Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Qualification assignments |
| Document | publication document |
| Title (Primary) | Forest fragmentation in space and time - new perspectives from forest modelling and remote sensing |
| Author | Dantas de Paula, M. |
| Source Titel | PhD Dissertation |
| Year | 2017 |
| Department | OESA |
| Volume | 3/2017 |
| Page To | 186 |
| Language | englisch |
| UFZ wide themes | RU5; |
| UFZ inventory | Leipzig, Bibliothek, Reportsammlung, 00520393, 17-0344 F/E |
| Abstract | Understanding the mechanisms behind the functioning of Tropical forests represents one of the most interesting scientific challenges of our times. Extensive and dedicated field work and statistical analysis on the four continents where tropical forests are present have revealed an increasingly complex system where almost all biological groups present a very high level of interdependence and specialization in comparison with other forest types. This high level of specialization also means that tropical forests are very species-rich, and understanding why they have such high biodiversity is in itself a line of research (Wright 2002, Leigh et al. 2004, Rosindell et al. 2011). The tree community composes most of the structure and provides most of the habitats for other biological groups in tropical forests, which are related to the species composition it has for a particular region (Gibson et al. 2011). Due to high level of interdependence and specialization, typical of tropical forests, this species composition will depend ultimately on the interaction with other biological groups. Tropical tree species depend greatly on animals for their life cycles through pollination and seed dispersal, and for their survivorship through herbivory, therefore animal species composition has also a great influence on tree species composition, closing the feedback loop. Finally, thanks to technological breakthroughs in the field of environmental sensors, large spatial and temporal scale patterns of the biological processes in tropical forests are starting to be unraveled. Recent studies have revealed the profound influence tropical forests have in abiotic processes such as regional climate patterns (Spracklen et al. 2012), watershed dynamics (Trancoso et al. 2010) and soil composition (Camargo and Kapos 1995). By using the individual based forest gap model FORMIND and data from remote sensing, complex forest dynamics and large scale patterns were investigated, under the context of forest fragmentation. In the first manuscript consequences of forest fragmentation to forest structure, carbon and hydrological cycles were investigated by using the FORMIND model; in the second, remote sensing data of tree cover was analyzed in order to observe large scale patterns of edge effects in different regions of the world. In the third and final chapter, the FORMIND model was again used to study the effects of animal loss in seed dispersal and eventually biomass retention of forests. At the time of the publication of this thesis, both the first and second chapters are published in peer reviewed journals. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=18742 |
| Dantas de Paula, M. (2017): Forest fragmentation in space and time - new perspectives from forest modelling and remote sensing Dissertation, Universität Osnabrück PhD Dissertation 3/2017 Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung - UFZ, Leipzig, 186 pp. |
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