Technical sheets

Guidelines for GNSS-GPS systems use in forestry

Publish Date: 2009, 2014

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

The activity started installing a national network of areas for navigation and positioning tests (e.g. GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO) under tree cover. Those areas are freely accessible by anyone interested to test its own devices, either amateurs or professionals, or for training courses. A website is available, where registered users may submit data and process their own tests on-line and in real time. The activity was supported by the National Forest Corp (currently Arma dei Carabinieri) within the project TARGETSTARS. The network currently consists of tree areas in Northern and Central Italy; next steps will be the restoration of one of them damaged by the storm Vaia and further installation of a test area in the South of Italy. Antonio Floris email: antonio.floris@crea.gov.it

Methods for forest management and planning

Publish Date: 2009, 2011

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

The traditional methodologies adopted for forest resources assessment have been moved, in the last decades, from total callipering of forest management units to statistical sampling techniques, mainly for efficiency and cost reasons. Statistical procedures have proven to be particularly efficient, in reducing cost, when coupled with angle count sampling (ACS) by means of relascope. All these innovations allow flexibility, for example moving from compartment estimates to statistical strata and stand estimates. These methods are aimed also to a better description of small forest stands, more homogeneous for structure and species composition than the traditional large forest compartments. They have been developed under specific technical requirements of the Province of Trento and have been officially adopted after an experimental period that proved scientific soundness and practical feasibility. Antonio Floris email: antonio.floris@crea.gov.it

Regional and local volume tables for the main forest tree species in Italy

Publish Date: 2004, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

Models for tree-volume and biomass prediction are essential in forest resources assessment; the values predicted by the models are often shown in one- or two entry tables (the volume of a tree as a function of its diameter at breast height (DBH) and its total height). The research centre has developed models for forest tree species valid for Italian Regions, such as Trentino, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna, Toscana, Sardegna, but also at a local scale, as for the Castelporziano Presidential Estate in Rome. All the models have been published in form of both tables and math formulations, which can be easily implemented by the users in most popular processing software packages. Antonio Floris: email: antonio.floris@crea.gov.it

Models for estimating the volume and the biomass of forest trees

Publish Date: 1984, 2011

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

The two publications display the models developed to estimate the volume and the above-ground biomass of individual forest trees. The modelling approach and the number of species covered differed between the two works, as expected considering their distance in time. The first work was addressed to construct species-specific models suitable for use all over the country, based on already available local or regional volume tables. The second work consisted of sampling sample-trees across the country to collect data and laboratory sample for volume and biomass (dry weight) determinations and allowed to get original data for model construction. The models predict tree volume and biomass entering the diameter at breast height (DBH) and the total tree height as explanatory variables. The models allow estimating the volume and the biomass of the trunk, the branches and the stump separately or for the three components as a whole. Lucio Di Cosmo email: lucio.dicosmo@crea.gov.it

Carbon stocks in the Italian Forests

Publish Date: 2013

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

The book (in Italian) contains the second Italian National Forest inventory (INFC2005) estimates of the carbon stock in forests and plantations. The first part of the book describes the methodology adopted for the survey of the four carbon pools investigated, i.e. above-ground biomass (trees and shrubs), deadwood, litter and soil, as well as the analysis carried out in the laboratories. The second part of the book displays the tables with the estimates of C-stock in the four carbon pools; the estimates include the annual change due to removals (losses) and tree growth (gains). Lucio Di Cosmo email: lucio.dicosmo@crea.gov.it Please email to infc@crea.gov.it to get your copy.

Statistics on the Italian forests

Publish Date: 1988, 2005, 2011

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

National forest inventories represent a fundamental source of data and knowledge for forestry and environmental policy, either at the national or at the supra-national level. Originally addressed to estimate the availability of timber and wood, forest inventories nowadays provide data relevant to biodiversity, forest ecology, land use change, environmental conservation and social forestry. The field survey of the third national forest inventory (INFC2015) are currently in progress. Maria Rizzo email: maria.rizzo@crea.gov.it The results of the second Italian National Forest Inventory (INFC2005) Gasparini P., Tabacchi G. (a cura di) 2011. L’Inventario Nazionale delle Foreste e dei serbatoi forestali di Carbonio INFC 2005. Secondo inventario forestale nazionale italiano. Metodi e risultati. Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali, Corpo Forestale dello Stato; Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Unità di ricerca per il Monitoraggio e la Pianificazione Forestale. Edagricole, Milano, pp. 650. Forest area estimates Forest quantitative variables The results of the first Italian National Forest Inventory (IFNI85) MAF-ISAFA, 1988 – Inventario forestale nazionale – IFN1985. Sintesi metodologica e risultati. Ministero dell’Agricoltura e delle Foreste, Corpo Forestale dello Stato. Istituto Sperimentale per l’Assestamento Forestale e per l’Alpicoltura, Trento: 461 pp. Forest area Volume estimates Forest area by ownership type Forest area by altitude class Main considerations

Manual for Visual Assessment of Forest Crown Condition

Publish Date: 2011

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

The first part of the book is about the methods for selecting the trees relevant for crown condition assessment in the Level-I ICP Forest Network. The sampling procedure was developed within the Actions L1 and L2 of the Life+ Project FutMon (Further Development and Implementation of a EU-level Forest Monitoring System LIFE+ 07 ENV/D/000218) which aimed at assessing feasibility of integrating the ICP-Forest Network into the national forest (INFC) inventory one. Patrizia Gasparini email: patrizia.gasparini@crea.gov.it Download the manual

Protocol for the survey of the forest carbon pools

Publish Date: 2008

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

The manual illustrates the procedures to survey the carbon pools in the plots of the third Italian National forest inventory (INFC2005). The four pools investigated were the aboveground biomass, deadwood, litter and soil. A software was specifically developed for the data recording; the manual is also a guidebook for it. Patrizia Gasparini email: patrizia.gasparini@crea.gov.it

Protocols for the inventory of forest stands

Publish Date: 1983, 2004, 2006, 2016

Research centers: Forestry and Wood

The field manuals elucidate the protocols developed for the survey in the plots of the three national forest inventories so far conducted in Italy. The NFIs were carried out in 1985, 2005 and 2015. The manuals summarize the definitions adopted (e.g. for forest area and trees), illustrate how to assess/measure the variables, and give details on the use of the software in use for the data recording. Patrizia Gasparini email: patrizia.gasparini@crea.gov.it