NFI4b provides volume of stemwood with bark for trees and shrubs starting at 12 cm dbh that were used, died, or disappeared between inventories. The dataset is part of the Fourth National Forest Inventory for Switzerland, produced by the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL and published in 2014. The values are calculated without D7/tree height data and are not bias-corrected, but allow for robust estimation of changes at canton or forest district levels.
Use Cases
- Estimating forest biomass change over time based on stemwood volume calculations.
- Analyzing tree mortality rates for forest districts or cantons using inventory difference data.
- Modeling sustainable forestry yield based on stemwood volume of trees and shrubs above 12 cm dbh.
Strengths
- Data is part of a national forest inventory (NFI4b) conducted by a federal research institute (WSL).
- Methodology is documented, specifying calculations without D7/tree height data for robust change estimation.
- Dataset is cited with a DOI (10.21258/1057112), indicating formal publication.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last updated 2018-01-01 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL (via ENVIDAT)
- Collection Method
- National forest inventory field surveys.
- Time Range
- 2009-2013
- Geography
- Switzerland (cantons and forest districts)