A canopy gap is reduced vegetation height associated with the breakage or death of a canopy-forming tree. The distribution and dynamics of canopy gaps, and the processes responsible for their variation, have been the subject of long-term interest in forests, because gaps are associated with tree regeneration and the movement of chemicals through the forest. This project uses high spectral resolution remote sensing to measure variation in canopy nitrogen, and LiDAR remote sensing to quantify gap dynamics, to test hypotheses about tree species dynamics in the tropical rain forest at La Selva, Costa Rica. It will also examine variation in canopy gap dynamics using a nine-year LiDAR time series for a large tract of old-growth forest. By integrating hyperspectral analyses of nitrogen with LiDAR estimates of canopy height, the overall hypothesis can be tested that local variance in a key plant functional trait (nitrogen status) is a driver of tree mortality and gap dynamics across a landscape dominated by old-growth tropical rain forest.
