Drones and Dendro: a strategic technological development link for forest monitoring

Abstract

Forests are a matter of national interest and represent a strategic resource for society. However, forests face challenges that deserve to be addressed with state-of-the-art technologies. Climate change, in particular, has led to changes in the structure and biogeography of forest stands. Based on a literature review, the lessons learned by the DendroRed research group (https://dendrored.ujed.mx/) over the last five years are highlighted here. First, it is proved that growth rings are reliable sources of ecological processes faced by trees. Their temporal dissection has refined the understanding of climate responses, as well as their potential to reconstruct carbon stocks at tree level. The integration of these natural records with remote sensing techniques has elucidated the seasonal modification of climate. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) monitoring offers a spatial and spectral perspective usually ignored, but with great potential in forest monitoring. We document the benefits in estimating aerial attributes of the canopy, as well as indices on foliar dynamics and mention areas of opportunity. All this knowledge can be integrated into a technological package for monitoring forest resources and has impacts on forest productivity. However, it deserves additional efforts to influence forest management policies.