Effects of Biological Invasion on the Composition, Chemistry and 3-D Structure of Hawaiian Forests

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Effects of Biological Invasion on the
Composition, Chemistry and 3-D Structure of
Hawaiian Forests Greg Asner Roberta
MartinDepartment of Global EcologyCarnegie
InstitutionMajor Support NASA
TEP-Biodiversity Program WM Keck
Foundationhttp//cao.stanford.edu
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Hawaii has a Unique Portfolio of Ecosystem Goods
and Services

• Carbon Storage and Sequestration
• Water Quantity and Quality
• Cultural Value
• Recreational Services
• Aesthetic Value

But we dont have a clear way to manage and
conserve the major contributors to these
services. Who are the contributors?
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Contributors to Ecosystem Services

• Vegetation Structure for Habitat
• Plant Diversity
• Pollinators
• Carbon Stocks in Vegetation and Soils
• Topography/Terrain
• Water Inputs and Losses

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Biological invasion can alter (negatively affect)
the services provided by ecosystems
Myrica faya
Hedychium
Psidium cattleianum
Miconia calvensens
African grasses
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Partnering Science with Conservation, Management
and Resource Policy Development in Hawaii

• Observations.both the rapid type and the
  long-term type
• Processes.our local and regional
  understanding
• Predictions..based on trends in our
  observations and on our understanding of the
  critical processes

Scientific Observations and Understanding of
Processes
Resource Management
Conservation Plans and Actions
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Remote Sensing Observations

• All are important
• In-situ are for local processes
• Satellites give broad pattern (often hard to
  link back to management and conservation)
• Aircraft

• Satellite
• Aircraft
• In situ monitoring systems

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The Imaging Spectroscopy Concept
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Plant SpectroscopyMeasurement of chemicals from
a distance
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Developing Airborne Plant SpectroscopyAsner Lab
Activities 1995 - 2008
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Airborne Measurements of Plant Chemical
SignaturesHawaii-Australia Studies (2001-2008)
Canopy Chemicals
Fly over with spectrometer
Canopy Chemical Model
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Leaves ? Canopies
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Waveform Light Detection and Ranging (wLiDAR)
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Inertial Motion AnalysisTo boresight align
sensors in 3-D, for tracking the location of
ground targets at super high spatial resolution
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The Carnegie Airborne Observatory (launched Jan
2007)

Imaging Spectroscopy
What are we after? Detailed chemical, structural
and biological information on ecosystem health on
land and in coastal environments, and at fine
spatial resolution
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CarnegieProcessing Stream
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CAO Alpha System (VNIR and wLiDAR)
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CAO-JPL Beta System (AVIRIS and CAO-LiDAR)
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Prototyping with the CAO-JPL Beta System
JPL AVIRIS Spectrometer
JPL AVIRIS Spectrometer
35 m
CarnegieLiDAR
18-20m
8-12 m
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The Many Faces of Biological Invasion
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Deforestation and Invasion
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Old Invaded Landscapes
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Infrastructure and Invasion
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Invasion Fronts on Protected Lands
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Biogeochemical Responses to Invasion
Clouds Development
Ohia (Metrosideros) Forest
Kilauea Iki Crater
Lava Flows
Kilauea Caldera
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Remote Measurement of Canopy Chemistry
Canopy Nitrogen Concentration
Canopy Water Content
Canopy Water
Leaf Nitrogen
Kilauea Iki
Kilauea Iki
Kilauea Volcano
Kilauea Volcano
Canopy Water
2500 mm
0 mm
2.5
Leaf Nitrogen
0
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Canopy Chemistry ? Invasive Species
Myrica invasion front (high leaf nitrogen)
Myrica infestations (high leaf nitrogen and high
canopy water)
Kilauea Caldera
Hedychium in forest understory(high canopy
water)
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Field Studies

• Leaf N and canopy water highly correlated with
  field measurements
• Species played themselves out by chemical
  make-up
• Red Myrica
• Green Mixed Myrica-Ohia
• Cyan Ohia
• Blue Ohia w/ginger in understory

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Spectral Mixture Analysis
Fractional material cover from spectral mixture
analysis
Invasive species and nitrogen-fixing PFT
Hyperspectral RT Model PLS
Leaf nitrogen concentration
Biochemical Fingerprinting
Biogeochemical Analysis
Soil nitrogen oxide trace gas emissions
Hyperspectral RT Model Inversion
Canopy water content
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Combining HiFIS and LiDAR for Invasive
Species Detection and Analysis
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(B)
(A)
HiFIS Imagery
LiDAR Data
(D)
(C)
Live vs Dead Trees and Minimum LAI for Chem
Constant Sun-View Geometry
(E)
Suitable
Unsuitable
Pre-screened Image
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Species Detection Based on Chemistry
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Invasive Species in Remote, Protected Reserves
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Species Detection Based on Chemistry
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Zoom window
Wao Kele O Puna Reserve
Yellow-white areas are positive detections for
invasive Brazilian strawberry guava tree
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Field Validation
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Detecting Plants in the Forest Understory
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3-D Sectional Views of the Forest
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3-D Sectional Views of the Forest
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3-D Sectional Views of the Forest
18 m
31 m
8 m
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Death by Shade
Death by Rhizome
Cut-off _at_ Knees
Friendly Foes
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Summary Statistics for 3-D Effects of Invasive
Trees
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Lessons Learned in Hawaii

• There are measurable changes in composition,
  chemistry and 3-D structure that indicate major
  impacts of invasion on forest functioning.
• Invasive species can alter the fundamental
  functioning (chemistry) and structure of native
  forests. Physical disturbance is not necessary
  to trigger the proliferation of introduced
  species. Fencing and protection is not enough
  active management action is required on a
  continuous basis.
• Airborne measurements are becoming
  interchangeable with field measurements at the
  scale of individual crowns and plots.
• Airborne measurements sometimes provide totally
  new information unobtainable on the ground.
• It is likely that a combination of spaceborne
  LiDAR and HiFIS can provide this type of
  information, albeit at a different scale. The
  Hawaii studies are glimpses into the future
  decadal survey missions.