Forest Research Institute

About: Forest Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Dehra Dūn, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Forest management. The organization has 5320 authors who have published 7625 publications receiving 185876 citations.

Forest carbon allocation modelling under climate change.

Abstract: Carbon allocation plays a key role in ecosystem dynamics and plant adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Hence, proper description of this process in vegetation models is crucial for the simulations of the impact of climate change on carbon cycling in forests. Here we review how carbon allocation modelling is currently implemented in 31 contrasting models to identify the main gaps compared with our theoretical and empirical understanding of carbon allocation. A hybrid approach based on combining several principles and/or types of carbon allocation modelling prevailed in the examined models, while physiologically more sophisticated approaches were used less often than empirical ones. The analysis revealed that, although the number of carbon allocation studies over the past 10 years has substantially increased, some background processes are still insufficiently understood and some issues in models are frequently poorly represented, oversimplified or even omitted. Hence, current challenges for carbon allocation modelling in forest ecosystems are (i) to overcome remaining limits in process understanding, particularly regarding the impact of disturbances on carbon allocation, accumulation and utilization of nonstructural carbohydrates, and carbon use by symbionts, and (ii) to implement existing knowledge of carbon allocation into defence, regeneration and improved resource uptake in order to better account for changing environmental conditions.

Landslide Susceptibility Mapping Using Machine Learning Algorithms and Remote Sensing Data in a Tropical Environment.

Abstract: We used AdaBoost (AB), alternating decision tree (ADTree), and their combination as an ensemble model (AB-ADTree) to spatially predict landslides in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. The models were trained with a database of 152 landslides compiled using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry, Google Earth images, and field surveys, and 17 conditioning factors (slope, aspect, elevation, distance to road, distance to river, proximity to fault, road density, river density, normalized difference vegetation index, rainfall, land cover, lithology, soil types, curvature, profile curvature, stream power index, and topographic wetness index). We carried out the validation process using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and several parametric and non-parametric performance metrics, including positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, root mean square error, and the Friedman and Wilcoxon sign rank tests. The AB model (AUC = 0.96) performed better than the ensemble AB-ADTree model (AUC = 0.94) and successfully outperformed the ADTree model (AUC = 0.59) in predicting landslide susceptibility. Our findings provide insights into the development of more efficient and accurate landslide predictive models that can be used by decision makers and land-use managers to mitigate landslide hazards.

Forest dynamics and disturbance in a beech/hardwood forest, Fiordland, New Zealand.

Abstract: Valley floor beech/hardwood forests in northern Fiordland, New Zealand are dominated by Nothofagus menziesii, Weinmannia racemosa, and several species of subcanopy hardwoods. Population structures and replacement patterns, as determined from size- and age-structure and spatial pattern analysis, reflect the effects of periodic disturbances. The differential expression of aspects of species life history resulted in several regeneration strategies for Nothofagus and Weinmannia. Frequent minor treefalls allowed sporadic regeneration of N. menziesii and W. racemosa on logs in canopy openings resulting in all-aged stands. Infrequent catastrophic landslides and extensive windthrow (e.g., 0.2–0.5 ha) resulted in even-aged stands of N. menziesii or N. menziesii/W. racemosa with little subsequent regeneration. Other hardwoods, although rare on the forest floor in dense-canopied even-aged forest, were numerous on fallen logs and in the Nothofagus canopy crowns of all-aged forests. Establishment above competing dense fern understoreys on the forest floor and outside the browse zone of introduced deer and wapiti appeared critical for the regenerative success of many species, especially subcanopy hardwoods. The gap-phase replacement pattern for N. menziesii parallels that of N. cunninghamii in the rainforests of Tasmania but contrasts with a continual replacement pattern for N. menziesii in many pure beech forests of New Zealand.