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SUMMARY:Use of airborne lidar to model vegetation structure and plant spec
 ies composition of Mediterranean oak forests - Will Simonson
DTSTART:20120524T150000Z
DTEND:20120524T153000Z
UID:TALK36390@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Suzy Stoodley
DESCRIPTION:Laser scanning\, or 'lidar'\, is a remote sensing technology c
 apable of modelling three-dimensional vegetation structure at large spatia
 l scales and also fine resolution. It has a growing number of applications
  in forestry and ecology. I have been applying lidar to the study of Medit
 erranean oak forests in southern Iberia\, which have a high natural as wel
 l as socio-economic importance. I first tested whether lidar can effective
 ly characterise the vertical structure of these ecosystems\, and found tha
 t it is able to discriminate between different forest community types\, de
 fined by data on species composition from the ground. I then sought to und
 erstand the spatial arrangement of these different understorey communities
  in terms of topographically-controlled environmental gradients\, and how 
 these are mediated by varying overstorey composition. I present results th
 at show that the fine-scale patterning of the understorey is shaped by bot
 h climatic factors and characteristics of the canopy\, and discuss possibl
 e causes of such linkage\, and implications for land management and biodiv
 ersity.
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
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