This study aims to predict the spatial distribution of tropical deforestation. Landsat images dated 1974, 1986 and 1991 were classified in order to generate digital deforestation maps which locate deforestation and forest persistence areas. The deforestation maps were overlaid with various spatial variables such as the proximity to roads and to settlements, forest fragmentation, elevation, slop...

In this studywe compared the performance of regression tree ensembles using hyperspectral data. More specifically, we compared the performance of bagging, boosting and random forest to predict Sirex noctilio induced water stress in Pinus patula trees using nine spectral parameters derived from hyperspectral data. Results from the study show that the random forest ensemble achieved the best over...

In Denmark, the right to hunt is vested with the land owner but can be transferred to others and is traded on a well-established market. The dominant form of hunting leases is time limited contract transferring the hunting rights on a piece of land to one or more persons. We analyze this market for hunting leases using the hedonic method on a rich set of data obtained from Danish hunters. We hy...

Many studies have reported tree growth reduction in forests with pedestrian trampling, implying a reduction of tree transpiration in such forests. We undertook observations of tree transpiration based on the heat-pulse method in a forest (Lithocarpus edulis) with pedestrian trampling. We prepared trampled and control plots in the forest. Tree transpiration in the trampled plot was reduced compa...

The PnET-Day model was independently parameterized to compare with estimated eddy covariance gross ecosystem production (GEP; gC m 2 day ) in a mature mixed hardwood and a mature red pine (Pinus resinosa) forest in Northern Wisconsin during the growing season of 2002 and 2003. The mature hardwood forest was dominated by Populus tremuloides, Populus grandidentata, Betula papyrifera, Quercus rubr...

Multiple field studies have suggested chemistry within a forest canopy is poorly understood due to inadequate detection and quantification of reactive biogenic emissions, such as terpenes. To measure emission rates of terpenes at Blodgett Forest, a coniferous forest in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, we placed enclosures over branches of the dominant species at the site – Ponderosa p...

Corridors are important geographic features for biological conservation and biodiversity assessment. The identification and mapping of corridors is usually based on visual interpretations of movement patterns (functional corridors) or habitat maps (structural corridors). We present a method for automated corridor mapping with morphological image processing, and demonstrate the approach with a f...

This paper discusses issues and requirements associated with the development of a spatial decision support system for the USDA Forest Service. A system was developed which integrates optimization based management planning models using map based representations of the spatial area being analyzed. This system was designed to address the decidedly hierarchical planning environment of the USDA Fore...

Tropical secondary forests created by swidden-fallow agriculture cover extensive areas in the humid tropics and yield significant ecological and economic benefits, yet forest fallowing behaviour among swidden cultivators remains poorly understood. This paper reports on a study of forest fallow management among Amazonian peasant farmers in a traditional, riverside community near Iquitos, Peru. D...

Estimates of forest area were obtained for the states of Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri in the United States using stratified analyses and observations from forest inventory plots measured in federal fiscal year 1999. Strata were created by aggregating the land cover classes of the National Land Cover Data (NLCD), and strata weights were calculated as proportions of strata pixel counts....