Methodological proposal for large-scale inventory of trees outside forests

Abstract

Methodological proposal for large-scale inventory of trees outside forests Trees outside forests (TOF) are all those forest trees or group of trees scattered within rural and urbanized areas and not classified under forest. The importance of TOF is known as a source of energy for domestic use, soil and wind protection, biodiversity conservation, atmospheric CO₂ sequestration, etc. The aim of this note is to outline a survey methodology to assess TOF on large territories, exploiting the first phase of the large-scale multiphase forest inventories. The protocol was tested in various landscapes in Italy, for a total inventoried land of 3533 km2. In the test areas TOF proved to stock 12,1 Mg C km^-2, on average.