Vegetation structure derived from airborne laser scanning to assess species distribution and habitat suitability: The way forward

0575509 - BÚ 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Moudrý, Vítězslav - Cord, A.F. - Gábor, L. - Laurin, G. V. - Barták, V. - Gdulová, K. - Malavasi, M. - Rocchini, D. - Stereńczak, K. - Prošek, Jiří - Klápště, P. - Wild, Jan
Vegetation structure derived from airborne laser scanning to assess species distribution and habitat suitability: The way forward.
Diversity and Distributions. Roč. 29, č. 1 (2023), s. 39-50. ISSN 1366-9516. E-ISSN 1472-4642
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA20-28119S
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : habitat heterogeneity * LiDAR * pregictors
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 4.6, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13644

Ecosystem structure, especially vertical vegetation struc-ture, is one of the six essential biodiversity variable classes and is an important aspect of habitat heterogeneity, affect-ing species distributions and diversity by providing shelter, foraging, and nesting sites. Point clouds from airborne laser scanning (ALS) can be used to derive such detailed in-formation on vegetation structure. However, public agen-cies usually only provide digital elevation models, which do not provide information on vertical vegetation structure. Calculating vertical structure variables from ALS point clouds requires extensive data processing and remote sensing skills that most ecologists do not have. However, such information on vegetation structure is extremely valuable for many analyses of habitat use and species dis-tribution. We here propose 10 variables that should be easily accessible to researchers and stakeholders through national data portals. In addition, we argue for a consistent selection of variables and their systematic testing, which would allow for continuous improvement of such a list to keep it up-to- date with the latest evidence. This initiative is particularly needed not only to advance ecological and biodiversity research by providing valuable open datasets but also to guide potential users in the face of increasing availability of global vegetation structure products.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0345339