1. A method of operating a computer system to process LiDAR data to identify the species of an item of vegetation, the method comprising: identifying with the computer system, LiDAR data that are associated with an item of vegetation; determining with the computer system, an average intensity of the LiDAR data associated with the item of vegetation; selecting with the computer system, a hardwood or conifer species attribute template based on the determined average intensity of the LiDAR data associated with the item of vegetation, wherein the species attribute templates store data collected from different species; and analyzing with the computer system, the LiDAR data associated with the item of vegetation and the data in the selected species attribute template to identify a species that most closely matches the item of vegetation.