{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T22:31:38Z","timestamp":1767911498498,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,15]],"date-time":"2019-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1563148800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper examines the possible ecological controls on the diameter increment of oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) in a high altitude forest in northern Iran. The main objectives of the study are computer-generated abiotic surfaces and associated plot estimates of (i) growing-season-cumulated potential solar radiation, (ii) seasonal air temperature, (iii) topographic wetness index in representing soil water distribution, and (iv) wind velocity generated from the simulation of fluid-flow dynamics in complex terrain. Plot estimates of the tree growth are based on averaged plot measurements of diameter at breast height increment during a growing period of nine years (2003\u20132012). Biotic variables related to the tree diameter increment involve averaged 2003 tree diameter and basal area measured in individual forest plots. In the modelling data (144 plots), the assemblage of modelled and observed site variables explained 75% of the variance in plot-level diameter increment. In the validation data (32 plots), the degree of explained variance was 77%. Mean tree diameter at breast height showed the strongest correlation with diameter increment, explaining 32% of the variation between-plot, followed by the configuration of topography and re-distribution of surface water (19.5%) and plot basal area (16.9%). On average, localised estimates of solar radiation and wind velocity potentially contribute to about 20% of the control on plot-level mean increment in oriental beech of the area. The results of the genetic programming showed that controlling the stand basal area and tree size by thinning and\/or selective harvesting can have a favourable impact on the future distribution of mean diameter in oriental beech.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs11141680","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,16]],"date-time":"2019-07-16T02:23:16Z","timestamp":1563243796000},"page":"1680","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["A Semi-empirical Approach Based on Genetic Programming for the Study of Biophysical Controls on Diameter-Growth of Fagus orientalis in Northern Iran"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2210-0710","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mahmoud","family":"Bayat","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute of Forests &amp; Rangelands (RIFR), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), P.O. Box: 13185-116, Tehran, Iran"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2747-5028","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Phan","family":"Thanh Noi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Luisenstra\u00dfe 37, 80333 Munich, Germany"},{"name":"Cartography and Geodesy Department, Land Management Faculty, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam"}]},{"given":"Rozita","family":"Zare","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Science and Research, Department of Forestry, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 1477893855, Iran"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5161-6479","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dieu","family":"Tien Bui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam"},{"name":"Geographic Information System Group, Department of Business and IT, University of South-Eastern Norway, N-3800 B\u00f8 i Telemark, Norway"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1162","DOI":"10.1139\/cjfr-2013-0090","article-title":"Integrating biophysical controls in forest growth and yield predictions with artificial intelligence technology","volume":"43","author":"Ashraf","year":"2013","journal-title":"Can. J. For. Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foreco.2014.02.006","article-title":"Prediction of tree diameter growth using quantile regression and mixed-effects models","volume":"319","author":"Bohora","year":"2014","journal-title":"For. Ecol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bourque, C.P.A., and Bayat, M. (2015). Landscape Variation in Tree Species Richness in Northern Iran Forests. PLoS ONE, 10.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0121172"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.48044\/jauf.2012.026","article-title":"Urban Tree Growth Modeling","volume":"38","author":"McPherson","year":"2012","journal-title":"Arboric. Urban For."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.1007\/s10342-019-01193-3","article-title":"An assessment of height\u2013diameter growth variation in an unmanaged Fagus orientalis-dominated forest","volume":"138","author":"Bourque","year":"2019","journal-title":"Eur. J. For. Res."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1179","DOI":"10.1139\/x00-043","article-title":"Biophysical and potential vegetation growth surfaces for a small watershed in northern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada","volume":"30","author":"Bourque","year":"2000","journal-title":"Can. J. For. Res."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2018.03.333","article-title":"Spatial heterogeneity of leaf area index in a temperate old-growth forest: Spatial autocorrelation dominates over biotic and abiotic factors","volume":"634","author":"Liu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecolmodel.2019.01.019","article-title":"Exploring the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors that alter the self-thinning rule: Insights from individual-based modelling and machinelearning","volume":"397","author":"Ma","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ecol. Model."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"380","DOI":"10.1093\/jpe\/rtt001","article-title":"Radial growth response of Pinus densiflora and Quercus spp. to topographic and climatic factors in South Korea","volume":"6","author":"Byun","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Plant Ecol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2011.10.004","article-title":"Analyzing growth and mortality in a subtropical urban forest ecosystem","volume":"104","author":"Lawrencea","year":"2012","journal-title":"Landsc. Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"323","DOI":"10.1016\/j.swevo.2017.11.003","article-title":"A semi-supervised Genetic Programming method for dealing with noisy labels and hidden overfitting","volume":"39","author":"Silva","year":"2017","journal-title":"Swarm Evol. Comput."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"643","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2018.09.043","article-title":"Genetic programming in water resources engineering: A state-ofthe- art review","volume":"566","author":"Mehr","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.1016\/j.patcog.2019.05.006","article-title":"Genetic Programming for Multiple-Feature Construction on High-Dimensional Classi\u00decation","volume":"93","author":"Tran","year":"2019","journal-title":"Pattern Recognit."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Langdon, W.B., and Poli, R. (2013). Foundations of Genetic Programming, Springer Science & Business Media."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1016\/j.forpol.2012.04.002","article-title":"Spatial genetic algorithm for multi-objective forest planning","volume":"21","author":"Fotakis","year":"2012","journal-title":"For. Policy Econ."},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"1","article-title":"Individual Growth Model for Eucalyptus Stands in Brazil Using Artificial Neural Network","volume":"2013","author":"Castro","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. Sch. Res. Not. For."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ashraf, M., Meng, F., Bourque, C., and MacLean, D. (2015). A Novel Modelling Approach for Predicting Forest Growth and Yield under Climate Change. PLoS ONE, 10.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0132066"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Vafaei, S., Soosani, J., Adeli, K., Fadaei, H., Naghavi, H., Pham, T., and Bui, D. (2018). Improving Accuracy Estimation of Forest Aboveground Biomass Based on Incorporation of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 and Sentinel-2A Imagery and Machine Learning: A Case Study of the Hyrcanian Forest Area (Iran). Remote Sens., 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs10020172"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1504","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2010.02.004","article-title":"Possibility investigation of tree diversity mapping using Landsat ETM+ data in the Hyrcanian forests of Iran","volume":"114","author":"Mohammadi","year":"2010","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"525","DOI":"10.5558\/tfc2013-093","article-title":"Forest ecosystem management in North America: From theory to practice","volume":"89","author":"Patry","year":"2013","journal-title":"For. Chron."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1755-263X.2012.00257.x","article-title":"A major shift to the retention approach for forestry can help resolve some global forest sustainability issues","volume":"5","author":"Lindenmayer","year":"2012","journal-title":"Conserv. Lett."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"851","DOI":"10.1007\/s10342-013-0714-1","article-title":"Productivity and optimal management of the uneven-aged hardwood forests of Hyrcania","volume":"132","author":"Bayat","year":"2013","journal-title":"Eur. J. For. Res."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"313","article-title":"Kriging; a method of interpolation for geographic information system","volume":"4","author":"Oliver","year":"2007","journal-title":"Geogr. Inf. Syst."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1016\/j.measurement.2014.12.025","article-title":"Method of establishing an underwater digital elevation terrain based on kriging interpolation","volume":"63","author":"Zhang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Measurement"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1007\/s41064-017-0025-0","article-title":"Application of Intelligent Interpolation Methods for DTM Generation of Forest Areas Based on LiDAR Data","volume":"85","author":"Gomroki","year":"2017","journal-title":"PFG"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2386","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biortech.2006.11.025","article-title":"Applications of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the modelling and design of ventilation systems in the agricultural industry: A review","volume":"98","author":"Norton","year":"2007","journal-title":"Bioresour. Technol."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3923","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2012.1124","article-title":"Variability in solar radiation and temperature explains observed patterns and trends in tree growth rates across four tropical forests","volume":"279","author":"Dong","year":"2012","journal-title":"Proc. R. Soc. B"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"680","DOI":"10.1093\/treephys\/tpr062","article-title":"Physiological ecology of forest production: Principles, processes, and models","volume":"31","author":"Duursma","year":"2011","journal-title":"Tree Physiol."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Weiskittel, A.R., Hann, D.W., Kershaw, J.A., and Vanclay, J.K. (2011). Forest Growth and Yield Modeling, Wiley-Blackwell. [2nd ed.].","DOI":"10.1002\/9781119998518"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"397","DOI":"10.1093\/forestry\/cpm030","article-title":"Effects of shade on growth and mortality of maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and beech (Fagus sylvatica) saplings","volume":"80","author":"Petritan","year":"2007","journal-title":"Forestry"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envexpbot.2007.05.011","article-title":"Heat tolerance in plants: An overview","volume":"61","author":"Wahid","year":"2007","journal-title":"Environ. Exp. Bot."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wace.2015.08.001","article-title":"Temperature extremes: Effect on plant growth and development","volume":"10","author":"Hatfield","year":"2015","journal-title":"Weather Clim. Extrem."