Tropical secondary forests (TSF) are a global carbon sink of 1.6 Pg C/year. However, TSF carbon uptake is estimated using chronosequence studies that assume differently aged forests can be used to predict change in aboveground biomass density (AGBD) over time. We tested this assumption using two airborne lidar datasets separated by 11.5 years over a Neotropical landscape. Using data from 1998, we predicted canopy height and AG...

A topic of recurring interest in ecological research is the degree to which vegetation structure influences the distribution and abundance of species. Here we test the applicability of remote sensing, particularly novel use of waveform lidar measurements, for quantifying the habitat heterogeneity of a contiguous northern hardwoods forest in the northeastern United States. We apply these results to predict the breeding habitat...

We obtained spatially extensive canopy height measurements using airborne remote sensing to characterize the structure and dynamics of a tropical rain forest landscape. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a remote‐sensing technology that acquires measurements of canopy height and ground elevation. By recording the return time of laser pulses emitted by aircraft‐mounted sensors, LiDAR systems quantify the structure and geome...

Aim Previous studies have developed strong, site‐specific relationships between canopy metrics from lidar (light detecting and ranging) remote sensing data and forest structural characteristics such as above‐ground biomass (AGBM), but the generality of these relationships is unknown. In this study, we examine the generality of relationships between lidar metrics and forest structural characteristics, including AGBM, from two s...