Forest degradation through logging is pervasive throughout the world’s tropical forests, leading to changes in the three-dimensional canopy structure that have profound consequences for wildlife, microclimate and ecosystem functioning. Quantifying these structural changes is fundamental to understanding the impact of degradation, but is challenging in dense, structurally complex forest canopies. We exploited discrete-return airborne LiDARContinue reading “The impact of logging on vertical canopy structure across a gradient of tropical forest degradation intensity in Borneo”
Author Archives: Yi Zhang
Recovery of logged forest fragments in a human-modified tropical landscape during the 2015-16 El Niño
It is unclear whether tropical forest fragments within plantation landscapes are resilient to drought. Here the authors analyse LiDAR and ground-based data from the 2015-16 El Niño event across a logging intensity gradient in Borneo. Although regenerating forests continued to grow, canopy height near oil palm plantations decreased, and a strong edge effect extended upContinue reading “Recovery of logged forest fragments in a human-modified tropical landscape during the 2015-16 El Niño”
Carbon flux and forest dynamics: Increased deadwood decomposition in tropical rainforest tree‐fall canopy gaps
Tree mortality rates are increasing within tropical rainforests as a result of global environmental change. When trees die, gaps are created in forest canopies and carbon is transferred from the living to deadwood pools. However, little is known about the effect of tree‐fall canopy gaps on the activity of decomposer communities and the rate ofContinue reading “Carbon flux and forest dynamics: Increased deadwood decomposition in tropical rainforest tree‐fall canopy gaps”
Monitoring ash dieback in British forests using hyperspectral remote sensing
Fungal ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) is posing an imminent threat to forest health in Europe. Using airborne hyperspectral imagery trained against 422 tree crowns of known species and ash dieback severity, we built PLS-DA and RF models that classified individual tree crowns (ITCs) into five species (>90% OA) and ash crowns into three disease severityContinue reading “Monitoring ash dieback in British forests using hyperspectral remote sensing”
Riparian buffers act as microclimatic refugia in oil palm landscapes
There is growing interest in the ecological value of set‐aside habitats around rivers in tropical agriculture. These riparian buffers typically comprise forest or other non‐production habitat, and are established to maintain water quality and hydrological processes, while also supporting biodiversity, ecosystem function and landscape connectivity. We investigated the capacity for riparian buffers to act asContinue reading “Riparian buffers act as microclimatic refugia in oil palm landscapes”
Do tall trees have a higher risk of wind damage?
When an intense tropical storm passes over a forest it leaves destruction in its wake. Post-damage surveys often show that the tall trees are disproportionately killed in these events. However, it is very difficult to attribute the cause of death of a large tree after the event. A tree may be snapped and lying onContinue reading “Do tall trees have a higher risk of wind damage?”
Resilience of Spanish forests to recent droughts and climate change
Time-series of canopy greenness derived from satellite imagery can beanalysed alongside environmental factors, species composition andmanagement regimes, to better understand forest resilience to drought.In Spain, forests are on average greening despite drying trends. Thisresilience manifests in the short-term with native species activatingdrought tolerance and avoidance mechanisms observable from space (i.e.losing and gaining little greenness likeContinue reading “Resilience of Spanish forests to recent droughts and climate change”
