Roberta E. Martin

Large-scale impacts of herbivores on the structural diversity of African savannas

African savannas are undergoing management intensification, and decision makers are increasingly challenged to balance the needs of large herbivore populations with the maintenance of vegetation and ecosystem diversity. Ensuring the sustainability of Africas natural protected areas requires information on the efficacy of management decisions at large spatial scales, but often neither experimental treatments nor large-scale responses are available for analysis. Using a new airborne remote sensing system, we mapped the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of vegetation at a spatial resolution of 56 cm throughout 1640 ha of savanna after 6-, 22-, 35-, and 41-year exclusions of herbivores, as well as in unprotected areas, across Kruger National Park in South Africa. Areas in which herbivores were excluded over the short term (6 years) contained 38%–80% less bare ground compared with those that were exposed to mammalian herbivory. In the longer-term (> 22 years), the 3-D structure of woody vegetation differed significantly between protected and accessible landscapes, with up to 11-fold greater woody canopy cover in the areas without herbivores. Our maps revealed 2 scales of ecosystem response to herbivore consumption, one broadly mediated by geologic substrate and the other mediated by hillslope-scale variation in soil nutrient availability and moisture conditions. Our results are the first to quantitatively illustrate the extent to which herbivores can affect the 3-D structural diversity of vegetation across large savanna landscapes.

Airborne spectranomics: mapping canopy chemical and taxonomic diversity in tropical forests

Tree canopies play an enormous role in the maintenance of tropical forest diversity and ecosystem function, and are therefore central to conservation, management, and resource policy development in tropical regions. However, high-resolution mapping of tropical forest canopies is very difficult, because traditional field, airborne, and satellite measurements cannot resolve the number of canopy species, or particular species of interest, over the large regional scales commensurate with conservation goals and strategies. Newer technologies, such as imaging spectroscopy and light detection and ranging (lidar), are just now reaching performance levels that will allow monitoring of tropical forest diversity from the air, but the methods for applying these technologies are not yet ready. Here, we present concepts that combine chemical and spectral remote sensing perspectives to facilitate canopy diversity mapping. Using examples from our ongoing work in the Hawaiian Islands, we demonstrate how a new “airborne sp...

Invasive plants transform the three-dimensional structure of rain forests

Biological invasions contribute to global environmental change, but the dynamics and consequences of most invasions are difficult to assess at regional scales. We deployed an airborne remote sensing system that mapped the location and impacts of five highly invasive plant species across 221,875 ha of Hawaiian ecosystems, identifying four distinct ways that these species transform the three-dimensional (3D) structure of native rain forests. In lowland to montane forests, three invasive tree species replace native midcanopy and understory plants, whereas one understory invader excludes native species at the ground level. A fifth invasive nitrogen-fixing tree, in combination with a midcanopy alien tree, replaces native plants at all canopy levels in lowland forests. We conclude that this diverse array of alien plant species, each representing a different growth form or functional type, is changing the fundamental 3D structure of native Hawaiian rain forests. Our work also demonstrates how an airborne mapping strategy can identify and track the spread of certain invasive plant species, determine ecological consequences of their proliferation, and provide detailed geographic information to conservation and management efforts.

Canopy phylogenetic, chemical and spectral assembly in a lowland Amazonian forest

• Canopy chemistry and spectroscopy offer insight into community assembly and ecosystem processes in high-diversity tropical forests, but phylogenetic and environmental factors controlling chemical traits underpinning spectral signatures remain poorly understood. • We measured 21 leaf chemical traits and spectroscopic signatures of 594 canopy individuals on high-fertility Inceptisols and low-fertility Ultisols in a lowland Amazonian forest. The spectranomics approach, which explicitly connects phylogenetic, chemical and spectral patterns in tropical canopies, provided the basis for analysis. • Intracrown and intraspecific variation in chemical traits varied from 1.4 to 36.7% (median 9.3%), depending upon the chemical constituent. Principal components analysis showed that 14 orthogonal combinations were required to explain 95% of the variation among 21 traits, indicating the high dimensionality of canopy chemical signatures among taxa. Inceptisols and lianas were associated with high leaf nutrient concentrations and low concentrations of defense compounds. Independent of soils or plant habit, an average 70% (maximum 89%) of chemical trait variation was explained by taxonomy. At least 10 traits were quantitatively linked to remotely sensed signatures, which provided highly accurate species classification. • The results suggest that taxa found on fertile soils carry chemical portfolios with a deep evolutionary history, whereas taxa found on low-fertility soils have undergone trait evolution at the species level. Spectranomics provides a new connection between remote sensing and community assembly theory in high-diversity tropical canopies.

