NEON-SD: A 30-m Structural Diversity Product Derived from the NEON Discrete-Return LiDAR Point Cloud.

Structural diversity (SD) characterizes the volume and physical arrangement of biotic components in an ecosystem which control critical ecosystem functions and processes. LiDAR data provides detailed 3-D spatial position information of components and has been widely used to calculate SD. However, the intensive computation of SD metrics from extensive LiDAR datasets is time-consuming and challenging for researchers who lack access to high-performance computing resources.

Climate and topography control variation in the tropical dry forest-rainforest ecotone.

Ecotones are the transition zones between ecosystems and can exhibit steep gradients in ecosystem properties controlling flows of energy and organisms between them. Ecotones are understood to be sensitive to climate and environmental changes, but the potential for spatiotemporal dynamics of ecotones to act as indicators of such changes is limited by methodological and logistical constraints. Here, we use a novel combination of satellite remote sensing and analyses of spatial synchrony to identify the tropical dry forest-rainforest ecotone in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization.

The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI).

Integrating gradient with scale in ecological and evolutionary studies.

Gradient and scale are two key concepts in ecology and evolution that are closely related but inherently distinct. While scale commonly refers to the dimensional space of a specific ecological/evolutionary (eco-evo) issue, gradient measures the range of a given variable. Gradient and scale can jointly and interactively influence eco-evo patterns.

Disturbance-accelerated succession increases the production of a temperate forest.

Many secondary deciduous forests of eastern North America are approaching a transition in which mature early-successional trees are declining, resulting in an uncertain future for this century-long carbon (C) sink. We initiated the Forest Accelerated Succession Experiment (FASET) at the University of Michigan Biological Station to examine the patterns and mechanisms underlying forest C cycling following the stem girdling-induced mortality of >6,700 early-successional Populus spp. (aspen) and Betula papyrifera (paper birch).

Structure and parameter uncertainty in centennial projections of forest community structure and carbon cycling.

Secondary forest regrowth shapes community succession and biogeochemistry for decades, including in the Upper Great Lakes region. Vegetation models encapsulate our understanding of forest function, and whether models can reproduce multi-decadal succession patterns is an indication of our ability to predict forest responses to future change. We test the ability of a vegetation model to simulate C cycling and community composition during 100 years of forest regrowth following stand-replacing disturbance, asking (a) Which processes and parameters are most important to accurately model Upper Midwest forest succession? (b) What is the relative importance of model structure versus parameter values to these predictions? We ran ensembles of the Ecosystem Demography model v2.

Defining a spectrum of integrative trait-based vegetation canopy structural types.

Vegetation canopy structure is a fundamental characteristic of terrestrial ecosystems that defines vegetation types and drives ecosystem functioning. We use the multivariate structural trait composition of vegetation canopies to classify ecosystems within a global canopy structure spectrum. Across the temperate forest sub-set of this spectrum, we assess gradients in canopy structural traits, characterise canopy structural types (CST) and evaluate drivers and functional consequences of canopy structural variation.

High rates of primary production in structurally complex forests.

Structure-function relationships are central to many ecological paradigms. Chief among these is the linkage of net primary production (NPP) with species diversity and canopy structure. Using the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) as a subcontinental-scale research platform, we examined how temperate-forest NPP relates to several measures of site-level canopy structure and tree species diversity.