Swiss National Forest Inventory Tree Mortality and Stemwood Volume

Stemwood volume data for trees and shrubs that died or disappeared between successive Swiss National Forest Inventories. The dataset is produced by the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, with results published online in 2014 and last updated in 2018. It includes measurements for trees starting at 12 cm diameter at breast height (dbh).

Use Cases

• Modeling annual tree mortality rates using stemwood volume changes between inventory cycles.
• Analyzing bias correction impacts on biomass estimates, as drastic corrections can result in negative values for small tree counts.
• Estimating carbon stock losses from non-harvested tree mortality using stemwood volume with bark.
• Studying forest health and resilience by tracking the volume of trees that died or disappeared over time.

Strengths

• Data originates from the Fourth National Forest Inventory (NFI4b), a systematic national survey.
• Includes a documented bias correction methodology for sample Tarif trees.
• Covers trees and shrubs starting at a defined 12 cm dbh threshold.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column details, and geographic granularity are unknown.
• Bias correction can produce negative values for small tree numbers, complicating analysis.
• Data is temporally stale, with the last platform update recorded in 2018.

Provenance

Source

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL (ENVIDAT).

Collection Method

National forest inventory field surveys, with results processed and corrected for bias.

Time Range

Inventory period 2009-2013 (NFI4b).

Freshness

null

Geography

Switzerland.