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Aerial Maps Show Woodland Expansion in Scotland's Cairngorms
Confirmed
In Short: A University of Cambridge-led team has used aerial surveys across a vast swath of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland to create detailed 3D maps that show the beginnings of large-scale recovery of native woodlands.
The maps document a success story for the Cairngorms Connect nature restoration partnership, which covers 60,000 hectares. Young trees are spreading naturally into areas where woodlands have been missing for centuries, following a landscape-scale approach to deer management.
Their new AI-supported method of analyzing the data revealed more than 6 million individual trees across the 569 km² survey area, as well as the exact height of every tree.
Now, a decade since the RSPB Scotland, Forestry and Land Scotland, NatureScot, and WildLand Ltd came together to form the Cairngorms Connect partnership, this study shows that over 5,235 hectares of previously open land supports young woodland - defined as land with over 100 trees per hectare.
Researchers have analyzed aerial laser scans of huge areas across the Cairngorms Connect partnership in the Scottish Highlands, to produce incredibly detailed maps showing millions of young trees have naturally established following an increase in deer culling.
Background
A University of Cambridge-led team has used aerial surveys across a vast swath of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland to create detailed 3D maps that show the beginnings of large-scale recovery of native woodlands.
What's confirmed
- The maps document a success story for the Cairngorms Connect nature restoration partnership: Young trees are spreading naturally into areas where woodlands have been missing for centuries, following a landscape-scale approach to deer management across the partnership's 60,000 hectares.
- Their new AI-supported method of analyzing the data revealed more than 6 million individual trees across the 569 km 2 survey area, as well as the exact height of every tree.
- "The new LiDAR-based method is excellent at tracking where new woodlands are establishing across the landscape, and also for tracking the impacts of fires—which are increasing in severity with climate change," said Dr. Pip Gullett of the Cairngorms Connect partnership, co-author of the study.
- Airborne LiDAR has previously only been piloted for young-tree mapping, but this new study shows it can be used to survey millions of trees in 3D and accurately map natural woodland expansion.
- Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A University of Cambridge–led team has used aerial surveys across a huge swath of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland to create detailed 3D maps that show the beginnings of large-scale recovery of native woodland.
- The maps also show that habitat type matters for tree regeneration: Fewer new trees had established in boggy areas than in dry heathlands.
- She added, "This is going to be a great way to monitor large-scale woodland expansion going forward, as more and more landowners across Scotland are looking to re-establish native woodlands." The study is published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
What's still developing
- Nothing material beyond the confirmed record.