Articles | Volume 15, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-3377-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-3377-2018
Research article
 | 
08 Jun 2018
Research article |  | 08 Jun 2018

Canopy area of large trees explains aboveground biomass variations across neotropical forest landscapes

Victoria Meyer, Sassan Saatchi, David B. Clark, Michael Keller, Grégoire Vincent, António Ferraz, Fernando Espírito-Santo, Marcus V. N. d'Oliveira, Dahlia Kaki, and Jérôme Chave

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Cited articles

Andersen, H. E., Reutebuch, S. E., McGaughey, R. J., d'Oliveira, M. V., and Keller, M.: Monitoring selective logging in western Amazonia with repeat lidar flights, Remote Sens. Environ., 151, 157–165, 2014. 
Asner, G. P. and Mascaro, J.: Mapping tropical forest carbon: Calibrating plot estimates to a simple Lidar metric, Remote Sens. Environ., 140, 614–624, 2014. 
Asner, G. P., Mascaro, J., Muller-Landau, H. C., Vieilledent, G., Vaudry, R., Rasamoelina, M., Hall, J. S., and van Breugel, M.: A universal airborne Lidar approach for tropical forest carbon mapping, Oecologia, 168, 1147–1160, 2012. 
Baker, T. R., Phillips, O. L., Malhi, Y., Almeida, S., Arroyo, L., Di Fiore, A., Erwin, T., Killeen, T. J., Laurance, S. G., Laurance, W. F., and Lewis, S. L.: Variation in wood density determines spatial patterns in Amazonian forest biomass, Glob. Change Biol., 10, 545–562, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2004.00751.x, 2004. 
Baldocchi, D. D.: Assessing the eddy covariance technique for evaluating carbon dioxide exchange rates of ecosystems: past, present and future, Glob. Change Biol., 9, 479–492, 2003. 
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This study shows how a simple lidar-derived metric measuring the area covered by large trees (> 27 m) can explain biomass variations across the Neotropics. The importance of this metric is in its relevance to the structural and ecological characteristics of large trees and their unique contribution in determining the biomass of forests. Our results point toward simplified ground data collection and potential algorithms for future space missions focusing on biomass estimation.
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