New study: Patterns of hurricane gaps in a longleaf pine landscape
Ecological approaches to forestry seek to emulate aspects of natural disturbances like hurricanes which are a common disturbance in longleaf pine forets. This study used airborne lidar to measure patterns of hurricane-created gaps to offer guidance for application of natural disturbance-based management in landscapes dominated by longleaf pine.
New study: Measuring complex forests with airborne lidar
A recent study from the Landscape Ecology lab led by Andy Whelan explores a new approach to improve large-scale measurements of forest structure using lidar. The study explored the use of “volumetric pixels” (or voxels) which have shown promise for forest measurement. The technique led to accurate estimates of wood volume, even when forest composition was unknown.