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THE PERUVIAN AMAZON IS HOME TO OVER HALF A MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS OF FOREST MOST OF WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY SOILS ON TERRACE LANDFORMS DISSECTED BY STREAM CHANNELS. THESE TERRACE ECOSYSTEMS HAVE BEEN CONTRASTED WITH MAJOR FLOODPLAINS ALONG RIVERINE TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS BUT THE ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY WITHIN THESE TERRACE LANDSCAPES HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED IN DETAIL. THIS IS IMPERATIVE AS THE LOWLAND WESTERN AMAZON HOLDS IMMENSE BIOMASS STOCKS AND PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE BUT IS UNDER EVER INCREASING LAND-USE PRESSURE AND ITS COMPLEXITY REMAINS POORLY UNDERSTOOD.MY RESEARCH SEEKS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE HETEROGENEOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF TERRACE LANDSCAPES HAVE A MATERIAL EFFECT ON SOIL RESOURCES AND WHETHER THE INTERPLAY OF TOPOGRAPHIC POSITION AND RESOURCE AVAILABILITY DETERMINES THE SPATIAL PATTERNS OF THE BIOMASS AND FOLIAR CHEMICAL TRAITS OF CANOPY TREES. I WILL USE AIRBORNE REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING IMAGING SPECTROSCOPY AND LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGING (LIDAR) PAIRED WITH DIRECTED FIELD SAMPLING TO DEVELOP A SPATIALLY EXPLICIT UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THIS SYSTEM.UNDERSTANDING THE EXTENT TO WHICH RESOURCE AVAILABILITY DRIVES CANOPY STRUCTURE AND FOLIAR CHEMISTRY IN TROPICAL FORESTS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD PREDICTING THE RESPONSE OF THEIR CARBON CYCLE TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES. FURTHER DETERMINING HOW RESOURCE GRADIENTS AND CANOPY TRAITS ARE LINKED TO REMOTELY CHARACTERIZED TOPOGRAPHIC GRADIENTS IS VALUABLE FOR PREDICTING THEIR DISTRIBUTIONS BROADLY USING DATA SUCH AS THAT PROVIDED BY THE SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION AS WELL AS FOR MODELING REGIONAL RESPONSES TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. LAND USE AND CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT THE AVAILABILITY OF NUTRIENTS TO ECOSYSTEMS AND UNTIL WE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE RESOURCES IN DRIVING ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES INCLUDING CARBON CYCLING IN WESTERN AMAZONIA WE CANNOT ANTICIPATE THE RESPONSE OF THIS SYSTEM TO THE CHANGES AHEAD. THESE GOALS ARE STRONGLY CONSISTENT WITH OBJECTIVES OF THE NASA CARBON CYCLE AND ECOSYSTEM PROGRAM.

$59,872FY2014National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

The Leland Stanford Junior University

Investigators

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THE PERUVIAN AMAZON IS HOME TO OVER HALF A MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS OF FOREST MOST OF WHICH IS SUPPORTED BY SOILS ON TERRACE LANDFORMS DISSECTED BY STREAM CHANNELS. THESE TERRACE ECOSYSTEMS HAVE BEEN CONTRASTED WITH MAJOR FLOODPLAINS ALONG RIVERINE TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS BUT THE ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY WITHIN THESE TERRACE LANDSCAPES HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED IN DETAIL. THIS IS IMPERATIVE AS THE LOWLAND WESTERN AMAZON HOLDS IMMENSE BIOMASS STOCKS AND PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE BUT IS UNDER EVER INCREASING LAND-USE PRESSURE AND ITS COMPLEXITY REMAINS POORLY UNDERSTOOD.MY RESEARCH SEEKS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE HETEROGENEOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF TERRACE LANDSCAPES HAVE A MATERIAL EFFECT ON SOIL RESOURCES AND WHETHER THE INTERPLAY OF TOPOGRAPHIC POSITION AND RESOURCE AVAILABILITY DETERMINES THE SPATIAL PATTERNS OF THE BIOMASS AND FOLIAR CHEMICAL TRAITS OF CANOPY TREES. I WILL USE AIRBORNE REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING IMAGING SPECTROSCOPY AND LIGHT DETECTION AND RANGING (LIDAR) PAIRED WITH DIRECTED FIELD SAMPLING TO DEVELOP A SPATIALLY EXPLICIT UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THIS SYSTEM.UNDERSTANDING THE EXTENT TO WHICH RESOURCE AVAILABILITY DRIVES CANOPY STRUCTURE AND FOLIAR CHEMISTRY IN TROPICAL FORESTS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD PREDICTING THE RESPONSE OF THEIR CARBON CYCLE TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES. FURTHER DETERMINING HOW RESOURCE GRADIENTS AND CANOPY TRAITS ARE LINKED TO REMOTELY CHARACTERIZED TOPOGRAPHIC GRADIENTS IS VALUABLE FOR PREDICTING THEIR DISTRIBUTIONS BROADLY USING DATA SUCH AS THAT PROVIDED BY THE SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION AS WELL AS FOR MODELING REGIONAL RESPONSES TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. LAND USE AND CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT THE AVAILABILITY OF NUTRIENTS TO ECOSYSTEMS AND UNTIL WE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE RESOURCES IN DRIVING ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES INCLUDING CARBON CYCLING IN WESTERN AMAZONIA WE CANNOT ANTICIPATE THE RESPONSE OF THIS SYSTEM TO THE CHANGES AHEAD. THESE GOALS ARE STRONGLY CONSISTENT WITH OBJECTIVES OF THE NASA CARBON CYCLE AND ECOSYSTEM PROGRAM. · GrantIndex