IGN 14-6 - Linking remotely sensed spectral diversity to genetic, phylogenetic and functional diversity to predict ecosystem processes

Wednesday, August 9, 2017
C124, Oregon Convention Center
Jeannine M. Cavender-Bares, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN
Given the importance of plant biodiversity for providing the ecosystem services on which humans depend, rapid and remote methods of monitoring plant biodiversity across biological scales from genotypes to the entire plant tree of life are increasingly critical. Plant spectra – the light reflected from plants – have high potential. Spectra are aggregate signals of plant chemistry, physiology, water content and structure that reflect past evolutionary processes and environmental conditions. Spectral variation stands to be highly informative about patterns of diversity and to reveal a growing suite of information about leaves, whole plants, communities and ecosystems.