{"id":125,"date":"2018-10-24T01:04:55","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T01:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/?page_id=125"},"modified":"2018-11-13T00:44:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T00:44:10","slug":"tropical","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/tropical\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><a href=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/gedi\/\">Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-162\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/gedi_horizontal-e1540413894249.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"271\" \/><\/p>\n<h5>Lead<\/h5>\n<p>Ralph Dubayah (UMD)<\/p>\n<h5>co-lead<\/h5>\n<p>Scott Goetz, Patrick Jantz, Patrick Burns<\/p>\n<h5>Keywords<\/h5>\n<p><em> Lidar, canopy height, canopy structure, above-ground biomass, surface topography, international space station, carbon cycle, biodiversity<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is a NASA Earth Venture mission designed to build, launch, and install a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument on the International Space Station, and derive a suite of forest canopy structure and biomass products. The GEDI lidar will fire billions of laser shots at the surface over the earth over its 2-year operational period (2019-2020) that will allow the science team to map forest canopy heights, canopy three-dimensional structure, above-ground biomass, and surface topography with unprecedented accuracy. GEDI data products will be useful for a range of science applications with societal benefits, including informing models of carbon and water cycling processes, biodiversity and habitat mapping, weather forecasting, forest management, glacier and snowpack monitoring, and more accurate elevation models of the earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n<p><em>This short video gives an excellent overview of the GEDI mission:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mapping Carbon in 3-D\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SSdDPFfUVIo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>For more details, see the full story <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/goddard\/2018\/gedi-to-measure-earths-forests\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>More information about GEDI can also be found <a href=\"https:\/\/gedi.umd.edu\/\">here<\/a>\u00a0or by clicking the project title, above.<\/em><\/p>\n<h1><a href=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/national-biodiversity-strategy\/\">Informing UN-assisted National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plans with earth observations<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-164\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/UN.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/UN.jpg 700w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/UN-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<h5>Lead<\/h5>\n<p>Andy Hansen (Montana State University)<\/p>\n<h5>co-lead<\/h5>\n<p>Patrick Jantz, Scott Goetz<\/p>\n<h5>Keywords<\/h5>\n<p><em>Habitat fragmentation, forest integrity, connectivity, biodiversity, united nations development program, remote sensing<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Human activities are increasingly fragmenting intact habitats and reducing connectivity among protected areas. The United Nations Development Program (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.undp.org\/content\/undp\/en\/home.html\">UNDP<\/a>) is working with 135 countries to implement National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plans (NBSAPs) to minimize and mitigate impacts of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. We are working closely with the UNDP to (1) develop satellite-based products that are global in extent, but also relevant at the regional level for mapping forest integrity and assessing habitat fragmentation and connectivity; and (2) use the products to inform a decision support system (DSS) hosted by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unbiodiversitylab.org\/\">UN\u00a0Biodiversity Lab<\/a> that includes tools for summarizing regional data, evaluating forest condition and trends, and communicating results to stakeholders. These products and tools have the potential to improve the transparency, consistency, and sustainability of land use decisions in developing countries.<\/p>\n<p><em>See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.montana.edu\/hansenlab\/currentresearch\/forestintegrity.html\">here<\/a> for additional information.<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Quantifying Forest Vertical Structure Using Spaceborne Lidar: A GEOBON Essential Biodiversity Variable Application in Colombia<\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-386 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pbeck_tayrona_primate.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3255\" height=\"2170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pbeck_tayrona_primate.jpg 3255w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pbeck_tayrona_primate-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pbeck_tayrona_primate-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pbeck_tayrona_primate-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<h5>lead<\/h5>\n<p>Patrick Jantz<\/p>\n<h5>co-lead<\/h5>\n<p>Scott Goetz<\/p>\n<h5>Collaborators<\/h5>\n<p>Ralph Dubayah (University of Maryland), Susana Rodr\u00edguez-Buritic\u00e1 (Humboldt Institute, Colombia), Maria Londo\u00f1o (Humboldt Institute, Colombia)<\/p>\n<h5>keywords<\/h5>\n<p><em>Habitat vertical structure, biodiversity, lidar, GEDI, essential biodiversity variables<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Habitat vertical structure has emerged over the last several decades as an important predictor of biodiversity. Habitat structure predicts habitat use for a range of animals and is correlated with plant