Seasonal and drought‐related changes in leaf area profiles depend on height and light environment in an Amazon forest

Smith, Marielle N.; Stark, Scott C.; Taylor, Tyeen C.; Ferreira, Mauricio L.; de Oliveira, Eronaldo; Restrepo‐Coupe, Natalia; Chen, Shuli; Woodcock, Tara; dos Santos, Darlisson Bentes; Alves, Luciana F.; Figueira, Michela; de Camargo, Plinio B.; de Oliveira, Raimundo C.; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C.; Falk, Donald A.; McMahon, Sean M.; Huxman, Travis E.; Saleska, Scott R.

doi:10.1111/nph.15726

Seasonal and drought‐related changes in leaf area profiles depend on height and light environment in an Amazon forest

Journal Article · Fri Mar 08 23:00:00 EST 2019 · New Phytologist

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15726· OSTI ID:1506704

^[1]; Stark, Scott C. ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[4]; de Oliveira, Eronaldo ^[5]; ^[6]; Chen, Shuli ^[3]; Woodcock, Tara ^[3]; dos Santos, Darlisson Bentes ^[7]; ^[8]; Figueira, Michela ^[5]; de Camargo, Plinio B. ^[4]; ^[9]; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C. ^[10]; ^[11]; ^[12]; Huxman, Travis E. ^[13]; Saleska, Scott R. ^[3]

Department of Forestry Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824 USA, Ecology &, Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona Tucson AZ 85721 USA
Department of Forestry Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824 USA
Ecology &, Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona Tucson AZ 85721 USA
Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA) Universidade de São Paulo Piracicaba SP 13416‐000 Brazil
Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará (UFOPA) CEP 68040‐255 Santarém PA Brazil
Ecology &, Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona Tucson AZ 85721 USA, School of Life Sciences University of Technology Sydney Sydney NSW 2007 Australia
Centro Universitário Luterano de Santarém (CEULS/ULBRA) CEP 68.025‐000 Santarém PA Brazil
Center for Tropical Research Institute of the Environment and Sustainability UCLA Los Angeles CA 90095 USA
Embrapa Amazônia Oriental 68035‐110 Santarém PA Brazil
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais 12227‐010 São José dos Campos SP Brazil, College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Exeter Exeter EX4 4RJ UK
School of Natural Resources and the Environment University of Arizona Tucson AZ 85721 USA, Laboratory of Tree‐Ring Research University of Arizona Tucson AZ 85721 USA
Smithsonian Institution Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Edgewater MD 21037 USA
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Environmental Biology University of California Irvine CA 92629 USA

Summary

Seasonal dynamics in the vertical distribution of leaf area index ( LAI ) may impact the seasonality of forest productivity in Amazonian forests. However, until recently, fine‐scale observations critical to revealing ecological mechanisms underlying these changes have been lacking.

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 LAI along axes of both canopy height and light environments.

Upper canopy LAI increased during the dry season, whereas lower canopy LAI decreased. The low canopy decrease was driven by highly illuminated leaves of smaller trees in gaps. By contrast, understory LAI increased concurrently with the upper canopy. Hence, tree phenological strategies were stratified by height and light environments. Trends were amplified during a 2015–2016 severe El Niño drought.

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.

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 1506704

Journal Information:: New Phytologist, Journal Name: New Phytologist Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 222; ISSN 0028-646X

Publisher:: Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

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