Analysis of canopy gap present in tropical dry forests using Airborne LiDAR System (ALS) at the Santa Rosa Environmental Monitoring Super Site, Costa Rica

• Author / Creator

  Lei, Xinyu

• This thesis is divided into three sections: Introduction, Chapter 2, and Conclusion.
  The Introduction provides the research background for the study. Tropical areas play an important role in the whole ecological environment, but their survival status is worrying. As an important part of it, the tropical dry forest has special ecological characteristics, such as secondary succession. The secondary forest can be divided into three stages: early, intermediate, and late stages. In the exploration of the tropical forest succession mechanisms, the definition of forest gap is proposed, and with continuous further research, the definition of forest gap is changing. However, no matter how the definition of the gap changes, the forest gap plays an irreplaceable role in the regeneration and succession of the forest. With the development and progress of science and technology, remote sensing technology has gradually become an emerging means for scientists to explore the characteristics of forests, especially LiDAR technology, which provides more three-dimensional and detailed data acquisition for forest research.
  The second part is a complete paper showing the feasibility of LiDAR in the TDF canopy research. First, it proves the operability of LiDAR technology in the detection of canopy gap. We can draw a complete and accurate gap distribution map through LiDAR point cloud data. Second, based on previous academic studies, the successional stages of the secondary forest in SRNP-EMSS were redefined. Third, the depth of gaps for different types was quantified, yielding the accurate range. Fourth, compared to the results of previous studies of related tropical forest gaps, the λ-values (Asner et al., 2013) of the gap-size frequency distribution endemic to tropical forests are shown to be in the same range.
  The third section concludes with the highlights and shortcomings of the study.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Tropical dry forest
  • Canopy gap
  • "ForestGapR"
  • Airborne LiDAR
  • UAV
  • Successional stage
  • Gap-size frequency distribution

• Graduation date

  Spring 2024

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-yy45-n426

• 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.