Progressive forest canopy water loss during the 2012–2015 California drought

Significance The state of California has a globally important economy and a population exceeding 38 million. The state relies on its forested watersheds to support numerous services, such as water provisioning, carbon storage, timber products, ecotourism, and recreation. However, secular changes in air temperature, combined with periodic and prolonged drought, pose a compounding challenge to forest health. Here we use new remote-sensing and modeling techniques to assess changes in the canopy water content of California’s forests from 2011 to 2015. Our resulting maps of progressive canopy water stress identify at-risk forest landscapes and watersheds at fine resolution, and offer geographically explicit information to support innovative forest management and policies in preparation for climate change. The 2012–2015 drought has left California with severely reduced snowpack, soil moisture, ground water, and reservoir stocks, but the impact of this estimated millennial-scale event on forest health is unknown. We used airborne laser-guided spectroscopy and satellite-based models to assess losses in canopy water content of California’s forests between 2011 and 2015. Approximately 10.6 million ha of forest containing up to 888 million large trees experienced measurable loss in canopy water content during this drought period. Severe canopy water losses of greater than 30% occurred over 1 million ha, affecting up to 58 million large trees. Our measurements exclude forests affected by fire between 2011 and 2015. If drought conditions continue or reoccur, even with temporary reprieves such as El Niño, we predict substantial future forest change.

Leaf chemical and spectral diversity in Australian tropical forests

Leaf chemical and spectral properties of 162 canopy species were measured at 11 tropical forest sites along a 6024 mm precipitation/yr and 8.7 degrees C climate gradient in Queensland, Australia. We found that variations in foliar nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll a and b, and carotenoid concentrations, as well as specific leaf area (SLA), were expressed more strongly among species within a site than along the entire climate gradient. Integrated chemical signatures consisting of all leaf properties did not aggregate well at the genus or family levels. Leaf chemical diversity was maximal in the lowland tropical forest sites with the highest temperatures and moderate precipitation levels. Cooler and wetter montane tropical forests contained species with measurably lower variation in their chemical signatures. Foliar optical properties measured from 400 to 2500 nm were also highly diverse at the species level, and were well correlated with an ensemble of leaf chemical properties and SLA (r2 = 0.54-0.83). A probabilistic diversity model amplified the leaf chemical differences among species, revealing that lowland tropical forests maintain a chemical diversity per unit richness far greater than that of higher elevation forests in Australia. Modeled patterns in spectral diversity and species richness paralleled those of chemical diversity, demonstrating a linkage between the taxonomic and remotely sensed properties of tropical forest canopies. We conclude that species are the taxonomic unit causing chemical variance in Australian tropical forest canopies, and thus ecological and remote sensing studies should consider the role that species play in defining the functional properties of these forests.

Amazonian functional diversity from forest canopy chemical assembly

Significance Canopy trees are keystone organisms that create habitat for an enormous array of flora and fauna and dominate carbon storage in tropical forests. Determining the functional diversity of tree canopies is, therefore, critical to understanding how tropical forests are assembled and predicting ecosystem responses to environmental change. Across the megadiverse Andes-to-Amazon corridor of Peru, we discovered a large-scale nested pattern of canopy chemical assembly among thousands of trees. This nested geographic and phylogenetic pattern within and among forest communities provides a different perspective on current and future alterations to the functioning of western Amazonian forests resulting from land use and climate change. Patterns of tropical forest functional diversity express processes of ecological assembly at multiple geographic scales and aid in predicting ecological responses to environmental change. Tree canopy chemistry underpins forest functional diversity, but the interactive role of phylogeny and environment in determining the chemical traits of tropical trees is poorly known. Collecting and analyzing foliage in 2,420 canopy tree species across 19 forests in the western Amazon, we discovered (i) systematic, community-scale shifts in average canopy chemical traits along gradients of elevation and soil fertility; (ii) strong phylogenetic partitioning of structural and defense chemicals within communities independent of variation in environmental conditions; and (iii) strong environmental control on foliar phosphorus and calcium, the two rock-derived elements limiting CO2 uptake in tropical forests. These findings indicate that the chemical diversity of western Amazonian forests occurs in a regionally nested mosaic driven by long-term chemical trait adjustment of communities to large-scale environmental filters, particularly soils and climate, and is supported by phylogenetic divergence of traits essential to foliar survival under varying environmental conditions. Geographically nested patterns of forest canopy chemical traits will play a role in determining the response and functional rearrangement of western Amazonian ecosystems to changing land use and climate.

High-fidelity national carbon mapping for resource management and REDD+

BackgroundHigh fidelity carbon mapping has the potential to greatly advance national resource management and to encourage international action toward climate change mitigation. However, carbon inventories based on field plots alone cannot capture the heterogeneity of carbon stocks, and thus remote sensing-assisted approaches are critically important to carbon mapping at regional to global scales. We advanced a high-resolution, national-scale carbon mapping approach applied to the Republic of Panama – one of the first UN REDD + partner countries.ResultsIntegrating measurements of vegetation structure collected by airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) with field inventory plots, we report LiDAR-estimated aboveground carbon stock errors of ~10% on any 1-ha land parcel across a wide range of ecological conditions. Critically, this shows that LiDAR provides a highly reliable replacement for inventory plots in areas lacking field data, both in humid tropical forests and among drier tropical vegetation types. We then scale up a systematically aligned LiDAR sampling of Panama using satellite data on topography, rainfall, and vegetation cover to model carbon stocks at 1-ha resolution with estimated average pixel-level uncertainty of 20.5 Mg C ha-1 nationwide.ConclusionsThe national carbon map revealed strong abiotic and human controls over Panamanian carbon stocks, and the new level of detail with estimated uncertainties for every individual hectare in the country sets Panama at the forefront in high-resolution ecosystem management. With this repeatable approach, carbon resource decision-making can be made on a geospatially explicit basis, enhancing human welfare and environmental protection.

Taxonomy and remote sensing of leaf mass per area (LMA) in humid tropical forests

Leaf mass per area (LMA) is a trait of central importance to plant physiology and ecosystem function, but LMA patterns in the upper canopies of humid tropical forests have proved elusive due to tall species and high diversity. We collected top-of-canopy leaf samples from 2873 individuals in 57 sites spread across the Neotropics, Australasia, and Caribbean and Pacific Islands to quantify environmental and taxonomic drivers of LMA variation, and to advance remote-sensing measures of LMA. We uncovered strong taxonomic organization of LMA, with species accounting for 70% of the global variance and up to 62% of the variation within a forest stand. Climate, growth habit, and site conditions are secondary contributors (1-23%) to the observed LMA patterns. Intraspecific variation in LMA averages 16%, which is a fraction of the variation observed between species. We then used spectroscopic remote sensing (400-2500 nm) to estimate LMA with an absolute uncertainty of 14-15 g/m2 (r2 = 0.85), or approximately 10% of the global mean. With radiative transfer modeling, we demonstrated the scalability of spectroscopic remote sensing of LMA to the canopy level. Our study indicates that remotely sensed patterns of LMA will be driven by taxonomic variation against a backdrop of environmental controls expressed at site and regional levels.

Targeted carbon conservation at national scales with high-resolution monitoring

Significance Land use is a principal driver of carbon emissions, either directly through land change processes such as deforestation or indirectly via transportation and industries supporting natural resource use. To minimize the effects of land use on the climate system, natural ecosystems are needed to offset gross emissions through carbon sequestration. Managing this critically important service must be achieved tactically if it is to be cost-effective. We have developed a high-resolution carbon mapping approach that can identify biogeographically explicit targets for carbon storage enhancement among all landholders within a country. Applying our approach to Perú reveals carbon threats and protections, as well as major opportunities for using ecosystems to sequester carbon. Our approach is scalable to any tropical forest country. Terrestrial carbon conservation can provide critical environmental, social, and climate benefits. Yet, the geographically complex mosaic of threats to, and opportunities for, conserving carbon in landscapes remain largely unresolved at national scales. Using a new high-resolution carbon mapping approach applied to Perú, a megadiverse country undergoing rapid land use change, we found that at least 0.8 Pg of aboveground carbon stocks are at imminent risk of emission from land use activities. Map-based information on the natural controls over carbon density, as well as current ecosystem threats and protections, revealed three biogeographically explicit strategies that fully offset forthcoming land-use emissions. High-resolution carbon mapping affords targeted interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in rapidly developing tropical nations.