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Forestry Advance Access published online on March 20, 2008
Forestry, doi:10.1093/forestry/cpm042
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© Institute of Chartered Foresters, 2008. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Possibilities for harmonizing national forest inventory data for use in forest biodiversity assessments

Susanne Winter1,*, Gherardo Chirici2, Ronald E. McRoberts3, Elmar Hauk4 and Erkki Tomppo5

1 Department für Ökologie, Fakultät für Forstwissenschaft und Ressourcenmanagement, Technische Universität München, Am Hochanger 13, D-85354 Freising, Germany
2 EcoGeoFor, Laboratorio di Ecologia e Geomatica Forestale, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Ambiente e il Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise. Contrada Fonte Lappone s.n.c., I-86090 Pesche, Isernia, Italy
3 Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
4 Forstliche Bundesversuchanstalt, Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, A-1131 Wien, Austria
5 The Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, Fi-00170 Helsinki, Finland

* Corresponding author. E-mail: winter{at}wzw.tum.de


  Abstract

Representatives of the national forest inventories (NFIs) of 27 European countries and the USA evaluated possibilities for a common approach to forest biodiversity reporting. The project was conducted under the auspices of COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) Action E43, ‘Harmonisation of National Forest Inventories in Europe: Techniques for Common Reporting’. Based on the analysis of responses to an initial questionnaire regarding the most ecologically important and technically feasible variables for monitoring forest biodiversity using NFI data, 16 key variables were selected. Responses to a second questionnaire consisting of six questions regarding assessment of the 16 key variables revealed that the NFIs of most responding countries already assess a large proportion of these variables. Each of the 16 variables is assessed in at least eight NFIs. However, the responses regarding assessment methods and necessary field crew expertise varied considerably. As a first example, although tree diameters at breast height (d.b.h.) are assessed by every country, there is a wide range of minimum d.b.h. thresholds from 0 mm in Finland to 12 cm in Cyprus and Switzerland. As a second example, eight countries estimated that almost all inventory variables require highly skilled forest staff with specialized training, but most countries agree that a middle level of expertise is sufficient. Despite differences in current NFI methods, overall, the results of the study indicate positive possibilities for achieving a moderate level of European-wide harmonization.

Received 1 December 2006.
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