An assessment of forest vitality along an elevation gradient in the Czech Republic based on satellite products

0562074 - ÚVGZ 2023 eng A - Abstract
Kusbach, Antonín - Forkel, M. - Karthe, D.
An assessment of forest vitality along an elevation gradient in the Czech Republic based on satellite products.
[ForestSAT 2022. Berlín, 29.08.2022-03.09.2022]
Method of presentation: Poster
URL events: https://www.forestsat2022.com/ 
R&D Projects: GA TA ČR(CZ) TO01000345
Institutional support: RVO:86652079
Keywords : satellite remote sensing * picea abies * forest vitality * modis npp
OECD category: Forestry

Healthy forests provide ecosystem services that are crucial for the society-nature interactions. Moreover, they play an important role in biophysical and biogeochemical feedbacks to the climate system. In recent decades, a rising concern and interest regarding their health status has come into attention in central Europe, mainly in Forest ecology and related research fields, economy and social sectors. The importance of having access to vital and productive forests has gradually become greater in the context of rapid climate change and its consequences on forest ecosystems. Large scale clear-cutting, landscape fragmentation and biodiversity loss due to unfavorable climate conditions and related anthropogenic activities are examples of indisputable disturbances that take place in the Czech Republic nowadays.
A spatio-temporal monitoring of forest vegetation status is crucial for clearer understanding of the concurrent carbon dynamics in this region. The abundance of the Earth observation data from space allows the scientific community to monitor e.g. changes in a forest composition, structure and assemble vegetation trends, yet the full understanding of the underlying mechanisms and ecosystem feedbacks to climate and the society remains a challenge. The utilization of satellite remote sensing products (MODIS GPP) with complementary data from eddy covariance towers can shed light into the topic and narrow the knowledge gap between the accuracy of long-term Earth observation from space and in situ measurements.
This study presents preliminary results of forest productivity trends along an elevation gradient in a 20-year window from 2000 to 2020. The findings suggest that the overall forest productivity in typical mixed forest (spruce, beech, oak, pine) has been gradually declining, particularly in the low to mid elevations, (200 to 800 m a.s.l.), whereas the mountainous regions (above 800 m) seem to be prospering. Furthermore, the species composition, consisting predominantly of Picea abies (Norway spruce) does not seem suitable for most areas except the mountain regions and plateaus, given the current climate conditions and forest management scenarios in the Czech Republic and the surrounding regions. The future focus of this study will aim to utilize higher resolution phenology and climate data to assess forest productivity at regional scales and further improve the understanding of carbon dynamics in central Europe
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0334494