Thomas W. Beers

Advances in technology, ecological understanding, and management goals have reshaped how scientists and practitioners measure and interpret forest structure and dynamics. Forest Mensuration provides an up-to-date and integrated approach to measuring tree and forest attributes, incorporating both traditional field techniques and state-of-the-art remote sensing technologies. This new Sixth Edition reorganizes material to better align measurement and sampling concepts across scales—from individual trees to entire landscapes—while expanding coverage of forest diversity, structural complexity, and ecosystem services. The text also introduces new theoretical and applied approaches for sampling with remotely sensed covariates, and includes updated examples, comparative tool analyses, and practical applications for contemporary forest management and ecological research. Providing the most current understanding of forest measurement science, Forest Mensuration: Emphasizes the relevance of foundational measurement principles while guiding readers in applying innovative technologies to contemporary forestry challenges Integrates remote sensing techniques across chapters to connect traditional field measurement with modern data-driven sampling and analysis Provides updated, side-by-side comparisons of current digital and traditional measurement tools to support informed equipment selection Introduces advanced sampling strategies that incorporate remotely sensed covariates for more efficient and cost-effective ground sampling Offers open access to comprehensive datasets via an online Dataverse, enabling deeper exploration of forest inventory and sampling design Forest Mensuration, Sixth Edition, equips students, researchers, and practicing foresters with essential tools for accurate measurement, inventory, and analysis across diverse forest systems. It is ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in forestry, natural resource management, and environmental science.

Forest mensuration – the science of measurement applied to forest vegetation and forest products – holds value for basic ecology as well as sustainable forest management. As demands on the world’s forests have grown, scientists and professionals are increasingly called on to quantify forest composition, structure, and the goods and services forests provide. Grounded in geometry, sampling theory, and ecology as well as practical field experience, forest mensuration offers opportunities for creative problem solving and critical thinking. This fifth edition of the classic volume, Forest Mensuration, includes coverage of traditional and emerging topics, with attention to SI and Imperial units throughout. The book has been reorganised from the fourth edition to better integrate non-timber and ecological aspects of forest mensuration at the tree, stand, forest, and landscape scales throughout. The new edition includes new chapters that specifically address the integration of remotely sensed data in the forest inventory process, and inventory methods for dead and downed wood. One unifying theme, not only for traditional forestry but for the non-timber inventory and for remote sensing, is the use of covariates to make sampling more efficient and spatially explicit. This is introduced in the introductory chapter on statistics and the chapter on sampling designs has been restructured to highlight this approach and lay the foundation for further learning. New examples will be developed throughout the textbook with an emphasis on current issues and international practice. Students in applied forestry programs will find ample coverage of forest products and timber inventory, while expanded material on biodiversity, biomass and carbon inventory, downed dead wood, and the growing role of remote sensing in forest assessment will be valuable to a broader audience in applied ecology.