Title

Spatial Pattern Analysis Of Pre- And Post-Hurricane Forest Canopy Structure In North Carolina, Usa

Keywords

Autocorrelation; Canopy topography; Disturbance; Duke Forest; Ecosystem organisation; Forest landscape; Fractal dimension; Hurricane; Laser altimetry; Remote sensing

Abstract

Existing spatial patterns of a forest are in part a product of its disturbance history. Using laser altimetry and field measures of canopy top height to represent pre- and post-hurricane canopy topography, respectively, we measured changes in spatial patterns of stand structure of a United States southern mixed coniferous-deciduous forest. Autocorrelative and fractal properties were measured in this opportunistic study to quantify changes in canopy architecture along twelve, 190-250 m transects that were subjected to moderate to high levels of wind disturbance. Prior to the hurricane, canopy heights were autocorrelated at scales < 40 m with an average fractal dimension of 1.71. After the disturbance, autocorrelation disappeared; the average fractal dimension rose to 1.94. This shift towards spatial randomness illustrates part of the cyclical nature of ecosystem development. It shows how a catastrophic collapse of biomass accumulation corresponds to a decrease in ecosystem organization across a landscape.

Publication Date

12-1-2003

Publication Title

Landscape Ecology

Volume

18

Issue

6

Number of Pages

553-559

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026058312853

Socpus ID

0344962359 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0344962359

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