Unique Canopy Structural Signatures of Moderate Disturbance Derived from Terrestrial LiDAR
Atkins JW, Fahey RT, Stuart-Haentjens EJ, Turner L, LaRue E, McNeil BE, David O, Stovall AE, Tallant J, Gough CM, Hardiman BS. 2018. Unique Canopy Structural Signatures of Moderate Disturbance Derived from Terrestrial LiDAR. In American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2018
ABSTRACT (in part): We hypothesized that moderate forest disturbances modify canopy structure in one of four ways based on the directionality and magnitude of change. These groups include top-down disturbances (ice storm damage) that primarily reduce leaf area index (LAI) in the upper canopy strata, bottom-up disturbances (ground fires) that reduce subcanopy LAI, random disturbances (wind-throw) which lack directionality, and targeted disturbances (beech bark disease) that affect specific species or areas of the forest, often resulting deep gaps across canopy strata. To test this hypothesis, we surveyed sites across the eastern United States that were subjected to an array of disturbance types, including: a ground-fire in Tennessee; a hemlock woolly-adelgid outbreak in Massachusetts; chronic acid-deposition in West Virginia; ice storm damage in New Hampshire; and beech bark disease and age-related senescence in Michigan. At each site, we used terrestrial LiDAR to derive canopy structural complexity (CSC) metrics summarizing canopy height, arrangement, heterogeneity, openness, variability, and density.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Atkins, Jeffrey; Fahey, R; Stuart-Haentjens, E; Turner, L; LaRue, E; McNeil, B; David, O; Stovall, A; Tallant, J; Gough, C; Hardiman, B
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, biosphere/atmosphere interactions, Chimney Tops II Fire, disturbance, fire, forest structure, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, GRSM-01270, LiDAR, modeling, plant ecology, SER, Southeast Region