilns in oak forests on hilly terrain. Hence, all further ecologically- or archaeologically-oriented study in our region at the landscape level will benefit from the use of hillshade and/or slope images from ALS data.

Forest operations can cause compaction and rutting, resulting in soil degradation processes. Soil damage is usually assessed through costly and time-consuming manual field measurements. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of logging operations on soil using traditional ground surveys integrated with laser scanning data acquired by a terrestrial portable laser scanner (PLS). This approach provides an alternative to soil rut manual measurements. Two skid trails, that differed by the numbers of machine passes and slope were sampled. Data collection was performed before and after forest operations. The specific objectives were to: (i) assess soil compaction, and (ii) determine rutting by way of multi-temporal high-resolution digital terrain models (DTM) generated by PLS data. This is the first study to assess changes in soil volume via the PLS. Significant logging impacts were detected using both investigation methods (i.e., physical parameters from traditional surveys and rutting from multi-temporal spatial analysis based on DTM). The PLS method provides a very high sampling density of the soil surface, permitting detailed spatial analysis of terrain changes. Moreover, the pre-processing cost for PLS-generated DTM is low in comparison to the time needed for traditional survey based on manual field measurements. PLS may be a useful instrument for soil sampling in forest monitoring applications.

The conservation of biological diversity is recognized as a fundamental component of sustainable development, and forests contribute greatly to its preservation. Structural complexity increases the potential biological diversity of a forest by creating multiple niches that can host a wide variety of species. To facilitate greater understanding of the contributions of forest structure to forest biological diversity, we modeled relationships between 14 forest structure variables and airborne laser scanning (ALS) data for two Italian study areas representing two common Mediterranean forests, conifer plantations and coppice oaks subjected to irregular intervals of unplanned and non-standard silvicultural interventions. The objectives were twofold: (i) to compare model prediction accuracies when using two types of ALS metrics, echo-based metrics and canopy height model (CHM)-based metrics, and (ii) to construct inferences in the form of confidence intervals for large area structural complexity parameters. Our results showed that the effects of the two study areas on accuracies were greater than the effects of the two types of ALS metrics. In particular, accuracies were less for the more complex study area in terms of species composition and forest structure. However, accuracies achieved using the echo-based metrics were only slightly greater than when using the CHM-based metrics, thus demonstrating that both options yield reliable and comparable results. Accuracies were greatest for dominant height (Hd) (R2 = 0.91; RMSE% = 8.2%) and mean height weighted by basal area (R2 = 0.83; RMSE% = 10.5%) when using the echo-based metrics, 99th percentile of the echo height distribution and interquantile distance. For the forested area, the generalized regression (GREG) estimate of mean Hd was similar to the simple random sampling (SRS) estimate, 15.5 m for GREG and 16.2 m SRS. Further, the GREG estimator with standard error of 0.10 m was considerable more precise than the SRS estimator with standard error of 0.69 m.

In Tuscany (central Italy), Italian stone pine forests ( Pinus pinea L.) have characterized the coastal landscape for about five centuries. Coastal stone pine forests provide many goods and services, such as dune stability, protection of arable lands, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, space for tourism and recreation, landscape perception and aesthetic, wood and non-wood forest products. Since the middle of the 20th century this anthropogenic landscape has been diminishing due to changes in forest dynamics and land use. Nowadays, the quality and quantity of goods and services provided by coastal pinewoods are influenced by the adopted management styles and by decision-making factors which depend on temporary socio-economic needs that often veer from sustainable forest management criteria. The objectives of this study were: (i) to map the current distribution of stone pine forests along the Tuscan coast, (ii) to analyze land use and land cover changes between 1954 and 2010, and (iii) to describe the structure and principal dynamics of stone pine forests in this area. Results show that in 2010, stone pine forests amounted to 10 660 ha. Land use changes along the Tuscan coast reflect the trends reported on a national scale: urbanization, abandonment of agricultural areas, and expansion of forested areas. Pure stone pine forests have contracted between 1954 and 2010 while the frequency of mixed stone pine-broadleaf forests has grown as a result of successional dynamics, which have progressively led to a transformation of the coastal landscape. Results are discussed with the intention of providing knowledge to support management of the forest landscape along the Tyrrhenian coast

