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This book presents the results of Working Group 3 of COST Action E43 in the development of harmonization techniques for common reporting of estimates of forest biodiversity indicators using NFI data. It includes practical tools and examples.

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Forest biodiversity is crucial to the ecological, economic, and social well-being of earth´s civilisations. Unfortunately, however, forest biodiversity is threatened to a serious degree in nearly all countries. Therefore, many countries have agreed to be parties to international agreements focused on maintaining, restoring, and monitoring biodiversity; further, these countries have agreed to report to international bodies on forest biodiversity status and trends. NFIs are the primary source of large-scale information available for this purpose, but the large variety of definitions, protocols, sampling designs, and plot configurations used by NFIs makes comparable international reporting extremely difficult. This book presents the results of Working Group 3 of COST Action E43 in the development of harmonization techniques for common reporting of estimates of forest biodiversity indicators using NFI data. Harmonization tests were carried out on a large common data base containing raw NFI data from 13 European countries and the USA. With its collection of practical examples for the estimation of forest biodiversity indicators, it´s a practical tool for anyone involved in forest inventories and in forest resource monitoring and management as well as for those involved in biodiversity assessment and reporting.

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1. The need for harmonized estimates of forest biodiversity indicators.- 2. Essential features of forest biodiversity for assessment purposes.- 3. Prospects for harmonized biodiversity assessments using national forest inventory data.- 4. The common NFI database.- 5. Harmonization tests.- 6. Summary and conclusions. Index.

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Aus den Rezensionen:

"... Das Werk zeigt, was mit Waldinventuren derzeit möglich ist, ohne die konzeptionelle Eigenständigkeit der nationalen Erhebungen infrage zu stellen. Sie ziehen ... klare Schlüsse, welche Ansätze zukunftsträchtig sind und welche nicht. Auch die Empfehlungen, wie noch bestehende Schwierigkeiten auszuräumen sind, erscheinen sehr umsetzungsorientiert. Aus diesem Grund ist das Buch vor allem für jene Leser empfehlenswert, die sich mit grossräumigem Biodiversitätsmonitoring im Wald beschäftigen und nach methodischen Lösungen suchen, die international kompatibel sind." (Christoph Bühler, in: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Forstwesen, 2011, Vol. 162, Issue 9, S. 352)

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