Accurate information about forest volumes is essential for forest management planning. The survey interval of the Forest Resource Inventory of China (FRIC) is too long to meet the demand for timely decision-making required for forest protection, management, and utilization. Analysis of satellite imagery provides good potential for more frequent reporting of forest parameters. In this study, we describe an application of the k-nearest neighbors (kNN) method to Landsat TM imagery for improving estimation of forest volumes. Several spectral features were tested and compared in forest volume estimations, including normalized difference vegetation index, environmental vegetation index, and the combination of the spectral features. The combined index resulted in the most accurate volume estimations. The kNN estimator and the combined index were then used in forest volume estimation. The estimation error (RMSE) of the total volume was44.2%, much lower than those for Larix forest (the RMSE was 51.7%) and those for the Korean pine and broadleaved forests (the estimation errors were over 71.7% and 88.19%,respectively). This preliminary study demonstrates the potential of forest volume estimations with remote sensing data to provide useful information for forest management if only limited ground information is available.
GU Huiyan, DAI Limin, WU Gang, XU Dong, WANG Shunzhong &WANG Hui Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
Forests in the Changbai Mountains are important timber sources for economic development of the society and provide ecological services in northeast China. In order to strengthen forest resource management, this paper analyzed management-induced changes in forest structure, tree species composition and forest landscape pattern from 1987 to 2000 for Baihe Forestry Bureau in Jilin Province based on digitized forest parcel maps and forest survey data. The results suggested that the area of Mature, High-Stocking, and Close-Canopy Forests decreased by 31.4%, 55.9% and 10.7% respectively; volume of Mixed Forest, the native forest vegetation type, decreased by 17.8%;the number of patches increased tremendously but the mean patch density decreased sharply for Mature, High-Stocking, Close-Canopy, and Mixed Forests. All the changes in forest structure, species composition, and landscape pattern indicated severe degradations going on with the forests in Baihe Forestry Bureau. Because of the effect of degradation to forest services, restoring forest resources and protecting biodiversity has become urgently important. The strategies of sustainable forest management need to be worked out and implemented.
ZHOU Li, DAI Limin , Guofan Shao, XU Dong, WANG Hui & BAI Jianwei Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
