| Organization in Temperate Rain Forest Canopies |
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| Investigators |
| Dr. Roman Dial, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Alaska Pacific University
Andrew Lee (M.Sc. candidate), Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Alaska Pacific University
Ben Bloodworth, M.Sc., Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Alaska Pacific University
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What is the Issue? |
| UNDERSTANDING FOREST DYNAMICS |
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The physical structure of forest canopies provides habitat for all the organisms that live there. Investigations to date which have focused on canopy structure have helped to supply researchers with important information on both the floral and faunal inhabitants of the crown area. However, a technique to measure and compare canopy elements by using an accessible and easily portable system is currently undeveloped. This study aims to create a standardized method for measuring canopy organization which will be available in a simple and inexpensive format, enabling researchers to sample canopy organizations quickly and efficiently for analysis and comparison purposes.
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What is our goal? |
| DEVELOPMENT OF A PRACTICAL SAMPLING TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF FOREST CANOPY ORGANIZATION.
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| Organization in Temperate Rain Forest Canopies. |
Where we currently stand. |
| This project commenced in spring 2000. Researchers have developed field and analytical techniques to quantify the "empty space" within the forest canopy, from ground level to above tree crowns. This allows the researchers to construct canopy profiles for different forest types and to compare them. Biological data to correlate with these forest canopy profiles are also being collected. The researchers have found a characteristic S-shaped pattern of open space within the canopy as a function of height above the ground. This pattern enables the identification of canopy "zones" by composition and by the average air space within these zones. This method of characterizing forest canopies is an averaging method, which identifies the average canopy surface location and the average canopy understorey location where the forest is the most open. Researchers are still at the preliminary stages of analysis of the biological data, but expect to see a correspondence between the biology and the canopy structure.
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You can help this project - find out how. |
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