Seasonal dynamics in the vertical distribution of leaf area index ( To investigate fine‐scale variation in leaf area with seasonality and drought we conducted monthly ground‐based LiDAR surveys over 4 yr at an Amazon forest site. We analysed temporal changes in vertically structured Upper canopy Leaf area low in the canopy exhibited behaviour consistent with water limitation. Leaf loss from short trees in high light during drought may be associated with strategies to tolerate limited access to deep soil water and stressful leaf environments. Vertically and environmentally structured phenological processes suggest a critical role of canopy structural heterogeneity in seasonal changes in Amazon ecosystem function.
Projected changes in temperature and drought regime are likely to reduce carbon (C) storage in forests, thereby amplifying rates of climate change. While such reductions are often presumed to be greatest in semi‐arid forests that experience widespread tree mortality, the consequences of drought may also be important in temperate mesic forests of Eastern North America (
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10055173
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Global Change Biology
- Volume:
- 24
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 1354-1013
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 2339-2351
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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