Nowadays, forest inventories are frequently carried out using a combination of field measurements and remote sensing data, often acquired with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors. Several studies have investigated how three-dimensional laser scanning point clouds from different platforms can be used to acquire information traditionally collected with forest instruments, such as hypsometers and callipers to detect single-tree attributes like tree height and diameter at the breast height. The present study has tested the performances of the ZEB1 instrument, a type of hand-held mobile laser scanner, for single-tree attributes estimation in pure Castanea sativa Mill. stands cultivated for fruit production in Central Italy. In particular, the influence of walking scan path density on single-tree attributes estimation (number of trees, tree position, diameter at breast height, tree height, and crown base height) was investigated to test the efficiency of field measures. The point clouds were acquired by walking along straight lines drawn with different spacing: 10 and 15 m apart. A single-tree scan approach, which included walking with the instrument around each tree, was used as reference data. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the survey, the influence of the walking scan path was discussed in relation to the accuracy of single-tree attributes estimation, as well as the time and cost needed for data acquisition, pre-processing, and analysis. Our results show that the 10 m scan path provided the best results, with an omission error of 6%, the assessment of single-tree attributes was successful, with values of the coefficient of determination and the relative root mean square error similar to other studies. The 10 m scan path has also proved to decrease the costs by about &euro, 14 for data pre-processing, and a saving of time for data acquisition and data analysis of about 37 min compared to the reference data.

A Landsat time series has been recognized as a viable source of information for monitoring and assessing forest disturbances and for continuous reporting on forest dynamics. This study focused on developing automated procedures for detecting disturbances in Mediterranean coppice forests which are characterized by rapid regrowth after a cut. Specifically, new methods specific to Mediterranean coppice forests are needed for mapping clearcut disturbances over time and for estimating related indicators in the context of Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity International monitoring frameworks. The aim of this work was to develop a new change detection algorithm for mapping clearcut disturbances in Mediterranean coppice forests with Landsat time series (LTS) using a short time window. Accuracy for the new algorithm, characterized as the Two Thresholds Method (TTM), was evaluated using an independent clearcut reference dataset over a temporal period of the 13 years between 2001 and 2013. TTM was also evaluated against two benchmark approaches: (i) LandTrendr, and (ii) the forest loss category of the Global Forest Change Map. Overall Accuracy for LandTrendr and TTM were greater than 0.94. Meanwhile, smaller accuracies were always obtained for the GFC. In particular, Producer’s Accuracy ranged between 0.45 and 0.84 for TTM and between 0.49 and 0.83 for LT, while for the GFC, PA ranged between 0 and 0.38. User’s Accuracy ranged between 0.86 and 0.96 for TTM and between 0.73 and 0.91 for LT, while for the GFC UA ranged between 0.19 and 1.00. Moreover, to illustrate the utility of TTM for mapping clearcut disturbances in Mediterranean coppice forests, we applied TTM to a Landsat scene that covered almost the entirety of the Tuscany region in Italy.

The k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) technique is a popular method for producing spatially contiguous predictions of forest attributes by combining field and remotely sensed data. In the framework of Working Group 2 of COST Action FP1001, we reviewed the scientific literature for forestry applications of k-NN. Information available in scientific publications on this topic was used to populate a database that was then used as the basis for a meta-analysis. We extracted qualitative and quantitative information from 260 experimental tests described in 148 scientific papers. The papers represented a geographic range of 26 countries and a temporal range from 1981 to 2013. Firstly, we describe the literature search and the information extracted and analyzed. Secondly, we report the results of the meta-analysis, especially with respect to estimation accuracies reported for k-NN applications for different configurations, different forest environments, and different input information. We also provide a summary of results that may reasonably be expected for those planning a k-NN application using remotely sensed data from different sensors and for different forest attributes. Finally, we identify some methodological publications that have advanced the state of the science with respect to k-NN.

