Comparison of three global canopy height maps and their applicability to biodiversity modeling: Accuracy issues revealed

Abstract Global mapping of forest height is an extremely important task for estimating habitat quality and modeling biodiversity. Recently, three global canopy height maps have been released, the global forest canopy height map (GFCH), the high‐resolution canopy height model of the Earth (HRCH), and the global map of tree canopy height (GMTCH). Here, we assessed their accuracy and usability for biodiversity modeling. We examined their accuracy by comparing them with the reference canopy height models derived from airborne laser scanning (ALS). Our results show considerable differences between the evaluated maps. The root mean square error ranged between 10 and 18 m for GFCH, 9–11 m for HRCH, and 10–17 m for GMTCH, respectively. GFCH and GMTCH consistently underestimated the height of all canopies regardless of their height, while HRCH tended to overestimate the height of low canopies and underestimate tall canopies. Biodiversity models using predicted global canopy height maps as input data are sufficient for estimating simple relationships between species occurrence and canopy height, but their use leads to a considerable decrease in the discrimination ability of the models and to mischaracterization of species niches where derived indices (e.g., canopy height heterogeneity) are concerned. We showed that canopy height heterogeneity is considerably underestimated in the evaluated global canopy height maps. We urge that for temperate areas rich in ALS data, activities should concentrate on harmonizing ALS canopy height maps rather than relying on modeled global products.

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Publication Details

Journal
Ecosphere
Published
2024-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70026
Citations
26
Primary Topic
Remote Sensing in Agriculture
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
11.93

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article

Comparison of three global canopy height maps and their applicability to biodiversity modeling: Accuracy issues revealed

Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Michele Torresani, Luis Ángel Ruiz, Jan Wild et al.
26 citations
Ecosphere
Remote Sensing in Agriculture
11.93
article

Comparison of three global canopy height maps and their applicability to biodiversity modeling: Accuracy issues revealed

Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Michele Torresani, Luis Ángel Ruiz, Jan Wild, Jesús Torralba, Barbora Navrátilová, Vojtěch Barták, Markéta Potůčková, Marco Malavasi, Kateřina Gdulová, Pablo Crespo‐Peremarch, Vítězslav Moudrý, Duccio Rocchini, Suzanne Marselis, Lukáš Gábor, Jiří Prošek, Petra Pracná, Jan Novotný, Jan Komárek
article en
26 citations

Abstract

Abstract Global mapping of forest height is an extremely important task for estimating habitat quality and modeling biodiversity. Recently, three global canopy height maps have been released, the global forest canopy height map (GFCH), the high‐resolution canopy height model of the Earth (HRCH), and the global map of tree canopy height (GMTCH). Here, we assessed their accuracy and usability for biodiversity modeling. We examined their accuracy by comparing them with the reference canopy height models derived from airborne laser scanning (ALS). Our results show considerable differences between the evaluated maps. The root mean square error ranged between 10 and 18 m for GFCH, 9–11 m for HRCH, and 10–17 m for GMTCH, respectively. GFCH and GMTCH consistently underestimated the height of all canopies regardless of their height, while HRCH tended to overestimate the height of low canopies and underestimate tall canopies. Biodiversity models using predicted global canopy height maps as input data are sufficient for estimating simple relationships between species occurrence and canopy height, but their use leads to a considerable decrease in the discrimination ability of the models and to mischaracterization of species niches where derived indices (e.g., canopy height heterogeneity) are concerned. We showed that canopy height heterogeneity is considerably underestimated in the evaluated global canopy height maps. We urge that for temperate areas rich in ALS data, activities should concentrate on harmonizing ALS canopy height maps rather than relying on modeled global products.

EcosphereVol. 15(10)
Leiden University (NL), University of Sassari (IT), Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (IT), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZ), Charles University (CZ), Czech Academy of Sciences, Global Change Research Institute (CZ), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany (CZ), Universitat Politècnica de València (ES), University of Bologna (IT)
European Commission, Akademie Věd České Republiky, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Remote Sensing in Agriculture
11.93
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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