Building a Network of Overmature Forests Using Airborne Laser Scanning and Landscape Graphs

Building a network of interconnected overmature forests is crucial to provide habitat and promote the dispersal of a multitude of species that depend on several forest structural maturity attributes such as very large living trees and deadwood. The use of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) to locate patches of overmature forests is still in progress. However, few studies have paid attention to the spatial distribution of overmature forests and its ecological consequences on landscape connectivity for species depending on forest structural overmaturity. In this study, we investigated the potential of ALS-derived maturity and connectivity indices to identify overmature forests that most contribute to connectivity and that could be integrated into a network of forest protected areas.