Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance: results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements

Marion Pfeifer; Alemu Gonsamo; William Woodgate; Luis Cayuela; Andrew R. Marshall; Alicia Ledo; Timothy C.E. Paine; Rob Marchant; Andrew Burt; Kim Calders; Colin Courtney-Mustaphi; Aida Cuni Sanchez; Nicolas J. Deere; Dereje Denu; Jose Gonzalez de Tanago; Robin Hayward; Alvaro Lau; Manuel J. Macía; Pieter I. Olivier; Petri Pellikka; Hamidu Seki; Deo Shirima; Rebecca Trevithick; Beatrice Wedeux; Charlotte Wheeler; Pantaleo K. T. Munishi; Thomas Martin; Abdul Mustari; Philip J. Platts

doi:10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7

Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance: results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements

Marion Pfeifer^*, Alemu Gonsamo, William Woodgate, Luis Cayuela, Andrew R. Marshall, Alicia Ledo, Timothy C.E. Paine, Rob Marchant, Andrew Burt, Kim Calders, Colin Courtney-Mustaphi, Aida Cuni Sanchez, Nicolas J. Deere, Dereje Denu, Jose Gonzalez de Tanago, Robin Hayward, Alvaro Lau, Manuel J. Macía, Pieter I. Olivier, Petri PellikkaHamidu Seki, Deo Shirima, Rebecca Trevithick, Beatrice Wedeux, Charlotte Wheeler, Pantaleo K. T. Munishi, Thomas Martin, Abdul Mustari, Philip J. Platts

^*Corresponding author for this work

12 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Background: Canopy structure, defined by leaf area index (LAI), fractional vegetation cover (FCover) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), regulates a wide range of forest functions and ecosystem services. Spatially consistent field-measurements of canopy structure are however lacking, particularly for the tropics. Methods: Here, we introduce the Global LAI database: a global dataset of field-based canopy structure measurements spanning tropical forests in four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas). We use these measurements to test for climate dependencies within and across continents, and to test for the potential of anthropogenic disturbance and forest protection to modulate those dependences. Results: Using data collected from 887 tropical forest plots, we show that maximum water deficit, defined across the most arid months of the year, is an important predictor of canopy structure, with all three canopy attributes declining significantly with increasing water deficit. Canopy attributes also increase with minimum temperature, and with the protection of forests according to both active (within protected areas) and passive measures (through topography). Once protection and continent effects are accounted for, other anthropogenic measures (e.g. human population) do not improve the model. Conclusions: We conclude that canopy structure in the tropics is primarily a consequence of forest adaptation to the maximum water deficits historically experienced within a given region. Climate change, and in particular changes in drought regimes may thus affect forest structure and function, but forest protection may offer some resilience against this effect.

Original language	English
Article number	7
Journal	Forest Ecosystems
Volume	5
Number of pages	14
ISSN	2095-6355
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7
Publication status	Published - 2018

Keywords

Climate change
Drought
Fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation
Fractional vegetation cover
Human population pressure
Leaf area index
Protected areas

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Pfeifer, M., Gonsamo, A., Woodgate, W., Cayuela, L., Marshall, A. R., Ledo, A., Paine, T. C. E., Marchant, R., Burt, A., Calders, K., Courtney-Mustaphi, C., Cuni Sanchez, A., Deere, N. J., Denu, D., de Tanago, J. G., Hayward, R., Lau, A., Macía, M. J., Olivier, P. I., ... Platts, P. J. (2018). Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance: results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements. Forest Ecosystems, 5, [7]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7

Pfeifer, M, Gonsamo, A, Woodgate, W, Cayuela, L, Marshall, AR, Ledo, A, Paine, TCE, Marchant, R, Burt, A, Calders, K, Courtney-Mustaphi, C, Cuni Sanchez, A, Deere, NJ, Denu, D, de Tanago, JG, Hayward, R, Lau, A, Macía, MJ, Olivier, PI, Pellikka, P, Seki, H, Shirima, D, Trevithick, R, Wedeux, B, Wheeler, C, Munishi, PKT, Martin, T, Mustari, A & Platts, PJ 2018, 'Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance: results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements', Forest Ecosystems, vol. 5, 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7

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title = "Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance: results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements",

abstract = "Background: Canopy structure, defined by leaf area index (LAI), fractional vegetation cover (FCover) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), regulates a wide range of forest functions and ecosystem services. Spatially consistent field-measurements of canopy structure are however lacking, particularly for the tropics. Methods: Here, we introduce the Global LAI database: a global dataset of field-based canopy structure measurements spanning tropical forests in four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas). We use these measurements to test for climate dependencies within and across continents, and to test for the potential of anthropogenic disturbance and forest protection to modulate those dependences. Results: Using data collected from 887 tropical forest plots, we show that maximum water deficit, defined across the most arid months of the year, is an important predictor of canopy structure, with all three canopy attributes declining significantly with increasing water deficit. Canopy attributes also increase with minimum temperature, and with the protection of forests according to both active (within protected areas) and passive measures (through topography). Once protection and continent effects are accounted for, other anthropogenic measures (e.g. human population) do not improve the model. Conclusions: We conclude that canopy structure in the tropics is primarily a consequence of forest adaptation to the maximum water deficits historically experienced within a given region. Climate change, and in particular changes in drought regimes may thus affect forest structure and function, but forest protection may offer some resilience against this effect.",

