"Large Seasonal Swings in Leaf Area of Amazon Rainforests" by Ranga B. Myneni, Wenze Yang et al.

GSCE Faculty Publications

Title

Large Seasonal Swings in Leaf Area of Amazon Rainforests

Authors

Ranga B. Myneni, Boston University
Wenze Yang, Boston University, University of Michigan
Ramakrishna R. Nemani, NASA Ames Research Center
Alfredo R. Huete, University of Arizona
Robert E. Dickinson, Georgia Institute of TechnologyFollow
Yuri Knyazikhin, Boston University
Kamel Didan, University of Arizona
Rong Fu, Georgia Institiute of Technology
Robinson I. Negron Juarez, Georgia Institute of Technology
Sasan S. Saatchi, Calfornia Institute of Technology
Hirofumi Hashimoto, California State University, Monterey Bay
Kazuhito Ichii, San Jose State University
Nikolay V. Shabanov, Boston University
Bin Tan, Boston University, Earth Resources Technology, Inc.
Piyachat Ratana, University of Arizona
Jeffrey L. Privette, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, National Climatic Data Center
Jeffrey T. Morisette, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Eric F. Vermote, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Maryland College Park
David P. Roy, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Robert E. Wolfe, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Mark A. Friedl, Boston University
Steven W. Running, University of Montana
Petr Votava, NASA Ames Research Center
Nazmi El-Saleous, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Sadashiva Devadiga, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Yin Su, Boston University
Vincent V. Salomonson, University of Utah

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Verson of Record

Publication Date

3-13-2007

Keywords

Remote Sensing, Tropical Forest Phenology, Vegetation Climate Interaction

Description

Despite early speculation to the contrary, all tropical forests studied to date display seasonal variations in the presence of new leaves, flowers, and fruits. Past studies were focused on the timing of phenological events and their cues but not on the accompanying changes in leaf area that regulate vegetation–atmosphere exchanges of energy, momentum, and mass. Here we report, from analysis of 5 years of recent satellite data, seasonal swings in green leaf area of ~25% in a majority of the Amazon rainforests. This seasonal cycle is timed to the seasonality of solar radiation in a manner that is suggestive of anticipatory and opportunistic patterns of net leaf flushing during the early to mid part of the light-rich dry season and net leaf abscission during the cloudy wet season. These seasonal swings in leaf area may be critical to initiation of the transition from dry to wet season, seasonal carbon balance between photosynthetic gains and respiratory losses, and litterfall nutrient cycling in moist tropical forests.

Publication Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Volume

104

Issue

First Page

4820

Last Page

4823

DOI of Published Version

10.1073/pnas.0611338104

Type

text

Format

application/pdf

Language

Publisher

PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Rights

Recommended Citation

Myneni, Ranga B.; Yang, Wenze; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Huete, Alfredo R.; Dickinson, Robert E.; Knyazikhin, Yuri; Didan, Kamel; Fu, Rong; Negron Juarez, Robinson I.; Saatchi, Sasan S.; Hashimoto, Hirofumi; Ichii, Kazuhito; Shabanov, Nikolay V.; Tan, Bin; Ratana, Piyachat; Privette, Jeffrey L.; Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Vermote, Eric F.; Roy, David P.; Wolfe, Robert E.; Friedl, Mark A.; Running, Steven W.; Votava, Petr; El-Saleous, Nazmi; Devadiga, Sadashiva; Su, Yin; and Salomonson, Vincent V., "Large Seasonal Swings in Leaf Area of Amazon Rainforests" (2007). GSCE Faculty Publications. 109.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/gsce_pubs/109

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