Building a network of overmature forests using airborne laser scanning and landscape graphs

Etienne Lalechère (1) , Laurent Bergès (2) , Julie Vacher (2) , Jean-Matthieu Monnet (2) , Marc Fuhr (2)

1 EDYSAN - Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés - UMR CNRS 7058
2 UR LESSEM - Laboratoire des EcoSystèmes et des Sociétés en Montagne

Building a network of interconnected overmature forests is crucial to provide habitat and promote the dispersal of a multitude of species that depend on several forest structural maturity attributes such as very large living trees and deadwood. The use of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) to locate patches of overmature forests is still in progress. However, few studies have paid attention to the spatial distribution of overmature forests and its ecological consequences on landscape connectivity for species depending on forest structural overmaturity. In this study, we investigated the potential of ALS-derived maturity and connectivity indices to identify overmature forests that most contribute to connectivity and that could be integrated into a network of forest protected areas.

Mots clés: Airborne Laser Scanning; Forest overmaturity index; Ecological Indicators; Landscape connectivity; Biological conservation

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement; Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Etienne Lalechère, Laurent Bergès, Julie Vacher, Jean-Matthieu Monnet, Marc Fuhr. Building a network of overmature forests using airborne laser scanning and landscape graphs. IGARSS 2022 - 2022 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Jul 2022, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. pp.1-5, ⟨10.1109/IGARSS46834.2022.9884614⟩. ⟨hal-03749436⟩