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• Classifying forest stands predisposed to bark beetle attacks. • Use of harvester machine records with machine learning. • Quantifying importance of environmental features predisposing Norway spruce forests to bark beetle outbreaks. • Environmental features to focus on seem to vary with meteorological conditions. Climate change is estimated to increase the risk of the bark beetle (Ips typographus L.) mass outbreaks in Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) forests. Habitats that are thermally suitable for bark beetles may expand, and an increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts can promote drought stress on host trees. Drought affects tree vigor and in unison with environmental features it influences the local predisposition risk of forest stands to bark beetle attacks. We aimed to study how various environmental features influence the risk of bark beetle attacks during a drought year and the following years with more normal weather conditions but with higher bark beetle populations. We included features representing local forest stand attributes, topography, soil type and wetness, the proximity of clear-cuts and previous bark beetle attacks, and a machine learning algorithm (random forest) was applied to study the variation of predisposition risk across a 48,600 km2 study area in SE Sweden. Forest stands with increased risk of bark beetle attack were distinguished with high accuracy both during drought and in normal weather conditions. The results show that during both study periods, spruce and mixed coniferous forests had elevated risk of attack, while forests with a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees had a lower risk. Forests with high average canopy height were strongly predisposed to bark beetle attacks. However, during the drought year risk was more similar between stands with lower and higher canopy height, suggesting that during drought periods younger trees can be predisposed to bark beetle attacks. The importance of soil moisture and position within the local landscape were highlighted as important features during the drought year. Identifying areas with increased risk, supported by information on how environmental features control the predisposition risk during drought, could aid adaptation strategies and forest management intervention efforts. We conclude that geospatial data and machine learning have the potential to further support the digitalization of the forest industry, facilitating development of methods capable to quantify importance and dynamics of environmental features controlling the risk in local context. Corresponding methods could help to direct management actions more effectively and offer information for decision-making in changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Remote sensing provides spatially and temporally continuous measures of forest reflectance, and vegetation indices calculated from satellite data can be useful for monitoring climate change impacts on forest tree phenology. Monitoring of evergreen coniferous forest is more difficult than monitoring of deciduous forest, as the new buds only account for a small proportion of the green biomass, and the shoot elongation process is relatively slow. In this study, we have analyzed data from 186 coniferous monitoring sites in Sweden covering boreal, southern-boreal, and boreo-nemoral conditions. Our objective was to examine the possibility to track seasonal changes in coniferous forests by time-series of MODIS eight-day vegetation indices, testing the coherence between satellite monitored vegetation indices (VI) and temperature dependent phenology. The relationships between two vegetation indices (NDVI and WDRVI) and four phenological indicators (length of snow season, modeled onset of vegetation period, tree cold hardiness level and timing of budburst) were analyzed. The annual curves produced by two curve fitting methods for smoothening of seasonal changes in NDVI and WDRVI were to a large extent characterized by the occurrence of snow, producing stable seasonal oscillations in the northern part and irregular curves with less pronounced annual amplitude in the southern part of the country. Measures based on threshold values of the VI-curves, commonly used for determining the timing of different phenological phases, were not applicable for Swedish coniferous forests. Evergreen vegetation does not have a sharp increase in greenness during spring, and the melting of snow can influence the vegetation indices at the timing of budburst in boreal forests. However, the interannual variation in VI-values for specific eight-day periods was correlated with the phenological indicators. This relation can be used for satellite monitoring of potential climate change impacts on northern coniferous spring phenology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Sahel region of Africa has experienced a decrease in rainfall from the early 1960s to mid 1990s. Recent studies have detected an increased in NDVI amplitude and growing season integrated NDVI for the region since 1982. However, these studies have not examined how plant phenology has changed. Phenology examines life cycle events such as bud burst and leaf senescence. Using the software TIMESAT to estimate phenological parameters from the GIMMS AVHRR NDVI dataset, we have found significant positive trends for the length of the growing and end of the growing season for the Soudan and Guinean regions, but significant trends in the Sahel could not be detected. The geographical extent of these trends contrasts with the more northern extent of positive trends of NDVI amplitude and growing season integrated NDVI. Results suggest two types of “greening” trends associated with rainfall change since the drought in the early 1980s. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: One of the most frequently applied methods for integrating controls on primary production through satellite data is the light use efficiency (LUE) approach, which links vegetation gross or net primary productivity (GPP or NPP) to remotely sensed estimates of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR). Eddy covariance towers provide continuous measurements of carbon flux, presenting an opportunity for evaluation of satellite estimates of GPP. Here we investigate relationships between eddy covariance estimated GPP, environmental variables derived from flux towers, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and GPP across African savanna ecosystems. MODIS GPP was found to underestimate GPP at the majority of sites, particularly at sites in the Sahel. EVI was found to correlate well with estimated GPP on a site-by-site basis. Combining EVI with tower-measured PAR and evaporative fraction (EF, a measure of water sufficiency) improved the direct relationship between GPP and EVI at the majority of the sites. The slope of this relationship was strongly related to site peak leaf area index (LAI). These results are promising for the extension of GPP through the use of remote sensing data to a regional or even continental scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]