Refereed journal article or data article (A1)
Revealing Changes in the Stem Form and Volume Allocation in Diverse Boreal Forests Using Two-Date Terrestrial Laser Scanning
List of Authors: Luoma Ville, Yrttimaa Tuomas, Kankare Ville, Saarinen Ninni, Pyörälä Jiri, Kukko Antero, Kaartinen Harri, Hyyppä Juha, Holopainen Markus, Vastaranta Mikko
Publisher: MDPI
Place: Basel
Publication year: 2021
Journal: Forests
Journal name in source: FORESTS
Journal acronym: FORESTS
Article number: ARTN 835
Volume number: 12
Issue number: 7
Number of pages: 20
eISSN: 1999-4907
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f12070835
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070835
Self-archived copy’s web address: http://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/66680817
Tree growth is a multidimensional process that is affected by several factors. There is a continuous demand for improved information on tree growth and the ecological traits controlling it. This study aims at providing new approaches to improve ecological understanding of tree growth by the means of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Changes in tree stem form and stem volume allocation were investigated during a five-year monitoring period. In total, a selection of attributes from 736 trees from 37 sample plots representing different forest structures were extracted from taper curves derived from two-date TLS point clouds. The results of this study showed the capability of point cloud-based methods in detecting changes in the stem form and volume allocation. In addition, the results showed a significant difference between different forest structures in how relative stem volume and logwood volume increased during the monitoring period. Along with contributing to providing more accurate information for monitoring purposes in general, the findings of this study showed the ability and many possibilities of point cloud-based method to characterize changes in living organisms in particular, which further promote the feasibility of using point clouds as an observation method also in ecological studies.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |