de Conto Tiago, Armston John, Dubayah Ralph
University of Maryland, 2181 Samuel J. LeFrak Hall, 7251 Preinkert Drive, College Park, MD, USA.
Nat Commun. 2024 Sep 16;15(1):8116. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52468-2.
Forest structural complexity is a key element of ecosystem functioning, impacting light environments, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and habitat quality. Addressing the need for a comprehensive global assessment of actual forest structural complexity, we derive a near-global map of 3D canopy complexity using data from the GEDI spaceborne lidar mission. These data show that tropical forests harbor most of the high complexity observations, while less than 20% of temperate forests reached median levels of tropical complexity. Structural complexity in tropical forests is more strongly related to canopy attributes from lower and middle waveform layers, whereas in temperate forests upper and middle layers are more influential. Globally, forests exhibit robust scaling relationships between complexity and canopy height, but these vary geographically and by biome. Our results offer insights into the spatial distribution of forest structural complexity and emphasize the importance of considering biome-specific and fine-scale variations for ecological research and management applications. The GEDI Waveform Structural Complexity Index data product, derived from our analyses, provides researchers and conservationists with a single, easily interpretable metric by combining various aspects of canopy structure.
森林结构复杂性是生态系统功能的关键要素，影响着光照环境、养分循环、生物多样性和栖息地质量。为满足对全球实际森林结构复杂性进行全面评估的需求，我们利用来自全球生态系统动力学调查（GEDI）星载激光雷达任务的数据，绘制了一幅近乎全球范围的三维树冠复杂性地图。这些数据表明，热带森林包含了大部分高复杂性观测结果，而温带森林中只有不到20%达到了热带森林复杂性的中位数水平。热带森林的结构复杂性与较低和中间波形层的树冠属性关系更为密切，而在温带森林中，上层和中间层的影响更大。在全球范围内，森林在复杂性和树冠高度之间呈现出稳健的比例关系，但这些关系在地理上和生物群落之间存在差异。我们的研究结果为森林结构复杂性的空间分布提供了见解，并强调了在生态研究和管理应用中考虑生物群落特定和精细尺度变化的重要性。我们分析得出的GEDI波形结构复杂性指数数据产品，通过结合树冠结构的各个方面，为研究人员和保护主义者提供了一个单一、易于解释的指标。
