Ohmann, Janet L.; Cohen, Warren B. 1993. Inventories of stand structure: an ecosystem perspective. In: Lund, H. Gyde; Landis, Eric; Atterbury, Toby. Proceedings of the Stand Inventory Technologies: An International Multiple Resource Conference; 1992 September 13-17; Portland, OR. American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing: 193-203.
Data on vegetation structure provide a focus for linking ecological, social, andeconomic values in an integrated framework for Inventory, analysis, and decision-making. By incorporating current knowledge about ecosystem structure and functioninto inventory design and data collection, and by measuring structural attributes ata basic level, flexibility In responding to information needs is maximized. Inventoryobjectives are often met most efficiently and effectively using a combination ofground-based and remote sensing approaches. A wide variety of measures of livetrees, coarse woody debris, canopy architecture, and understory vegetation can beemployed as indicators of resource values as well as underlying ecologicalprocesses. However, measures of structural complexity and variability may be moreimportant than mean stand conditions. The dynamic and often unpredictable natureof ecosystems underscores the Importance of using results from inventory andmonitoring to adjust natural resource management decisions.