Characterizing forest structure variations across an intact tropical peat dome using field samplings and airborne LiDAR

Tropical peat swamp forests (PSF) are one of the most carbon dense ecosystems on the globe and are experiencing substantial natural and anthropogenic disturbances. In this study we combined direct field sampling and airborne LiDAR to empirically quantify forest structure and aboveground live biomass (AGB) across a large, intact tropical peat dome in Northwestern Borneo. Moving up a 4m elevational gradient, we observed increasing stem density but decreasing canopy height, crown area and crown roughness. These findings were consistent with hypotheses that nutrient and hydrological dynamics co-influence forest structure and stature of the canopy individuals, leading to reduced productivity towards the dome interior. Gap frequency as a function of gap size followed a power law distribution with a shape factor (?) of 1.76 ± 0.06. Ground-based and dome-wide estimates of AGB were 217.7 ± 28.3 Mg C ha-1, and 222.4 ± 24.4 Mg C ha-1, respectively, which were higher than previously reported AGB fo...

热带泥炭沼泽森林（Tropical peat swamp forests，PSF）是全球碳密度最高的生态系统之一，当前正遭受显著的自然与人为干扰。本研究结合直接野外采样与机载激光雷达（LiDAR）技术，对婆罗洲西北部一处大型完整热带泥炭穹丘的森林结构与地上活生物量（aboveground live biomass，AGB）进行了实证量化。沿4米海拔梯度上行时，我们观测到茎密度逐渐升高，但冠层高度、冠幅与冠层粗糙度均呈下降趋势。上述结果与相关假说一致，即养分与水文动态共同影响森林结构及冠层个体的株高，最终导致穹丘内部的生产力下降。林隙频率随林隙大小的变化服从幂律分布，其形状因子（？）为1.76 ± 0.06。基于地面调查与全穹丘范围估算得到的地上活生物量分别为217.7 ± 28.3 Mg C ha-1与222.4 ± 24.4 Mg C ha-1，均高于此前已报道的AGB……