Abstract
Plant functional diversity (FD) is an important component of biodiversity. Evidence shows that FD strongly determines ecosystem functioning and stability and also regulates various ecosystem services that underpin human well-being. Given the importance of FD, it is critical to monitor its variations in an explicit manner across space and time, a highly demanding task that cannot be resolved solely by field data. Today, high hopes are placed on satellite-based observations to complement field plot data. The promise is that multiscale monitoring of plant FD, ecosystem functioning, and their services is now possible at global scales in near real-time. However, non-trivial scale challenges remain to be overcome before plant ecology can capitalize on the latest advances in Earth Observation (EO). Here, we articulate the existing scale challenges in linking field and satellite data and further elaborated in detail how to address these challenges via the latest innovations in optical and radar sensor technologies and image analysis algorithms. Addressing these challenges not only requires novel remote sensing theories and algorithms but also urges more effective communication between remote sensing scientists and field ecologists to foster mutual understanding of the existing challenges. Only through a collaborative approach can we achieve the global plant functional diversity monitoring goal.
Highlights
What Do Satellites Measure?Measurements from space are the result of the complex physical interaction between electromagnetic radiation and vegetated surfaces at different wavelengths—an “electromagnetic signature” that encodes fundamental information on vegetation states, function, and structure
Today, a new generation of Earth observation (EO) satellites scans large parts of the Earth’s surface at ever higher spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions (Table 1)
The objective of this technical note is to shed light on the emerging opportunities offered by the latest innovations in EO technologies in bridging the existing scale challenges, so that plant traits and functional diversity data collected by field ecologists can be better scaled across space and time using satellite measurements
Summary
Measurements from space are the result of the complex physical interaction between electromagnetic radiation and vegetated surfaces at different wavelengths—an “electromagnetic signature” that encodes fundamental information on vegetation states, function, and structure. In the thermal infrared region, instead, one can infer canopy surface temperatures from which canopy transpiration rates can be further estimated [12]. In electromagnetic wavelengths longer than the thermal infrared region (microwave region), one can detect even deeper structural properties and the vertically integrated water content [13]. Given that remote sensing measurements resolve these properties in space and time, they are key for investigating changes in plant diversity, ecosystem functioning, and services, globally and in near real time [15,16,17,18,19]
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