Publications 2010 – 2019 – Forest Ecology and Conservation Group

Landscape-scale changes in forest canopy structure across a partially logged tropical peat swamp

We used airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to measure the canopy of old-growth and selectively logged peat swamp forest across a peat dome in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia,and quantified how canopy structure metrics varied with peat depth and under logging. Wedeux B.M.M.; Coomes, D.A. 2015 PDF
Mapping Aboveground Carbon in Oil Palm Plantations Using LiDAR: A Comparison of Tree-Centric versus Area-Based Approaches

This paper compares the performance of tree-centric and area-based approaches to mapping aboveground carbon density, ACD, through use of LIDAR in oil palm plantations. Nunes, M.H.; Ewers, R.M.; Turner, E.C.; Coomes, D.A. 2017 PDF
On the challenges of using field spectroscopy to measure the impact of soil type on leaf traits

Working with 24 chemical and physical leaf traits of six European tree species growing on strongly contrasting soil types (i.e. deep alluvium versus nearby shallow chalk), we asked whether variability in leaf traits is greater between tree species or soil type, and whether field spectroscopy is effective at predicting intraspecific variation in leaf traits as well…
Airborne LiDAR Detects Selectively Logged Tropical Forest Even in an Advanced Stage of Recovery

We use LiDAR data from ca. 16 km2 of forest in Sierra Leone, West Africa, to discriminate areas of old-growth from areas recovering from selective logging for 23 years. Kent, R.; Lindsell, J.A.; Laurin, G.V.; Valentini, R.; Coomes, D.A. 2015 PDF
Nonparametric Image Registration of Airborne LiDAR, Hyperspectral and Photographic Imagery of Wooded Landscapes

Here we develop a non-parametric image registration approach, in which a normalized gradient field is used to quantify similarity, and curvature is used for regularization (NGF-Curv method). Lee, J.; Cai, X.; Schönlieb, C.; Coomes, D.A. 2015 PDF
Using species distribution models to inform IUCN Red List assessments

An in depth analysis of how species distribution models predictions relate to extent of occurrence and thus how to improve SDMs to include factors of specimen localities. Syfert, M.M.; Joppac, L.; Smith, M.J.; Coomes, D.A.; Bachmand, S.P.; Brummitt, N.A. 2014 PDF
Masting, mixtures and modes: are two models better than one?

We show how a widely-used statistical test of bimodality applied by many studies in different ecological contexts may fail to reject the null hypothesis that focal probability distributions are unimodal. Tanentzap, A.J.; Lee, W.G.; Coomes, D.A.; Mason, N.W.H. 2014 PDF
Stand Structure and Recent Climate Change Constrain Stand Basal Area Change in European Forests: A Comparison Across Boreal, Temperate, and Mediterranean Biomes

We use forest inventory data to identify the relative importance of stand structure, mean climate, and recent climate change on forest basal area change during the late twentieth century. Ruiz-Benito, P.; Madrigal-González, J.; Ratcliffe, S.; Coomes, D.A.; Kändler, G.; Lehtonen, A.; Wirth, C.; Zavala, M.A. 2014 PDF
Applications of airborne lidar for the assessment of animal species diversity

We review the habitat attributes commonly recorded in the study of HS–SD relationships and the spatial scale of their measurement, in papers published between 1960and 2013. We also gather evidence for the use of lidar to make relevant measurements at similar scales. Simonson, W.D.; Allen, H.D.; Coomes, D.A 2014 PDF