Remote sensing solutions to model vegetation structure and scale up ecological and socio-economic functions in a changing landscape

Forest conversion into other land uses (e.g. production forests, arable lands) is strongly affecting both ecological services and the livelihoods of native populations, particularly in the tropics. Measuring and monitoring vegetation structure can provide timely insights into the health of different ecosystems and in turn can provide useful information to landholders and management agencies to implement adaptive management and conservation strategies.

Within the Central Scientific Service Project Z02 (Working Project 2 – Remote Sensing), my focus is to provide remote sensing data products for scaling up ecological and socio-economic functions from plot to landscape and regional level. This is done along a land use gradient (old growth secondary rainforest, jungle rubber, rubber and oil palm plantations) in the Jambi province, Sumatra (Indonesia). Structural measurements derived from airborne LiDAR (~30 points/m2) and hyperspectral images (30 cm pixel size) will be firstly calculated on a number of ground control plots (~100) and then scaled up to macro plots. Subsequently, these metrics will be related to spaceborne sensors, to provide information at the province and regional level.

Publications:
  • Camarretta N, Harrison PA, Lucieer A, Potts M, Davidson N, Hunt M (2020) From drones to phenotype: Using UAV-LiDAR to detect species and provenance variation in tree productivity and structure. Remote Sensing 12:3184, doi.org/10.3390/rs12193184
  • Camarretta N, Harrison PA, Bailey T, Davidson N, Lucieer A, Hunt M, Potts B (2020) Stability of species and provenance performance when translocated into different community assemblages. Restoration Ecology 28:447-458 doi.org/10.1111/rec.13098
  • Camarretta N, Harrison PA, Bailey T, Potts B, Lucieer A, Davidson N, Hunt M (2020) Monitoring forest structure to guide adaptive management of forest restoration: a review of remote sensing approaches. New Forests 51:573–596 doi.org/10.1007/s11056-019-09754-5
  • Camarretta N, Puletti N, Chiavetta U, Corona P (2017) Quantitative changes of forest landscapes over the last century across Italy. Plant Biosystems 152:1011-1019 doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2017.1407374
  • Fares S, Bajocco S, Salvati L, Camarretta N, Dupuy JL, Xanthopoulos G, Guijarro M, Madrigal J, Hernando C, Corona P (2017) Characterizing potential wildland fire fuel in live vegetation in the Mediterranean region. Annals of Forest Science 74:1 doi.org/10.1007/s13595-016-0599-5
  • Puletti N, Camarretta N, Corona P (2016) Evaluating EO1-Hyperion capability for mapping conifer and broadleaved forests. European Journal of Remote Sensing 49:157-169 doi.org/10.5721/EuJRS20164909
  • Chiavetta U, Camarretta N, Garfı V, Ottaviano M, Chirici G, Vizzarri M, Marchetti M (2016): Harmonized forest categories in central Italy. Journal of Maps 12:98-100 doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2016.1161437