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Amazon forest carbon dynamics predicted by profiles of canopy leaf area and light environment |
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| Authors: | Scott C Stark Veronika Leitold Jin L Wu Maria O Hunter Carolina V de Castilho Flávia R C Costa Sean M McMahon Geoffrey G Parker Mônica Takako Shimabukuro Michael A Lefsky Michael Keller Luciana F Alves Juliana Schietti Yosio Edemir Shimabukuro Diego O Brandão Tara K Woodcock Niro Higuchi Plinio B de Camargo Raimundo C de Oliveira Scott R Saleska |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, , Tucson, AZ, 85721 USA;2. Complex Systems Research Center, University of New Hampshire, , Durham, NH, 03824 USA;3. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amaz?nia (INPA), Coordena??o de Pesquisas em Ecologia, , Manaus, AM, 69011‐970 Brazil;4. Embrapa Roraima, , Roraima, Brazil;5. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Forest Ecology Group, , Edgewater, MD, 21037 USA;6. Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, , Panamá;7. Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE), S?o José dos Campos, , 12227‐010 S?o Paulo, Brazil;8. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, , CO, 80523 USA;9. International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, , San Juan, 00926 Puerto Rico, USA;10. Embrapa Monitoramento por Satélite, Avenida Soldado Passarinho, , S?o Paulo, Brazil;11. Instituto de Botanica, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Ecologia, , 01031‐970 S?o Paulo, Brazil;12. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado, , Boulder, CO, 80309 USA;13. Coordenac?o de Pesquisas em Silvicultura Tropical, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amaz?nia, , Manaus, AM, 69011‐907 Brazil;14. Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA), Universidade de S?o Paulo, , S?o Paulo, Brazil;15. Embrapa Amaz?nia Oriental, , Pará, Brazil |
| Abstract: | Tropical forest structural variation across heterogeneous landscapes may control above‐ground carbon dynamics. We tested the hypothesis that canopy structure (leaf area and light availability) – remotely estimated from LiDAR – control variation in above‐ground coarse wood production (biomass growth). Using a statistical model, these factors predicted biomass growth across tree size classes in forest near Manaus, Brazil. The same statistical model, with no parameterisation change but driven by different observed canopy structure, predicted the higher productivity of a site 500 km east. Gap fraction and a metric of vegetation vertical extent and evenness also predicted biomass gains and losses for one‐hectare plots. Despite significant site differences in canopy structure and carbon dynamics, the relation between biomass growth and light fell on a unifying curve. This supported our hypothesis, suggesting that knowledge of canopy structure can explain variation in biomass growth over tropical landscapes and improve understanding of ecosystem function. |
| Keywords: | Biomass growth carbon balance gap fraction leaf area profiles remote sensing of canopy structure LiDAR |