Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 48(2): March 2022 Table 2. Comparison of tree measurement methods in terms of instruments, measurable parameters, operators required, application type, approximate costs, and estimated time per plot (8 to 44 trees). Method Traditional Instruments Diameter caliper, Ipsometer, Metric tape, GPS Spatial Smartphone Fied-Map station (Antelope model) iPhone 12 Pro, Apps Measurable parameters DBH, tree height, crown height, crown width, stem inclination, tree position Georeferenced tree and crown position DBH, tree height, crown height, crown width, tree position, stem volume, surface and inclination, photos simplified measurements. Recently, smartphones incor- porated advanced technologies such as the LIDAR scanner inside the camera, which allowed the devel- opment of applications to perform spatial measure- ments and tree surveys. These tools could be very supportive for urban foresters’ practice to inventory and monitor trees; however, their accuracy is uncer- tain and thus their use may generate inaccurate data. In this explorative study, we investigated and tested the potential of digital field instruments (Field-Map and iPhone 12 Pro) compared to traditional tools (tree caliper, ipsometer/clinometer), highlighting what infor- mation can be derived, their accuracy and time-cost efficiency, and the potential for research and practice in urban forestry. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study area is the 17th century Villa Paolina, located in the village of Porano (province of Terni) in central Italy (42.68° N 12.09° E). The villa’s park consists of several orthogonal tree rows that cross the whole area and includes an Italian-style garden and some wooded areas along with a large meadow. The dominant tree species are century-old cypresses, cedars, pines, horse chestnuts, and holm oaks that reach considerable dimensions. In this study, we measured 6 plots (5 inside the villa: A–E, and 1 outside: F)(Figure 1). The sample plots are Cupressus sempervirens L. tree rows (A), a Quercus ilex L. tree-lined pathway (B), a tree-lined street of Pinus pinea L. (C), a mixed conifer area (D), a more recent plantation of Pinus nigra Arnold (E), and a broadleaf urban park (F)(Figure 2). Tree den- drometric data measured in the plots are described in Table 1. Diameter at breast height of trees was measured with tree caliper, and the height of representative trees was measured with the electronic ipsometer (Vertex IV, Haglöf Sweden, Långsele, Sweden)(Traditional method in Table 2). The portable computer station Field-Map (Antelope model, Institute of Forest Eco- system Research, Ltd., Jílové u Prahy, Czech Republic) was used to acquire a very accurate georeferenced position of the tree and crown area, as well as record several dendrometric and structural data of the stand (Spatial method in Table 2). The tool equipment consists of a laser distance meter, an electronic compass, a GPS, and a tripod. It is directly connected with the GIS software of the computer station, providing in real time a georeferenced 2D visualization of the single tree or a forest area (Mattioli et al. 2009; Tomao et al. 2012). Tree biometric data were also collected by the smartphone iPhone 12 Pro (Apple Inc., Los Altos, California, USA) which incorporates a LIDAR scan- ner inside the camera and allows it to measure objects and create a depth map of space (Smartphone method in Table 2). The application Arboreal Tree Height (Arboreal AB, Umea, Sweden) was used to measure tree height, crown base height, and crown width, and the default “Metric” app was used for DBH. In ©2022 International Society of Arboriculture 2 1 Tree and canopy spatialization Tree inventory, LAI, 3D model 20 min – 40 min Number of operators 1 (2) Application type Tree inventory Estimated time Approximate costs 30 min – 60 min 1,600€ – 2,000€ 80€ – 150€ 20€ – 50€ 300€ – 400€ 9,000€ 30 min – 60 min From 1,189€ + app cost 115
March 2022
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