keywords = "Climate change, Drought, Fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, Fractional vegetation cover, Human population pressure, Leaf area index, Protected areas",

author = "Marion Pfeifer and Alemu Gonsamo and William Woodgate and Luis Cayuela and Marshall, {Andrew R.} and Alicia Ledo and Paine, {Timothy C.E.} and Rob Marchant and Andrew Burt and Kim Calders and Colin Courtney-Mustaphi and {Cuni Sanchez}, Aida and Deere, {Nicolas J.} and Dereje Denu and {de Tanago}, {Jose Gonzalez} and Robin Hayward and Alvaro Lau and Mac{\'i}a, {Manuel J.} and Olivier, {Pieter I.} and Petri Pellikka and Hamidu Seki and Deo Shirima and Rebecca Trevithick and Beatrice Wedeux and Charlotte Wheeler and Munishi, {Pantaleo K. T.} and Thomas Martin and Abdul Mustari and Platts, {Philip J.}",

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doi = "10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7",

language = "English",

volume = "5",

journal = "Forest Ecosystems",

issn = "2095-6355",

publisher = "Springer Science+Business Media",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance

T2 - results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements

AU - Pfeifer, Marion

AU - Gonsamo, Alemu

AU - Woodgate, William

AU - Cayuela, Luis

AU - Marshall, Andrew R.

AU - Ledo, Alicia

AU - Paine, Timothy C.E.

AU - Marchant, Rob

AU - Burt, Andrew

AU - Calders, Kim

AU - Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin

AU - Cuni Sanchez, Aida

AU - Deere, Nicolas J.

AU - Denu, Dereje

AU - de Tanago, Jose Gonzalez

AU - Hayward, Robin

AU - Lau, Alvaro

AU - Macía, Manuel J.

AU - Olivier, Pieter I.

AU - Pellikka, Petri

AU - Seki, Hamidu

AU - Shirima, Deo

AU - Trevithick, Rebecca

AU - Wedeux, Beatrice

AU - Wheeler, Charlotte

AU - Munishi, Pantaleo K. T.

AU - Martin, Thomas

AU - Mustari, Abdul

AU - Platts, Philip J.

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Background: Canopy structure, defined by leaf area index (LAI), fractional vegetation cover (FCover) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), regulates a wide range of forest functions and ecosystem services. Spatially consistent field-measurements of canopy structure are however lacking, particularly for the tropics. Methods: Here, we introduce the Global LAI database: a global dataset of field-based canopy structure measurements spanning tropical forests in four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas). We use these measurements to test for climate dependencies within and across continents, and to test for the potential of anthropogenic disturbance and forest protection to modulate those dependences. Results: Using data collected from 887 tropical forest plots, we show that maximum water deficit, defined across the most arid months of the year, is an important predictor of canopy structure, with all three canopy attributes declining significantly with increasing water deficit. Canopy attributes also increase with minimum temperature, and with the protection of forests according to both active (within protected areas) and passive measures (through topography). Once protection and continent effects are accounted for, other anthropogenic measures (e.g. human population) do not improve the model. Conclusions: We conclude that canopy structure in the tropics is primarily a consequence of forest adaptation to the maximum water deficits historically experienced within a given region. Climate change, and in particular changes in drought regimes may thus affect forest structure and function, but forest protection may offer some resilience against this effect.

AB - Background: Canopy structure, defined by leaf area index (LAI), fractional vegetation cover (FCover) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR), regulates a wide range of forest functions and ecosystem services. Spatially consistent field-measurements of canopy structure are however lacking, particularly for the tropics. Methods: Here, we introduce the Global LAI database: a global dataset of field-based canopy structure measurements spanning tropical forests in four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas). We use these measurements to test for climate dependencies within and across continents, and to test for the potential of anthropogenic disturbance and forest protection to modulate those dependences. Results: Using data collected from 887 tropical forest plots, we show that maximum water deficit, defined across the most arid months of the year, is an important predictor of canopy structure, with all three canopy attributes declining significantly with increasing water deficit. Canopy attributes also increase with minimum temperature, and with the protection of forests according to both active (within protected areas) and passive measures (through topography). Once protection and continent effects are accounted for, other anthropogenic measures (e.g. human population) do not improve the model. Conclusions: We conclude that canopy structure in the tropics is primarily a consequence of forest adaptation to the maximum water deficits historically experienced within a given region. Climate change, and in particular changes in drought regimes may thus affect forest structure and function, but forest protection may offer some resilience against this effect.

KW - Climate change

KW - Drought

KW - Fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation

KW - Fractional vegetation cover

KW - Human population pressure

KW - Leaf area index

KW - Protected areas

U2 - 10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7

DO - 10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85050402046

SN - 2095-6355

VL - 5

JO - Forest Ecosystems

JF - Forest Ecosystems

M1 - 7

ER -

Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance: results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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