Dataset_sanitation_felling_RS

Datasets created within the study "Sanitation felling against the European spruce bark beetle: a matter of scale and forest type". The aim of the research is to assess the effect of sanitation felling performed in 2022 in Friuli Venezia Giulia (NE Italy) on bark beetle damage occurred in 2023 across eight spruce forest types, evaluated using multispectral satellite imagery.
that bark beetle damage was effectively reduced only at very high (> 90%) or very low (<10%) sanitation felling rates. Sanitation felling increasing between 10 and 50% produced an increasing damage, while damage decreased progressively only for >50% sanitation felling. Pure spruce forests, especially mountain spruce forest and spruce plantations, were the most affected forest categories, while damage was reduced in alpine (i.e., >1500 m elevation) and mixed formations. Sanitation felling above 50% proved effective in significantly reducing damage within the pure spruce neo-reforestations and the pure subalpine spruce forests.

The dataset includes: municipalities/sites to which the data refers (municipality); forest category, as described in the related main text (categ_for); forest surface (ha) affected by bark beetle damage, obtained by calculating NDVI from the satellite images (NDVI_ha); percentage of infested material removed by sanitation felling in 2022 (sanitation_felling_perc); indication of sanitation felling rate <50% or >50% (sanitation_felling); forest surface related to the corresponding forest category (AREA_cat_for); surface of the coniferous forest cover in the municipality (sup_conifers).