Doctoral Dissertation Research: Impacts of Tropical Forest Degradation on Carbon Stocks, Habitat Structure, and Avifauna

地理学空间科学（GSS）项目本博士论文研究将调查森林退化如何从火灾和伐木影响碳储量，栖息地结构，鸟类群落在整个景观。 由于传统实地方法的抽样局限性，对这些趋势的长期后果仍然知之甚少。 该项目将采用创新方法，将联合收割机声学和激光雷达遥感与实地观测和卫星观测相结合，以便在以前无法获得的空间和时间尺度上描述退化影响的特征。激光雷达和声学遥感之间的协同作用具有变革性的潜力，可以通过促进长时间内的同时多重采样来改进生物多样性的监测方式。 这一研究项目的成果将有助于更全面地了解热带森林迅速变化的动态，这将有助于应对减少生物量和生物多样性退化的全球挑战。 该项目包括一个强大的教育部分，将通过博士生发起的学徒计划，促进关键计算和遥感技能向本科科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）学生的转移。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项将提供支持，使一个有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立的研究事业。在巴西的亚马逊盆地，世界上生物多样性最丰富的地区之一，四十多年来，由于农业、火灾和伐木活动而砍伐森林，森林已被严重改变。 了解森林退化对生物多样性的影响以及退化森林的长期生境适宜性，对于努力减少或尽量减少对这些环境敏感地区的进一步损害至关重要。 该奖项将支持博士生的论文研究将集中在三个核心问题：（1）火灾和伐木如何影响碳储量和栖息地结构？ (2)在伐木和火灾活动之后，碳损失的程度和碳回收的轨迹是什么？ (3)鸟类群落如何应对火灾和伐木，以及从避免退化的生物多样性效益中可以推断出什么？ 学生将通过分析卫星图像的时间序列来回答这些问题，以重建反映在当代激光雷达，森林清查数据和生物声学记录中的森林退化和恢复的历史。 她将整合声学信号处理和贝叶斯分层占用建模，以表征受影响森林地区的生物量和生物多样性分布。

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONGEOGRAPHY SPATIAL SCIENCES (GSS) PROGRAMABSTRACTThis doctoral dissertation research will investigate how forest degradation from fire and logging impacts carbon stocks, habitat structure, and avifaunal communities across the landscape. The long-term consequences of these trends remain poorly understood because of the sampling limitations of traditional field-based methods. This project will use innovative methods that combine acoustic and LiDAR remote sensing with field-based and satellite observations in order to characterize degradation impacts over previously unavailable spatial and temporal scales. The synergy between LiDAR and acoustic remote sensing has the transformative potential to revamp the way biodiversity is monitored by facilitating simultaneous multiple sampling over extended temporal periods. Outcomes from this research project will be useful in providing a more holistic understanding of the rapidly changing dynamics of tropical forests that will help meet the global challenges of reducing biomass and biodiversity degradation. The project includes a strong educational component that will facilitate the transfer of key computational and remote sensing skills to undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students through an apprenticeship program initiated by the doctoral student. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.In the Amazon Basin of Brazil, one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world, forests have been heavily altered by over four decades of deforestation for agriculture, fire and logging activities. Understanding the impacts to biodiversity from forest degradation and the long-term habitat suitability of degraded forests is critical for efforts to reduce or minimize further damage to these environmentally sensitive areas. The doctoral student whose dissertation research will be supported by this award will focus on three core questions: (1) How does fire and logging impact carbon stocks and habitat structure? (2) What are the magnitudes of carbon losses and trajectories of carbon recovery following logging and fire activities? (3) How do avian communities respond to fire and logging, and what can be inferred about the biodiversity benefits of avoided degradation? The student will answer these questions by analyzing a time-series of satellite imagery to reconstruct the history of forest degradation and recovery that are reflected in contemporary LiDAR, forest inventory data, and bioacoustic recordings. She will integrate acoustic signal processing and Bayesian hierarchical occupancy modeling to characterize the distribution of biomass and biodiversity across the impacted forested areas.