Revealing spatiotemporal dynamics of forest plantation harvesting practices at landscape level using satellite time series data

Abstract Forest landscapes dominated by commercial plantations are managed using intensive silvicultural schemes that involve a harvesting-replanting cycle, with clearcutting being one of the most used harvesting methods. Clearcutting has several negative effects, both biotic and abiotic, and to control them, many countries have established exclusion periods and restrictions regarding the amount and distribution of clearcutting areas at landscape level. However, Chile still does not have such restrictions. The main purpose of the study was to analyse forest area trends and to identify the spatiotemporal scales at which clustering of clearcutting areas occurred, between 1999 and 2017. The study area was the coastal zone of the Region of Maule, Chile, dominated by Monterey pine (Pinus radiate D. Don) plantations. We used Landsat 5, 7 and 8 to produce yearly land cover maps to differentiate clearcutting areas from other classes. By using Emerging Hot Spot Analysis, we calculated the spatiotemporal trends of these clearcut areas. We found that harvest clusters have an oscillatory behaviour, ranging from Hot to Cold Spots over the time with an average size of 46.8 km2 and being active for 2 years (±1.7). Our results support the claim to introduce new regulations to the current Chilean legislation regarding explicit exclusion periods and multiscale forest management.