Search

Aim of study: An individual-tree growth system was developed for Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) plantations. Area of study: Aragón region (Northeast Spain). Material and methods: Two datasets were used: Second and Third Spanish National Forest Inventories (104 plots with 1,678 trees), and ad hoc permanent plots (58 plots with 1720 trees, including 36 dead trees). Individual tree growth system was based on nine models. Different combinations of yield classes, initial stocking rates, thinning parameters, rotation periods, and age at first thinning were evaluated through the three most representative scenarios: timber production; soil conservation and biodiversity enhancement. Main results: The nine models demonstrated a significant explanatory power for the data, with R2 values ranging from 0.71 to 0.99. These findings are consistent with previous research, indicating a strong goodness of fit. Additionally, yield tables were developed for the three prevalent silvicultural scenarios. To enhance usability, all models within the system were seamlessly integrated into a web-based application SIMANFOR. Research highlights: To date, Aleppo pine forest managers in Aragon could only simulate silvicultural scenarios in natural stands. This study provides a new tool for plantations.

Aim of study: We introduce the software ModERFoRest (Modelling Environmental Requirements for Forest Restoration), which is a tool to estimate the environmental requirements and environmental performance of the main forest tree species growing in Spain. Area of study: Two of their modules have been developed to be applied mainly in Spain, but the main section can be used elsewhere as long as the user provides with presence data and environmental information. Material and methods: ModERFoRest has been programmed in C++, also using the Armadillo library for algebraic computation. The application can be downloaded from the INIA website (https://www.inia.es/serviciosyrecursos/recursosinformaticos/modernforest/Paginas/ModERFoRest.aspx) where there are also more accessible resources (currently only in Spanish language). Main results: ModERFoRest provides three basic utilities, firstly, to select the optimal species to be used for forest restoration, at local or regional scale, among the 22 most important taxa or formations in Spain, based on ecological criteria and physiographic, climatic and edaphic information. Secondly, to explore the potential distribution areas of the species using the ecological niche models and algorithms developed throughout different projects on the autecology of the species over the last 55 years. Finally, the application provides the option of comparing different areas of the species ecologically, in order to obtain the most suitable reproductive material for the forest site under study. Research highlights: Users can also run not only recent but also future climate scenarios in order to simulate the distribution of ecological species and use the results in reforestation programmes and planning.

Impacts of climate warming on forests vigour are forecasted to increase in magnitude. Yet it remains unclear how stand characteristics and competition modulate the relationship between tree growth and gross primary production with drought. Here, we studied how the spatial variation in stand density, basal area and height modulates tree growth (Basal Area Increment, BAI and stand growth), summer NDVI, as well as their responses to drought (Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI) in 56 Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) planted forests located in Northeast Spain. Long-term BAI responses to SPEI were strongly determined by stand density, suggesting that competition modulates Aleppo pine growth responses to drought. Along this, summer NDVI also displayed strong associations with SPEI. NDVI was mostly related with stand growth, suggesting canopy densification drives NDVI pattern and trends. Short-term BAI and NDVI responses to severe droughts were mainly independent of stand characteristics. In the studied region, drought is a universal factor limiting Aleppo pine secondary growth and canopy greening. However, the results suggest that stand density modulates Aleppo pine growth responses to drought on the long-term, reducing the growth in densest stands. Denser stands with larger trees are the ones that present higher NDVI values, suggesting that canopy activity depends more on stand canopy coverage than on secondary growth rate and its response to drought. In these Mediterranean pines, canopy activity and secondary growth are temporally coupled but spatially decoupled.

El objetivo de esta tesis es diseñar metodologías que identifiquen la distribución vertical de la vegetación independientemente de los ecosistemas que componen la zona de estudio. Esta tesis, al enmarcarse en un doctorado industrial, incorpora el objetivo de crear desarrollos metodológicos que impulsen la competitividad de la empresa en el mercado laboral. Con este objetivo último, la tesis ha implementado tres metodologías ágiles, precisas y aplicables a gran escala, cuya finalidad ha sido identificar la estructura tridimensional de la vegetación que condiciona las coberturas del suelo presentes y, por tanto, la gestión aplicable en cada caso. Esta tesis incorpora tres capítulos, independientes entre sí, cada uno con un reto metodológico. El Capítulo 3 buscó detectar árboles individuales de plantaciones jóvenes de Pinus pinaster y Pinus radiata en parcelas permanentes destinadas a investigación, delinear sus copas y evaluar su altura. El Capítulo 4 incluye una metodología capaz de identificar las coberturas de suelo presentes en una interfaz urbano-forestal, las cuales están relacionadas directamente con la distribución vertical de la vegetación. El Capítulo 5 incluye el desarrollo de una metodología para identificar un umbral capaz de adaptarse a la estructura real de cada parcela. Este umbral sería una alternativa generalizable a todo un monte y replicable sin necesidad de nuevas mediciones en campo. Paralelamente a estos trabajos se ha participado en dos registros de la propiedad intelectual, easyLaz® y easySat®, cuya finalidad es el procesado de información LiDAR y multiespectral respectivamente.