Airborne Laser Scanning Cartography of On-Site Carbon Stocks as a Basis for the Silviculture of Pinus Halepensis Plantations
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Author
Navarro Cerrillo, Rafael M.
Duque Lazo, Joaquín
Rodríguez-Vallejo, Carlos
Varo-Martínez, Mª Ángeles
Palacios Rodríguez, Guillermo
Publisher
MDPIDate
2018Subject
Airborne laser scanningCarbon sequestration
Carbon silviculture
Climate change
K-near neighbour
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Show full item recordAbstract
Forest managers are interested in forest-monitoring strategies using low density Airborne
Laser Scanning (ALS). However, little research has used ALS to estimate soil organic carbon (SOC) as a
criterion for operational thinning. Our objective was to compare three different thinning intensities in
terms of the on-site C stock after 13 years (2004–2017) and to develop models of biomass (Wt, Mg ha-1)
and SOC (Mg ha-1) in Pinus halepensis forest, based on low density ALS in southern Spain. ALS was
performed for the area and stand metrics were measured within 83 plots. Non-parametric kNN
models were developed to estimate Wt and SOC. The overall C stock was significantly higher in
plots subjected to heavy or moderate thinning (101.17 Mg ha-1 and 100.94 Mg ha-1, respectively)
than in the control plots (91.83 Mg ha-1). The bestWt and SOC models provided R2 values of 0.82
(Wt, MSNPP) and 0.82 (SOC-S10, RAW). The study area will be able to stock 134,850 Mg of C under
a non-intervention scenario and 157,958 Mg of C under the heavy thinning scenario. High-resolution
cartography of the predicted C stock is useful for silvicultural planning and may be used for proper
management to increase C sequestration in dry P. halepensis forests.