Longleaf pine was once one of the most ecologically important tree species in the Southern United States. Longleaf pine and its accompanying forest ecosystems covered vast swaths of the Southern United States, spanning an estimated 60-90 million acres. One estimate places the historical extent of long leaf pine forests at 92 million acres. Although once one of the most extensive forest ecosystems in North America, only a fraction of these longleaf pine forests remain today.

In this article, we describe in depth the analysis and solutions to manage the multiple coordinates of the sampling objects coming from the three different phases of the second Italian national forest inventory (Inventario Nazionale delle Foreste e dei serbatoi forestali di Carbonio INFC]). In particular, this article describes the criteria used to determine the sample point coordinates of the first phase, the Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning procedure of the second phase, and the GPS-aided retrieval procedure of sample points during the third phase of the INFC.

The Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFRs) of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture were established to represent major forest vegetation types of the United States, to provide guidelines for management of those forests and ranges, and to serve as "outdoor classrooms" for land managers to learn how to better manage their forests. Research data collected during the 100 years since the first experimental forest was established in 1908 can be used synthetically to address regional and continental scale questions related to forest and range management, key forest ecosystem processes,...

Ecosystems can be modeled at many different hierachical levels. The phenomenin being simulated has a context represented by the next higher level of ecosystem organization, as well as driving mechanisms represented by the next lower level at which mechanisms are represented in models of tree crowns depends on the crown atributes or processes to be simulated. Crown models are reviewed and classified by their attribute resolution and the specific mechanisms driving the crown system to future states.

Forest land conversion leads to ecological effects (e.g., changes in water quality and wildlife habitat) and socioeconomic effects (e.g., expanding urban-forest interface, reduced long-term timber production possibilities and loss of open space). Socioeconomic drivers of land use change such as population totals and personal income levels have increased substantially since World War II. Human land use is the primary force driving changes in forest ecosystem attributes. Land use changes affecting forests since 1990 have been heavily concentrated in the South. Nationwide, more than 60 percent...