New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) opens up the possibility of describing the three-dimensional structures of trees in natural environments with unprecedented detail and accuracy. It is already being extensively applied to describehowecosystem biomass and structure vary between sites, but can also fac...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Malhi, Y., Jackson, T., Bentley, L.P., Lau, A., Shenkin, A., Herold, M., Calders, K., Bartholomeus, H., Disney, M.I.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Royal Society 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/112192
_version_ 1855521726254809088
author Malhi, Y.
Jackson, T.
Bentley, L.P.
Lau, A.
Shenkin, A.
Herold, M.
Calders, K.
Bartholomeus, H.
Disney, M.I.
author_browse Bartholomeus, H.
Bentley, L.P.
Calders, K.
Disney, M.I.
Herold, M.
Jackson, T.
Lau, A.
Malhi, Y.
Shenkin, A.
author_facet Malhi, Y.
Jackson, T.
Bentley, L.P.
Lau, A.
Shenkin, A.
Herold, M.
Calders, K.
Bartholomeus, H.
Disney, M.I.
author_sort Malhi, Y.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) opens up the possibility of describing the three-dimensional structures of trees in natural environments with unprecedented detail and accuracy. It is already being extensively applied to describehowecosystem biomass and structure vary between sites, but can also facilitate major advances in developing and testing mechanistic theories of tree form and forest structure, thereby enabling us to understandwhytrees and forests have the biomass and three-dimensional structure they do. Here we focus on the ecological challenges and benefits of understanding tree form, and highlight some advances related to capturing and describing tree shape that are becoming possible with the advent of TLS. We present examples of ongoing work that applies, or could potentially apply, new TLS measurements to better understand the constraints on optimization of tree form. Theories of resource distribution networks, such as metabolic scaling theory, can be tested and further refined. TLS can also provide new approaches to the scaling of woody surface area and crown area, and thereby better quantify the metabolism of trees. Finally, we demonstrate how we can develop a more mechanistic understanding of the effects of avoidance of wind risk on tree form and maximum size. Over the next few years, TLS promises to deliver both major empirical and conceptual advances in the quantitative understanding of trees and tree-dominated ecosystems, leading to advances in understanding the ecology of why trees and ecosystems look and grow the way they do.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace112192
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
publishDateSort 2018
publisher Royal Society
publisherStr Royal Society
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1121922024-11-15T08:52:22Z New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning Malhi, Y. Jackson, T. Bentley, L.P. Lau, A. Shenkin, A. Herold, M. Calders, K. Bartholomeus, H. Disney, M.I. remote sensing land use Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) opens up the possibility of describing the three-dimensional structures of trees in natural environments with unprecedented detail and accuracy. It is already being extensively applied to describehowecosystem biomass and structure vary between sites, but can also facilitate major advances in developing and testing mechanistic theories of tree form and forest structure, thereby enabling us to understandwhytrees and forests have the biomass and three-dimensional structure they do. Here we focus on the ecological challenges and benefits of understanding tree form, and highlight some advances related to capturing and describing tree shape that are becoming possible with the advent of TLS. We present examples of ongoing work that applies, or could potentially apply, new TLS measurements to better understand the constraints on optimization of tree form. Theories of resource distribution networks, such as metabolic scaling theory, can be tested and further refined. TLS can also provide new approaches to the scaling of woody surface area and crown area, and thereby better quantify the metabolism of trees. Finally, we demonstrate how we can develop a more mechanistic understanding of the effects of avoidance of wind risk on tree form and maximum size. Over the next few years, TLS promises to deliver both major empirical and conceptual advances in the quantitative understanding of trees and tree-dominated ecosystems, leading to advances in understanding the ecology of why trees and ecosystems look and grow the way they do. 2018-04-06 2021-03-08T08:20:55Z 2021-03-08T08:20:55Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/112192 en Open Access Royal Society Malhi, Y., Jackson, T., Bentley, L.P., Lau, A., Shenkin, A., Herold, M., Calders, K., Bartholomeus, H., Disney, M.I. 2018. New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning. Interface Focus, 8 (2): 20170052. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2017.0052
spellingShingle remote sensing
land use
Malhi, Y.
Jackson, T.
Bentley, L.P.
Lau, A.
Shenkin, A.
Herold, M.
Calders, K.
Bartholomeus, H.
Disney, M.I.
New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning
title New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning
title_full New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning
title_fullStr New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning
title_full_unstemmed New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning
title_short New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning
title_sort new perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning
topic remote sensing
land use
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/112192
work_keys_str_mv AT malhiy newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT jacksont newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT bentleylp newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT laua newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT shenkina newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT heroldm newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT caldersk newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT bartholomeush newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning
AT disneymi newperspectivesontheecologyoftreestructureandtreecommunitiesthroughterrestriallaserscanning