Data from: Evaluating the use of lidar to discern snag characteristics important for wildlife

Standing dead trees (known as snags) are historically difficult to map and model using airborne laser scanning (ALS), or lidar. Specific snag characteristics are important for wildlife; for instance, a larger snag with a broken top can serve as a nesting platform for raptors. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether characteristics such as top intactness could be inferred from discrete-return ALS data. We collected structural information for 198 snags in closed-canopy conifer forest plots in Idaho. We selected 13 lidar metrics within 5 m diameter point clouds to serve as predictor variables in random forest (RF) models to classify snags into four groups by size (small [<40 cm diameter] or large [≥40 cm diameter]) and intactness (intact or broken top) across multiple iterations. We conducted these models first with all snags combined, and then ran the same models with only small or large snags. Overall accuracies were highest in RF models with large snags only (77%), but kappa statistics for all models were low (0.29–0.49). ALS data alone were not sufficient to identify top intactness for large snags; future studies combining ALS data with other remotely sensed data to improve classification of snag characteristics important for wildlife is encouraged.

枯立木（snag）历来难以通过机载激光扫描（Airborne Laser Scanning，ALS，又称激光雷达lidar）开展制图与建模。枯立木的特定特征对野生动物具有重要生态意义，例如顶部破损的大型枯立木可作为猛禽的筑巢平台。本研究旨在探究能否通过离散回波机载激光扫描（discrete-return ALS）数据推断枯立木的顶部完整性等特征。研究团队在爱达荷州的密冠针叶林样地中采集了198株枯立木的结构信息。研究人员以直径5米范围内的点云所提取的13项激光雷达指标作为随机森林（Random Forest，RF）模型的预测变量，通过多次迭代将枯立木按尺寸（小径级<40 cm胸径、大径级≥40 cm胸径）与完整性（完整、顶部破损）划分为四类。研究首先对所有枯立木开展模型训练，随后仅针对小径级或大径级枯立木重复相同的建模流程。仅针对大径级枯立木的随机森林模型整体分类准确率最高，达77%；但所有模型的科恩Kappa统计量均较低（0.29~0.49）。仅依靠机载激光扫描数据不足以识别大径级枯立木的顶部完整性；未来研究应考虑将机载激光扫描数据与其他遥感数据相结合，以提升对具有重要野生动物保护价值的枯立木特征的分类精度。

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集旨在评估激光雷达（ALS）在识别对野生动物重要的枯立木特征（如大小和顶部完整性）方面的应用。研究基于爱达荷州封闭冠层针叶林中198棵枯立木的实地数据，使用13个激光雷达指标和随机森林模型进行分类，但发现仅ALS数据不足以准确推断大型枯立木的顶部完整性，建议未来结合其他遥感技术。数据集包含多个文件，记录了样地信息、地形数据和枯立木特征，适用于森林生态学和遥感研究。