A University of Minnesota-led research team has developed new methods to assess how biodiversity loss impacts forest ecosystems by determining how sunlight reflects off the surface of the forest canopy using spectral images taken from an airplane.
A University of Minnesota-led research team has developed new methods to assess how biodiversity loss impacts forest ecosystems by determining how sunlight reflects off the surface of the forest canopy using spectral images taken from an airplane. The research, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, lays the foundation for measuring the consequences of changes in biodiversity on ecosystem function remotely at a significant scale.
“We need to be able to determine how biodiversity is changing and impacting ecosystem functions in real time on large scales, from individual ecosystems to the biosphere,” said study author Jeannine Cavender-Bares, a professor in the College of Biological Sciences and director of the newly established Biology Integration Institute (BII). “Right now, two in five plants are considered endangered. This study is an important step in learning how to detect where biodiversity is being lost, where efforts to slow its loss are succeeding, and how these changes in diversity are affecting our life support systems. Filling these knowledge gaps is important for making informed policy decisions that will impact future generations globally.”
Read more at: Universitry of Minnesota
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