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| Titel |
Landscape-scale changes in forest canopy structure across a partially logged tropical peat swamp |
| VerfasserIn |
B. M. M. Wedeux, D. A. Coomes |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1726-4170
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Biogeosciences ; 12, no. 22 ; Nr. 12, no. 22 (2015-11-25), S.6707-6719 |
| Datensatznummer |
250118176
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/bg-12-6707-2015.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Forest canopy structure is strongly influenced by environmental factors and
disturbance, and in turn influences key ecosystem processes including
productivity, evapotranspiration and habitat availability. In tropical
forests increasingly modified by human activities, the interplay between
environmental factors and disturbance legacies on forest canopy structure
across landscapes is practically unexplored. We used airborne laser scanning
(ALS) data to measure the canopy of old-growth and selectively logged peat
swamp forest across a peat dome in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and
quantified how canopy structure metrics varied with peat depth and under
logging. Several million canopy gaps in different height cross-sections of
the canopy were measured in 100 plots of 1 km2 spanning the peat dome,
allowing us to describe canopy structure with seven metrics. Old-growth
forest became shorter and had simpler vertical canopy profiles on deeper
peat, consistent with previous work linking deep peat to stunted tree
growth. Gap size frequency distributions (GSFDs) indicated fewer and smaller
canopy gaps on the deeper peat (i.e. the scaling exponent of Pareto
functions increased from 1.76 to 3.76 with peat depth). Areas subjected to
concessionary logging until 2000, and illegal logging since then, had the
same canopy top height as old-growth forest, indicating the persistence of
some large trees, but mean canopy height was significantly reduced. With
logging, the total area of canopy gaps increased and the GSFD scaling
exponent was reduced. Logging effects were most evident on the deepest peat,
where nutrient depletion and waterlogged conditions restrain tree growth and
recovery. A tight relationship exists between canopy structure and peat
depth gradient within the old-growth tropical peat swamp forest. This relationship
breaks down after selective logging, with canopy structural recovery, as
observed by ALS, modulated by environmental conditions. These findings
improve our understanding of tropical peat swamp ecology and provide
important insights for managers aiming to restore degraded forests. |
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