Imaging spectroscopy reveals the effects of topography and logging on the leaf chemistry of tropical forest canopy trees.

ABSTRACT: Logging, pervasive across the lowland tropics, affects millions of hectares of forest, yet its influence on nutrient cycling remains poorly understood. One hypothesis is that logging influences phosphorus (P) cycling, because this scarce nutrient is removed in extracted timber and eroded soil, leading to shifts in ecosystem functioning and community composition. However, testing this is challenging because P varies within landscapes as a function of geology, topography and climate. Superimposed upon these trends are compositional changes in logged forests, with species with more acquisitive traits, characterized by higher foliar P concentrations, more dominant. It is difficult to resolve these patterns using traditional field approaches alone. Here, we use airborne light detection and rang

SUBMITTER: Swinfield T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7027875 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature