This new strata system also does a much better job of mapping landings/clearings and wide road areas (most of the red and orange cells).
As mentioned above, this strata system provides a highly flexible and accurate picture of current forest conditions.
The strata system developed here will serve as the basis for future biogeochemistry model runs that will also attempt to better estimate ecosystem carbon fluxes at the GRF.
Another way to compare the current strata system to the prior system is to look at some well sampled stands in the prior inventory and compare those estimates to the current strata-based estimates (Table 5).
Terrace cultivation, living fences, multipurpose trees (e.g., the Albida acacia [Faidherbia albida]), fodder trees, and multi-strata systems (featuring trees of different heights, as in shade-grown coffee) are also used in tropical systems to combine trees with other crops and livestock.
Note that the new strata grid-cells do correspond to the old stratification in areas where there are clear stand boundaries but in mixed forest conditions the new system can distinguish different forest conditions that the original strata system lumped together.
To further validate findings, other researchers should apply the risk assessment score and the seven strata stratification system on other populations for further external validation.
Although multi-strata shaded-cacao systems still occur in Ghana, there has been an increasing move towards intensification of cacao management with shade tree removal and monoculture practices [9, 10].
The model predicts many of the field observations made regarding strata-bound fracture systems, and should also prove useful in consideration of the impact of raised reservoir fluid pressures on caprock integrity.
In underground metal mining various type of rocks are encountered during mine excavations viz., competent, heavily fractured, weathered, heavily jointed etc. and accordingly suitable support systems and strata control measures are adopted.
