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© The Author(s) 2020
J. Cavender-Bares et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33157-3_3
Chapter 3
Scaling Functional Traits from Leaves
to Canopies
Shawn P. Serbin and Philip A. Townsend
3.1 Introduction
Fossil energy use and land use change are the dominant drivers of the accelerating
increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration and the principal causes of global climate change (IPCC 2018; IPBES 2018). Many of the observed and projected
impacts of rising CO 2 concentration and increased anthropogenic pressures on natural resources portend increasing risks to global terrestrial biomes, including direct
impacts on biodiversity, yet the uncertainty surrounding the forecasting of biodiversity change, future climate, and the fate of terrestrial ecosystems by biodiversity and
Earth system models (ESMs) is unacceptably high, hindering informed policy decisions at national and international levels (Jetz et al. 2007; Friedlingstein et al. 2014;
Rice et al. 2018). As such, the impact of our changing climate and altered disturbance regimes on terrestrial ecosystems is a major focus of a number of disciplines,
including the biodiversity, remote sensing (RS), and global change research
communities.
Here we provide an overview of approaches to scale and map plant functional
traits and diversity across landscapes with a focus on current approaches, leveraging
on best practices provided by Schweiger (Chap. 15), benefits and issues with general techniques for linking and scaling traits and spectra, and other key considerations that need to be addressed when utilizing RS observations to infer plant
functional traits across diverse landscapes.
S. P. Serbin (*)
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Environmental and Climate Sciences Department,
Upton, NY, USA
e-mail: sserbin@bnl.gov
P. A. Townsend
Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
© The Author(s) 2020
J. Cavender-Bares et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33157-3_3
Chapter 3
Scaling Functional Traits from Leaves
to Canopies
Shawn P. Serbin and Philip A. Townsend
3.1 Introduction
Fossil energy use and land use change are the dominant drivers of the accelerating
increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration and the principal causes of global climate change (IPCC 2018; IPBES 2018). Many of the observed and projected
impacts of rising CO 2 concentration and increased anthropogenic pressures on natural resources portend increasing risks to global terrestrial biomes, including direct
impacts on biodiversity, yet the uncertainty surrounding the forecasting of biodiversity change, future climate, and the fate of terrestrial ecosystems by biodiversity and
Earth system models (ESMs) is unacceptably high, hindering informed policy decisions at national and international levels (Jetz et al. 2007; Friedlingstein et al. 2014;
Rice et al. 2018). As such, the impact of our changing climate and altered disturbance regimes on terrestrial ecosystems is a major focus of a number of disciplines,
including the biodiversity, remote sensing (RS), and global change research
communities.
Here we provide an overview of approaches to scale and map plant functional
traits and diversity across landscapes with a focus on current approaches, leveraging
on best practices provided by Schweiger (Chap. 15), benefits and issues with general techniques for linking and scaling traits and spectra, and other key considerations that need to be addressed when utilizing RS observations to infer plant
functional traits across diverse landscapes.
S. P. Serbin (*)
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Environmental and Climate Sciences Department,
Upton, NY, USA
e-mail: sserbin@bnl.gov
P. A. Townsend
Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA