title: Scale dependence of canopy trait distributions along a tropical forest elevation gradient.
abstract: Average responses of forest foliar traits to elevation are well understood, but far less is known about trait distributional responses to elevation at multiple ecological scales. This limits our understanding of the ecological scales at which trait variation occurs in response to environmental drivers and change. We analyzed and compared multiple canopy foliar trait distributions using field sampling and airborne imaging spectroscopy along an Andes-to-Amazon elevation gradient. Field-estimated traits were generated from three community-weighting methods, and remotely sensed estimates of traits were made at three scales defined by sampling grain size and ecological extent. Field and remote sensing approaches revealed increases in average leaf mass per unit area (LMA), water, nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) and polyphenols with increasing elevation. Foliar nutrients and photosynthetic pigments displayed little to no elevation trend. Sample weighting approaches had little impact on field-estimated trait responses to elevation. Plot representativeness of trait distributions at landscape scales decreased with increasing elevation. Remote sensing indicated elevation-dependent increases in trait variance and distributional skew. Multiscale invariance of LMA, leaf water and NSC mark these traits as candidates for tracking forest responses to changing climate. Trait-based ecological studies can be greatly enhanced with multiscale studies made possible by imaging spectroscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Asner
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Roberta E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kryston
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Knapp
authors.affiliation: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.
authors.forename: Lisa Patrick
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Bentley
authors.affiliation: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2358-9367
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shenkin
authors.affiliation: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.|Sección Química, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Avenida Universitaria 1801, San Miguel, Lima, 32, Perú.
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Salinas
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sinca
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tupayachi
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Av. de la Cultura, Nro. 733, Cusco, Perú.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Quispe Huaypar
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Av. de la Cultura, Nro. 733, Cusco, Perú.
authors.forename: Milenka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montoya Pillco
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Av. de la Cultura, Nro. 733, Cusco, Perú.
authors.forename: Flor Delis
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Ccori Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET and FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Casilla de Correo 495, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0001, USA.|The Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA.
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Enquist
authors.affiliation: Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.
authors.forename: Yadvinder
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Malhi
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D065928:Forests; D005843:Geography; D016014:Linear Models; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology*; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D014329:Tropical Climate
keywords: Carnegie Airborne Observatory; Peru; canopy chemistry; plant functional traits; trait distributions; trait scaling