We evaluate whether current procedures used in fire behavior prediction models such as FVS-FFE provide predictions of CBD and CBH suitable for evaluating fire behavior in response to fuel treatments. Currently, FFE-FVS uses a geographic non-specific set of tree allometries and assumes a uniform distribution of crown mass when estimating CBH and CBD. We develop allometric equations to predict cr...

Compared to temperate systems, there have been few detailed assessments of canopy characteristics and associated grazing behavior in planted tropical grasslands. Reasons include the large number of forage species used in warm climates, the diversity of their morphology, research priorities emphasizing germplasm evaluation and management, and limited resources. This review describes canopy attri...

Uncertainties in ecophysiological responses to environment, such as the impact of atmospheric and soil moisture conditions on plant water regulation, limit our ability to estimate key inputs for ecosystem models. Advanced statistical frameworks provide coherent methodologies for relating observed data, such as stem sap flux density, to unobserved processes, such as canopy conductance and transp...

Elevation gradients provide opportunities to explore environmental controls on forest structure and functioning. We used airborne imaging spectroscopy and lidar (light detection and ranging) to quantify changes in threedimensional forest structure and canopy functional traits in twenty 25 ha landscapes distributed along a 3300 m elevation gradient from lowland Amazonia to treeline in the Peruvi...

The increasing use of satellite Remote Sensing for civilian use has proved to be the most cost effective means of mapping and monitoring environmental changes in terms of vegetation and non-renewable resources, especially in developing countries. Data can be obtained as frequently as required to provide information for determination of quantitative and qualitative changes in terrain. Forests as...

Few studies have investigated the influence of water availability on plant population spatial patterns. We studied changes in the spatial patterns of Caragana stenophylla along a climatic drought gradient within the Inner Mongolian Plateau, China. We examined spatial patterns, seed density, "nurse effects" of shrubs on seedlings, transpiration rates and water use efficiency (WUE) of C. stenophy...

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is increasingly being used to enhance the accuracy of biomass estimates in tropical forests. Although the technological development of ALS instruments has resulted in ever-greater pulse densities, studies in boreal and sub-boreal forests have shown consistent results even at relatively small pulse densities. The objective of the present study was to assess the effe...

Brushtail possums began colonising a rata/kamahi forest in the Taramakau catchment, Westland, about 1950 and by 1973 had caused widespread conspicuous canopy defoliation. They were poisoned in one block of this forest in 1970, at about the time they reached peak density, and again in 1974. In an adjacent block they were poisoned in 1974 only. A survey of forest canopy condition in 1985 showed t...

Several decades of research have shown that canopy gaps drive tree renewal processes in the temperate deciduous forest biome. In the literature, canopy gaps are usually defined as canopy openings that are created by partial or total tree death of one or more canopy trees. In this study, we investigate linkages between tree damage mechanisms and the formation or not of new canopy gaps in norther...