In this study we assessed the land suitability for black pine forests ( Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold) in Tuscany Region (Central Italy), and for the most frequent minor species in the pine stands – chestnut, turkey oak and beech - in a climate change scenario. The habitat suitability maps were constructed by the land suitability method of FAO using climatic parameters (temperature and precipitation) and physical parameters (slope of the land and soil characteristics). The climate change scenario used is the A2 scenario of HadCM3 model. The predictive ability of cartographic models was evaluated with ROC statistical analysis. The accuracy of the habitat suitability maps was good (AUC = 0.875 for chestnut, and 0.813 for black pine), especially for beech (AUC = 0.952); for the turkey oak, the quality of the cartographic model was lower (AUC = 0.628) than the other species. The results indicate the presence of critical environmental issues for about 20% of the total area of pine forests (10,071 ha), a proportion that rises to 50% in the climate change scenario considered. The models obtained for minor species indicate that turkey oak and chestnut could play a useful role in the future for the re-naturalization of black pine forests in the context of environmental changes.

The aim of this work is to characterize the structure of beech stands at the timberline in the central Apennines (Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park), and to analyze seed production and germination. Stand structure was analyzed using structural indexes with data collected in plots drawn out in beech stands along the timberline. Diameter growth was measured on a sample of trees felled by natural disturbances. During 2013, a good mast year, we analyzed seed production of these stands and germination rate in comparison to seed collected from stands growing at lower altitudes. Results showed that there are two main structural types which are still strongly impacted by grazing: single storied stands with big and very old trees (over 400 years, DBH>70 cm); and stands with complex structures where groups of old trees are mingled with multistoried patches formed by trees of different size and age. In all cases, dendrochronological analyses showed very slow diameter growth. Void seed percentage at the timberline was 82%, much higher than the one for seeds produced at lower altitudes (55%). Nevertheless, seed production in good years can be considered sufficient if compared to other Italian beech stands. We believe our study can be a useful starting point for a deeper and coordinated study on forest stand dynamics at the timberline, an area which is particularly delicate because very susceptible both to environmental and land use changes.

On the 5 th of March 2015 a wind storm, with wind speed exceeding 160 km/h, caused extensive damage to Tuscan forests (Central Italy). Here we describe the guidelines for the restoration of the forest potential of the main forest types damaged by the wind storm, both coppices and high forests. The most impacted high forests were pure even aged stands originated by planting (e.g. silver fir, Austrian pine, stone pine), where past management often aimed at maintaining uniform structures. We conclude that restoration interventions must be the first step of a change in management aimed at increasing resistance and resilience of Tuscan forests so as to maintain their precious ecological functions in face of a future which appears very uncertain, and not only from a climatic point of view

Forest ecosystems are fundamental for the terrestrial biosphere as they deliver multiple essential ecosystem services (ES). In environmental management, understanding ES distribution and interactions and assessing the economic value of forest ES represent future challenges. In this study, we developed a spatially explicit method based on a multi-scale approach (MiMoSe-Multiscale Mapping of ecosystem services) to assess the current and future potential of a given forest area to provide ES. To do this we modified and improved the InVEST model in order to adapt input data and simulations to the context of Mediterranean forest ecosystems. Specifically, we integrated a GIS-based model, scenario model, and economic valuation to investigate two ES (wood production and carbon sequestration) and their trade-offs in a test area located in Molise region (Central Italy). Spatial information and trade-off analyses were used to assess the influence of alternative forest management scenarios on investigated services. Scenario A was designed to describe the current Business as Usual approach. Two alternative scenarios were designed to describe management approaches oriented towards nature protection (scenario B) or wood production (scenario C) and compared to scenario A. Management scenarios were simulated at the scale of forest management units over a 20-year time period. Our results show that forest management influenced ES provision and associated benefits at the regional scale. In the test area, the Total Ecosystem Services Value of the investigated ES increases 85% in scenario B and decreases 82% in scenario C, when compared to scenario A. Our study contributes to the ongoing debate about trade-offs and synergies between carbon sequestration and wood production benefits associated with socio-ecological systems. The MiMoSe approach can be replicated in other contexts with similar characteristics, thus providing a useful basis for the projection of benefits from forest ecosystems over the future L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore www.elsevier.com/locate/envres