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"184","DOI":"10.1016\/j.catena.2019.04.009","article-title":"A novel hybrid approach based on a swarm intelligence optimized extreme learning machine for flash flood susceptibility mapping","volume":"179","author":"Bui","year":"2019","journal-title":"Catena"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.5194\/hess-10-101-2006","article-title":"On the calculation of the topographic wetness index: Evaluation of different methods based on field observations","volume":"10","author":"Zinko","year":"2006","journal-title":"Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2007.09.001","article-title":"Effects of DEM resolution on the calculation of topographical indices: TWI and its components","volume":"347","author":"Seibert","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"94","DOI":"10.1016\/j.plantsci.2016.01.006","article-title":"Review: Wind impacts on plant growth, mechanics and damage","volume":"245","author":"Gardinera","year":"2016","journal-title":"Plant Sci."},{"key":"ref_37","first-page":"123","article-title":"Wind\u2013An important ecological factor and destructive agent in forests","volume":"62","author":"Zach","year":"2016","journal-title":"Lesn. Cas. For."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Khan, A., Qureshi, A., Wahab, N., Hussain, M., and Yousaf Hamza, M. (2019). A Recent Survey on the Applications of Genetic Programming in Image Processing. arXiv."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"240","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2013.10.003","article-title":"Streamflow prediction using linear genetic programming in comparison with a neuro-wavelet technique","volume":"505","author":"Mehr","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1084","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2745.2007.01280.x","article-title":"Effects of size, competition and altitude on tree growth","volume":"95","author":"Coomes","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Ecol."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"443","DOI":"10.1093\/forestry\/cpi032","article-title":"Response of oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) seedlings to canopy gap size","volume":"78","author":"Tabari","year":"2005","journal-title":"Forestry"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"517","DOI":"10.1139\/cjfr-2012-0476","article-title":"Classifying forestland from model-generated tree species habitat suitability in the Western Ecoregion of Nova Scotia, Canada","volume":"43","author":"Bourque","year":"2013","journal-title":"Can. J. For. Res."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bahlouli, A., Rautenberg, A., Sch\u00f6n, M., Berge, K., Bange, J., and Knaus, H. (2019). Comparison of CFD Simulation to UAS Measurements for Wind Flows in Complex Terrain: Application to the WINSENT Test Site. Energies, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/en12101992"},{"key":"ref_44","first-page":"57","article-title":"Determination the structure of oriental beech, Fagus orientalis Lipsky stands (Case study: Asalem watershed forests, north of Iran)","volume":"15","author":"Eslami","year":"2017","journal-title":"Casp. J. Environ. Sci."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"331","DOI":"10.1080\/10095020.2018.1523995","article-title":"Geographic information technology usage in developing countries\u2013A case study in Mozambique","volume":"21","author":"Amade","year":"2018","journal-title":"Geo Spat. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloplacha.2016.02.002","article-title":"Spatial climate-dependent growth response of boreal mixedwood forest in western Canada","volume":"139","author":"Jiang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Glob. Planet. Chang."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"660","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foreco.2009.09.001","article-title":"A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests","volume":"259","author":"Allen","year":"2010","journal-title":"For. Ecol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1205","DOI":"10.1007\/s11676-017-0556-7","article-title":"Estimation of a basal area growth model for individual trees in uneven-aged Caspian mixed species forests","volume":"29","author":"Mohammadi","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. For. Res."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106","DOI":"10.4996\/fireecology.1101106","article-title":"Predicting burned areas of forest fires: An artificial intelligence approach","volume":"11","author":"Castelli","year":"2015","journal-title":"Fire Ecol."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"719","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8137.2008.02436.x","article-title":"Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: Why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought?","volume":"178","author":"McDowell","year":"2008","journal-title":"New Phytol."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1093\/forestry\/cpn054","article-title":"Side shelter on lowland sites can benefit early growth of ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.)","volume":"82","author":"Willoughby","year":"2009","journal-title":"Forestry"},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1575","DOI":"10.1890\/1051-0761(2006)016[1575:SAGOUT]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Survival and growth of under-planted trees: A meta-analysis across four biomes","volume":"16","author":"Paquette","year":"2006","journal-title":"Ecol. Appl."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/11\/14\/1680\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T13:05:57Z","timestamp":1760187957000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/11\/14\/1680"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,15]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"14","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,7]]}},"alternative-id":["rs11141680"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs11141680","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,15]]}}}