Title

Forest ecosystems in a rapidly changing world – a bird’s eye view

Abstract

The processes that cause trees to die – storms, drought, fires, logging, disease – play a key role in shaping the structure, composition and dynamics of forest ecosystems. But because of the range of spatial and temporal scales at which many of these disturbance processes operate, they are inherently challenging to study from the ground using traditional field-based approaches. In this regard, remote sensing technologies such as airborne LiDAR are revolutionizing our ability to track the impacts of disturbance on the 3D structure of forest ecosystems across broad spatial scales. Using examples from our work in tropical rainforests in Borneo recovering from logging and temperate forests in Western Australia impacted by fire, I will explore how we can use a combination of space-for-time approaches and repeat LiDAR surveys to track the recovery trajectory of these ecosystems over decades and even centuries. I will then present the results of our ongoing efforts to bring together a global database of airborne LiDAR surveys to understand how disturbance, climate, topography and biogeographic history interact to shape the 3D structure of the world’s forests.