Reconciling the contribution of environmental and stochastic structuring of tropical forest diversity through the lens of imaging spectroscopy

Bongalov, B, Burslem, DFRP, Jucker, T, Thompson, SED, Rosindell, J, Swinfield, T, Nilus, R, Clewley, D, Phillips, OL, Coomes, DA and Comita, L 2019 Reconciling the contribution of environmental and stochastic structuring of tropical forest diversity through the lens of imaging spectroscopy. Ecology Letters, 22 (10). 1608-1619. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13357

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Abstract/Summary

Both niche and stochastic dispersal processes structure the extraordinary diversity of tropical plants, but determining their relative contributions has proven challenging. We address this question using airborne imaging spectroscopy to estimate canopy b-diversity for an extensive region of a Bornean rainforest and challenge these data with models incorporating niches and dispersal. We show that remotely sensed and field-derived estimates of pairwise dissimilarity in community composition are closely matched, proving the applicability of imaging spectroscopy to provide b-diversity data for entire landscapes of over 1000 ha containing contrasting forest types. Our model reproduces the empirical data well and shows that the ecological processes maintaining tropical forest diversity are scale dependent. Patterns of b-diversity are shaped by stochastic dispersal processes acting locally whilst environmental processes act over a wider range of scales.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Divisions:	Plymouth Marine Laboratory > National Capability categories > Airborne Remote Sensing Facility Plymouth Marine Laboratory > National Capability categories > NERC Earth Observation Data Acquisition & Analysis Service (NEODAAS) Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Earth Observation Science and Applications
Depositing User:	S Hawkins
Date made live:	16 Oct 2019 11:06
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2020 10:00
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/8249

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