Lidar-derived estimates of boreal shrub biomass in Southcentral Alaska
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15546470 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kaili A Martin (0009-0003-5191-2253, Alaska Pacific University, corresponding author), Roman Dial (0000-0002-8189-7248, Alaska Pacific University), Bruce D Cook (0000-0002-8528-000X, Goddard Space Flight Center), Douglas C Morton (0000-0003-2226-1124, Goddard Space Flight Center), Eric D Larson (0000-0002-0299-7591, University of Alaska Anchorage), Erin I Larson (0000-0002-7797-0529), Hans‐Erik Andersen (Pacific Northwest Research Station), Hans-Erik Andersen (0000-0002-5546-9522) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 124008-124008 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ad8766 |
| OpenAlex | W4403459985 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
Despite widespread observations of shrub proliferation and expansion (shrubification), few studies quantify shrub biomass at the regional scale. Here we describe and implement a two-part modeling approach to estimate and map tall shrub (diameter at root collar > 2.5 cm) expected aboveground biomass, or E[SHB], across a 16.6 million ha boreal region where shrubification occurs in wetlands and subalpine ecosystems. Using n = 384 field plots nested within m = 11 study sites across southcentral Alaska, we constructed random forest models of the probability (pSH) that shrub wood volume surpasses tree wood volume, and generalized additive models of aboveground biomass of tall shrubs (SHB) using rasterized aerial lidar variables collected by NASA Goddard’s Lidar, Hyperspectral, and Thermal (G-LiHT) Airborne Imager, together with gridded climate data from a Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model 30-year normal climatology (PRISM). Applying those models to G-LiHT tiles, then averaging across tiles within n = 843 watersheds covering 9.2 million ha, we estimated that below 1000 m asl, the area-weighted mean value of E[SHB] = pSH x SHB = 6.6 Mg ha −1 with sd = 4.5 Mg ha −1 . This is the first study to estimate current shrub biomass density at the regional scale in southcentral Alaska and serves as a biomass baseline for measuring and modeling aboveground carbon fluxes where plant communities are undergoing climate-driven change
Biology · Biomass (ecology · Boreal · Geography · Lidar · Physical geography · Remote sensing · Shrub · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems · Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications · Species Distribution and Climate Change · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography · Paleontology
Physiographically sensitive mapping of climatological temperature and precipitation across the conterminous United States
Increasing shrub abundance in the Arctic
A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s Forests
Role of Land-Surface Changes in Arctic Summer Warming
Sources and sinks of carbon in boreal ecosystems of interior Alaska
Time-series maps reveal widespread change in plant functional type cover across Arctic and boreal Alaska and Yukon
Tundra plant above-ground biomass and shrub dominance mapped across the North Slope of Alaska
Plant functional type aboveground biomass change within Alaska and northwest Canada mapped using a 35-year satellite time series from 1985 to 2020
Key indicators of Arctic climate change
Shrub expansion in tundra ecosystems
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |