Effective number of layers: A new measure for quantifying three-dimensional stand structure based on sampling with terrestrial LiDAR

•The effective number of layers (ENL) is introduced as a new measure to quantify stand structure.•ENL is derived from terrestrial lidar data, multiple and single-scan approaches are compared.•Mean ENL and its coefficient of variation successfully differentiated differently managed stands.•ENL was correlated to basal area, quadratic mean diameter, stem density and stand age. The relevance of stand structural heterogeneity for biodiversity conservation is increasingly recognized and efficient tools for its measurement are demanded. Here, we quantified forest structure by calculating the effective number of layers (ENL) for different Hill Numbers (0D, 1D, 2D) as a measure of vertical structure of a subplot. We than use sampling techniques to cover the horizontal structural variability within study plots. ENL describes the vertical structure based on the occupation of 1m wide vertical layers by tree components relative to the total space occupation of a stand. Space occupation was quantified by a voxel-model obtained from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) on 150 forest plots in Germany. We used a single scan approach, which requires less field work and post-processing compared to multiple-scans. Single-scan derived mean ENL and its coefficient of variation successfully differentiated forest structures over a wide range of even-aged, uneven-aged and unmanaged broadleaved and coniferous stands. ENL was correlated to the stand summary measures basal area, quadratic mean diameter and stem density as well as stand age. ENL can be used to describe structural heterogeneity and proved to be efficiently assessable by TLS.