PT Journal
AU Vincent, G
   Caron, F
   Sabatier, D
   Blanc, L
TI LiDAR shows that higher forests have more slender trees
SO Bois et Forets des Tropiques
JI Bois Forets Tropiques
PY 2012
BP 51
EP 56
VL 66
IS 314
DE Competition; Fertility; French Guiana; LiDAR; Tree allometry
AB High-density Airborne Laser Scanning was used to derive the Canopy Height Model (CHM) of an experimental forest site in the neotropics (Paracou, French Guiana). Individual tree heights were computed by manually segmenting tree crowns on the CHM and then extracting the local maximum canopy height. Three hundred and ninety-six (396) height estimates were matched from dominant or emergent trees with the corresponding ground records of stem diameters sampled in two plots with different mean canopy heights (28.1 m vs. 31.3 m). Tree slenderness was found to be positively and very significantly correlated with mean canopy height at the plot level. The same correlation was observed at the species population level for the three species adequately sampled. It can therefore be concluded that stratification by canopy height is to be recommended when deriving allometric relationships in order to avoid bias in Above Ground Biomass estimations.
ER