July 12, 2019, Hubbard Brook Annual Meeting

1. Space Wars: The Fight For
Light in the Stands of
Bartlett
Sarah Congress, Bob Fahey and Ruth Yanai

2. Forest canopy structure influences
characteristics within forest
ecosystems
Shaped by:
Species composition
Tree arrangement
Availability of light
and nutrients
Influences:
Leaf Area Index
Forest productivity
Driver of ecosystem
functioning
Fahey et al 1998

3. LiDAR can be used to help quantify
the structural complexity of a
forest canopy.
• Used for
• Canopy gap
fractions
• Aboveground
biomass
1st Return
2nd Return
3rd
Return

4. First Steps
• Create a map of the tree canopy within stands of
the Bartlett, Hubbard Brook and Jeffers Brook
• Describe the position of each species within the
canopy

5. Collecting data
1. Use meter
tape to note
position down
the transect
2. Use
hypsometer
to find the
beginning
height of each
species
3. Record and
Repeat

6. The beginning height of tree species within the
canopy

7. Vegetation area index profile for a young stand

8. Vegetation area index profile for a mid-age stand

9. Next Steps
• Combine LiDAR data with field data to create a species
specific Vegetation Area Index
• Determine whether treatments have affected the
dominance or position of species in the canopy