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Regional-scale drivers of forest structure and function in northwestern Amazonia
Mark A Higgins1, Gregory P Asner1, Christopher B Anderson1
1Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, California, United States of America.
Plos One
|March 21, 2015
Summary
Amazonian forest structure and canopy chemistry are strongly influenced by soil properties and plant species composition. These factors, linked to underlying geology, drive significant variations in forest characteristics across large regions.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Geology
- Remote Sensing
Background:
- Continental-scale Amazonian studies link soil fertility to forest structure and function.
- Regional-scale understanding of forest patterns related to edaphic and geological factors is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between forest structure, canopy reflectance, and underlying geology and soil patterns at a regional scale in Amazonia.
- To map forest structure and canopy reflectance using remote sensing data and compare these with ground-based inventories.
Main Methods:
- Airborne LiDAR and VSWIR imaging spectroscopy were used over 600 km² of Amazonian lowland forests.
- 83 inventories of plant species composition and soil properties were collected across two geological formations.
- Forest structure, canopy reflectance, species composition, soil properties, and geology were mapped and compared.
Main Results:
- Soil properties and species composition explained up to 70% of variation in canopy height and altered forest vertical profiles.
- Soils and species composition accounted for over 90% of variation in canopy reflectance, indicating control over canopy chemistry.
- Soils explained 30-70% of variation in forest gap frequency.
Conclusions:
- Edaphic and compositional variables, tied to geology, significantly influence Amazonian forest canopy structure and chemistry over large areas.
- This study highlights the importance of soil and species composition in regional forest variations.
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