species diversity in a range of forest ecosystems. Currently, national biodiversity assessments in developing tropical countries rely on field inventories or aircraft lidar measurements to characterize habitat vertical structure. These data have proven vital for understanding how land use and biophysical factors influence habitat structure but tend to be sparsely sampled, allowing only coarse grained reporting on habitat structure. Densely sampled lidar data from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) promise to fill important gaps in our understanding of habitat vertical structure. The Colombian government, in collaboration with The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), is currently developing a national biodiversity observation network. We have developed a forest structure Essential Biodiversity Variable (EBV) designed to inform this network. Using an extensive database of aircraft and spaceborne lidar, we characterized and classified forest vertical structure using variables that represent primary dimensions of forest structure: canopy height, canopy cover, and canopy vertical distribution. Initial results indicate that hierarchical clustering approaches distinguish ecologically meaningful classes, especially those classes that represent tall, vertically complex forest which are conservation priorities in areas dominated by secondary growth. The forest structure EBV framework provides a quantitative basis for defining and estimating the extent of locally relevant forest structure types, a critical step forward for assessing national progress towards Aichi biodiversity targets and Sustainable Development goals.<\/p>\n<p><em>Learn more about GEO BON\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/geobon.org\/\">here<\/a>, and more about this project\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/appliedsciences.nasa.gov\/content\/18-geobon-0024\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Adding space-based vegetation structure measurements to a global ecosystem model to simulate tropical forest animal communities and their role in ecosystem function<\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-391\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/madingley_forest_structure.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/madingley_forest_structure.jpg 600w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/madingley_forest_structure-300x234.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h5>Lead<\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chris Doughty (NAU)<\/span><\/p>\n<h5>Co-leads<\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patrick Jantz, Scott Goetz, Patrick Burns<\/span><\/p>\n<h5>keywords<\/h5>\n<p><em>Forest structure, lidar, land use, climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem services<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This project aims to enhance the <a href=\"https:\/\/madingley.github.io\/\">Madingley ecological model<\/a> by including measurements of forest structure from a space based lidar instrument and improving parameterizations of 3D animal habitat use. These advances will allow us to use scenarios of land use and climate change to investigate potential biodiversity impacts at local, regional, and pan-tropical scales.\u00a0 The enhanced Madingley model will also allow us to\u00a0better\u00a0 predict\u00a0animal ecosystem services like carbon sequestration\u00a0and nutrient dispersal across the tropics.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more information see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdoughty.org\/nasa-biodiversity\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>Maintaining life on land (Sustainable Development Goal 15) under scenarios of land use and climate change in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru<\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-388\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pj_sierra_nevada_de_santa_marta_colombia.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3024\" height=\"4032\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pj_sierra_nevada_de_santa_marta_colombia.jpg 3024w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pj_sierra_nevada_de_santa_marta_colombia-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/pj_sierra_nevada_de_santa_marta_colombia-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<h5>lead<\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andy Hansen (Montana State University)<\/span><\/p>\n<h5>co-lead<\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patrick Jantz, Scott Goetz<\/span><\/p>\n<h5>keywords<\/h5>\n<p><em>Ecosystem structure, climate change, biodiversity, habitat, conservation<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This project will support the development of indicators of ecosystem structure and composition, vertebrate habitats, and water resource risk under future climate and socioeconomic scenarios in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The approach and methods will be incorporated into the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) decision support system, the UN Biodiversity Lab, a platform designed to deliver geospatial data to over 140 countries to support national conservation decision-making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lead Ralph Dubayah (UMD) co-lead Scott Goetz, Patrick Jantz, Patrick Burns Keywords Lidar, canopy height, canopy structure, above-ground biomass, surface topography, international space station, carbon cycle, biodiversity Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is a NASA Earth Venture mission designed to build, launch, and install a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/tropical\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Tropical&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":816,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125\/revisions\/816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}