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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Lidar And Machine Learning Estimation Of Hardwood Forest Biomass In Mountainous And Bottomland Environments, Bowei Xue
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Light detection and ranging (lidar) has been applied in various forest applications, such as to retrieve forest structural information, to build statistical models for identification of tree species, and to monitor forest growth. However, despite significant progress in these areas, the choice of regression approach and parameter tuning remains an ongoing critical question. This study focused on choosing the right spatial generalization level to transform lidar point clouds to 2D images which can be further processed by mature image processing and pattern recognition approaches. It also compared the prediction ability of popular machine learning algorithms applied to aboveground forest biomass …
Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak In The Central Himalaya? Socioeconomic Implications For Local People And The Conservation Of Oak Forest Biodiversity, Ankush Nautiyal
Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak In The Central Himalaya? Socioeconomic Implications For Local People And The Conservation Of Oak Forest Biodiversity, Ankush Nautiyal
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Various studies have suggested that chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is replacing banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) in the Central Himalaya. Five sites with three different types of forests (banj oak, chir pine and mixed oak-pine) were sampled to compare the diversity of their vegetation and to assess the impact of this ongoing conversion on biodiversity. Soil samples collected from oak and pine forests were analyzed and compared. In addition, dendrochronology was used to obtain age estimates of chir pine and to understand the growth response of this species to precipitation. Also, samples of ectomycorrhizal fungi were collected in the form of …
Mapping Ancient Baldcypress Forests For Conservation At Black River, North Carolina, Jordan Nichole Burns
Mapping Ancient Baldcypress Forests For Conservation At Black River, North Carolina, Jordan Nichole Burns
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
A few ancient baldcypress-bottomland hardwood forests survive across the southeastern United States in a mosaic of remnant old-growth stands left untouched by extensive logging during the early 20th century. Uncut stands in the Southeast that survived centuries of disturbance following European settlement tended to be too senescent and non-commercial to justify logging. Remnant ancient baldcypress forests at Black River, North Carolina, appear to contain the oldest living trees in eastern North America and The Nature Conservancy has protected several of these stands. However, the full extent of ancient bottomland forests along Black River is not known and many valuable tracts …
A 1,461-Year Growing Season Precipitation Reconstruction For The Carolina Coastal Plain, Kathryn Perkins Wolff
A 1,461-Year Growing Season Precipitation Reconstruction For The Carolina Coastal Plain, Kathryn Perkins Wolff
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
A recollection and dating of ancient cypress trees and subfossil logs was performed at Black River, North Carolina, and the separate Black River, South Carolina. The new updated and expanded chronologies date from AD 365 to 2010 and 549 to 2010, respectively. Baldcypress ring-width chronologies are dominated by high inter-annual to decadal variability and do not tend to capture century scale fluctuations in tree-ring growth that could be associated with centennial scale change in climate. The tree-ring chronologies were standardized with a technique designed to preserve low frequency variance known as regional curve standardization. The two chronologies were averaged into …
Analyzing Spring Freeze Impacts On Deciduous Forest Productivity Using Modis Satellite Imagery, Karl Lintvedt
Analyzing Spring Freeze Impacts On Deciduous Forest Productivity Using Modis Satellite Imagery, Karl Lintvedt
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The impacts of an April 2007 spring freeze event on the productivity of deciduous broadleaf forest were analyzed using geographic information system (GIS) tools. Forest productivity was modeled using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), as recorded by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor. Measures of spatial autocorrelation were used to quantify the degree of spatial congruence between a map depicting the severity of the freeze event, and maps modeling forest productivity throughout the year. The results show a geographic correlation between the unseasonably low minimum temperatures sustained during the freeze and the unusually low forest productivity that followed. …