Ecophysiological leaf traits of Cerrado woody plants

• Author / Creator

  Ball, Ronald Aaron

• The Cerrado is a biodiversity hotspot undergoing land conversion with need of broad-extent quantification of species and associated ecosystem function. The effects of species on ecosystems can be tested when functional traits are related to ecosystem properties. The patterns of ecophysiologically-linked leaf traits were characterized with the goals of understanding functional diversity of the above ground biomass for ecosystem characterization and discrimination of this status using remote sensing spectroscopy data. Functional groups of plant life form had more consistently different trait status than taxonomy based groups. Specific leaf area and leaf water content were the most significant traits distinguishing functional groups. Spectral indices from a handheld spectrometer were insufficient to capture the variation of these key traits. Future studies integrating remote sensing to understand the effects of Cerrado functional diversity on ecosystem properties would benefit from incorporating life form functional groups, specific leaf area and leaf water content.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Leaf traits
  • Plant community
  • Functional ecology
  • Remote sensing
  • Biodiversity
  • Spectroscopy

• Graduation date

  Fall 2010

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R35M2C

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.