Global patterns and climatic controls of forest structural complexity. Ehbrecht, M., Seidel, D., Annighöfer, P., Kreft, H., Köhler, M., Zemp, D. C., Puettmann, K., Nilus, R., Babweteera, F., Willim, K., Stiers, M., Soto, D., Boehmer, H. J., Fisichelli, N., Burnett, M., Juday, G., Stephens, S. L., & Ammer, C. Nature Communications, 12(1):519, January, 2021. Keyword: LTER-AND
Global patterns and climatic controls of forest structural complexity [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
The complexity of forest structures plays a crucial role in regulating forest ecosystem functions and strongly influences biodiversity. Yet, knowledge of the global patterns and determinants of forest structural complexity remains scarce. Using a stand structural complexity index based on terrestrial laser scanning, we quantify the structural complexity of boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical primary forests. We find that the global variation of forest structural complexity is largely explained by annual precipitation and precipitation seasonality (R² = 0.89). Using the structural complexity of primary forests as benchmark, we model the potential structural complexity across biomes and present a global map of the potential structural complexity of the earth´s forest ecoregions. Our analyses reveal distinct latitudinal patterns of forest structure and show that hotspots of high structural complexity coincide with hotspots of plant diversity. Considering the mechanistic underpinnings of forest structural complexity, our results suggest spatially contrasting changes of forest structure with climate change within and across biomes.
@article{ehbrecht_global_2021,
	title = {Global patterns and climatic controls of forest structural complexity},
	volume = {12},
	issn = {2041-1723},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20767-z},
	doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-20767-z},
	abstract = {The complexity of forest structures plays a crucial role in regulating forest ecosystem functions and strongly influences biodiversity. Yet, knowledge of the global patterns and determinants of forest structural complexity remains scarce. Using a stand structural complexity index based on terrestrial laser scanning, we quantify the structural complexity of boreal, temperate, subtropical and tropical primary forests. We find that the global variation of forest structural complexity is largely explained by annual precipitation and precipitation seasonality (R² = 0.89). Using the structural complexity of primary forests as benchmark, we model the potential structural complexity across biomes and present a global map of the potential structural complexity of the earth´s forest ecoregions. Our analyses reveal distinct latitudinal patterns of forest structure and show that hotspots of high structural complexity coincide with hotspots of plant diversity. Considering the mechanistic underpinnings of forest structural complexity, our results suggest spatially contrasting changes of forest structure with climate change within and across biomes.},
	number = {1},
	journal = {Nature Communications},
	author = {Ehbrecht, Martin and Seidel, Dominik and Annighöfer, Peter and Kreft, Holger and Köhler, Michael and Zemp, Delphine Clara and Puettmann, Klaus and Nilus, Reuben and Babweteera, Fred and Willim, Katharina and Stiers, Melissa and Soto, Daniel and Boehmer, Hans Juergen and Fisichelli, Nicholas and Burnett, Michael and Juday, Glenn and Stephens, Scott L. and Ammer, Christian},
	month = jan,
	year = {2021},
	note = {Keyword: LTER-AND},
	keywords = {ENTERED, LTER-AND},
	pages = {519},
}

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