Abstract The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is a waveform lidar instrument on the International Space Station used to estimate aboveground biomass density (AGBD) in temperate and tropical forests. Algorithms predict footprint AGBD from GEDI relative height (RH) metrics were developed simulated waveforms with leaf-on (growing season) conditions. Leaf-off data lower canopy cover a...

To elucidate climate-driven changes in leaf-out phenology and their implications for species invasions, we observed and experimentally manipulated leaf out of invasive and native woody plants in Concord, MA, USA. Using observations collected by Henry David Thoreau (1852-1860) and our own observations (2009-2013), we analyzed changes in leaf-out timing and sensitivity to temperature for 43 woody...

We describe and illustrate Paepalanthusserpens, a microendemic species of Eriocaulaceae from the Espinhaço Range. The species is known from a single population growing in rocky areas of the Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais. It is placed in Paepalanthusser.Paepalanthus, and is easily distinguished from its congeneric species by its elongated, lignescent stem, thickened by the marcescent sheaths of th...

Many authors have attempted to explain the adaptive response of tropical plants to drought based on studies of water relations at the leaf level. Little attention has been given to the role of the xylem system in the control of plant water requirements. To evaluate this role, we studied the hydraulic architecture and water relations parameters of two tropical canopy trees with contrasting leaf ...

In the dry forest of Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica, the understory shrub Jacquinia nervosa presents an inverse pattern of phenology that concentrates vegetative growth and reproduction during the dry season. In this study, we tested the "escape from herbivory" hypothesis as a potential explanation for the inverse phenological pattern of J. nervosa. We monitored leaf, flower and fruit pro...

We evaluated the use of the Green-Red Vegetation Index (GRVI) as a phenological indicator based on multiyear stand-level observations of spectral reflectance and phenology at several representative ecosystems in Japan. The results showed the relationships between GRVI values and the seasonal change of vegetation and ground surface with high temporal resolution. We found that GRVI has the follow...

Leaf ecophysiological traits related to carbon gain and resource use are expected to be under strong selection in desert annuals. We used comparative and phenotypic selection approaches to investigate the importance of leaf ecophysiological traits for Helianthus anomalus, a diploid annual sunflower species of hybrid origin that is endemic to active desert dunes. Comparisons were made within and...

Spring phenology is advancing with warming but late spring freezes may not advance at the same rate, potentially leading to an increase in after trees initiate budburst. Research suggests winters delay budburst through reduced chilling, which cause plants leafout more slowly, thus decreasing freeze tolerance. Here, we assessed effects of and over-winter chilling on sapling phenology, growth tis...