Scaling the Physiology and Structure of Forests in Space and Time

这项研究将探讨森林生理过程和森林结构特征在陆地碳(C)循环中的作用。这项研究将利用我们在过去十年中获得的许多现有设备和数据。研究方案有三个组成部分：(A)实地测量组成部分；(B)生态生理模拟组成部分；(C)机载和卫星遥感组成部分。这些方法的结合将使我们能够保持一个高度创新的研究环境，以继续培训研究生和其他高素质的人员。该研究计划有三个目标。(1)使用从通量塔测量的碳、水和能量交换的短时间步长测量，以及相关的生态测量，记录森林采伐后生态系统生理和C通量如何演变，以及这些因素如何受加拿大东部北方森林的森林结构和气候的影响。在收获10年后，我们的连续测量表明，该生态系统在2010年首次达到碳中和。接下来，我们将测试关于生态系统生理学和结构在C中立点之后如何演变的假设。(2)将来自通量塔和森林清单的数据与生态生理过程模型和模型-数据融合框架相结合，以评估高频环境变化对加拿大东部北方森林结构和功能的重要性。然后我们将把它扩展到更大的空间尺度。这项工作将有助于建立一个将高频环境变异性纳入未来气候评估报告的分析框架。(3)利用我们的机载激光雷达和高光谱遥感软件包，评估ICESat Glas激光雷达卫星传感器估计北美及其次区域，特别是北方生物群的森林生物量的能力。我们将确定如何使用树木覆盖率和植物功能类型信息来确定何时可以用其他数据源补充激光雷达数据。这项工作将有助于为估计区域C储量的空间分布提供一个统计和分析框架。

This research will address the role of forest physiological processes and forest structural characteristics in the terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. The research will leverage much of the existing equipment and data that we have obtained over the last decade. The research program has three components: (a) a field measurement component; (b) an ecophysiological modeling component and (c) an airborne and satellite remote sensing component. The combination of these approaches will permit us to maintain a highly innovative research environment for the continued training of graduate students and other highly-qualified personnel. The research program has three objectives. (1) Use short time-step measurements of the exchange of C, water, and energy measured from a flux tower, as well as associated ecological measurements, to document how ecosystem physiology and C flux evolve following forest harvest and how these factors are affected by forest structure and climate for the boreal forest of eastern Canada. Ten years after harvest, our continuous measurements have shown that the ecosystem attained C neutrality for the first time in 2010. We will next test hypotheses about how ecosystem physiology and structure evolve after the point of C neutrality. (2) Integrate data from flux towers and forest inventories with an ecophysiological process model and a model-data fusion framework to evaluate the importance of high-frequency environmental variability on the structure and function of boreal forests in eastern Canada. We will then extend this to larger spatial scales. This work will help establish an analytical framework for incorporating high-frequency environmental variability into future climate assessment reports. (3) Use our airborne lidar and hyperspectral remote sensing package to evaluate the ability of the ICESat GLAS lidar satellite sensor to estimate forest biomass of North America and its sub-regions, particularly the boreal biome. We will determine how tree cover and plant functional type information can be used to determine when the lidar data can be supplemented with other data sources. This work will help provide a statistical and analytical framework for estimating the spatial distribution of regional C stocks.