Land Surface Phenology in the Tropics: The Role of Climate and Topography in a Snow-Free Mountain

Land Surface Phenology in the Tropics The Role of Climate and Topography in a Snow-Free Mountain

Leaf phenology represents a major temporal component of ecosystem functioning, and understanding the drivers of seasonal variation in phenology is essential to understand plant responses to climate change. We assessed the patterns and drivers of land surface phenology, a proxy for leafing phenology,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecosystems (New York) Vol. 20; no. 8; pp. 1436 - 1453
Main Authors: Streher, Annia Susin, Sobreiro, João Francisco Ferreira, Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira, Silva, Thiago Sanna Freire
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer Science + Business Media 01-12-2017
Springer US
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Climate change
Climatic changes
Cloud cover
Computer simulation
Ecological function
Ecology
Ecosystems
Elevation
Environmental Management
Geoecology/Natural Processes
Growing season
Hydrologic data
Hydrology/Water Resources
Image acquisition
Land
Land surface temperature
Leaves
Life Sciences
MODIS
Moisture content
Mountains
Original Articles
Phenology
Plant Sciences
Precipitation
Rain and rainfall
Rainfall
Satellite imagery
Savannahs
Seasonal variations
Seasons
Senescence
Sky radiation
Snow
Surface chemistry
Temperature effects
Topography
Tropical environments
Vegetation
Water availability
Woodlands
Zoology
topoclimate
tropical mountain
environmental drivers
seasonal environments
land surface phenology
phenological indicators
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Summary:Leaf phenology represents a major temporal component of ecosystem functioning, and understanding the drivers of seasonal variation in phenology is essential to understand plant responses to climate change. We assessed the patterns and drivers of land surface phenology, a proxy for leafing phenology, for the meridional Espinhaço Range, a South American tropical mountain comprising a mosaic of savannas, dry woodlands, montane vegetation and moist forests. We used a 14-year time series of MODIS/NDVI satellite images, acquired between 2001 and 2015, and extracted phenological indicators using the TIMESAT algorithm. We obtained precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, land surface temperature from the MODIS MOD11A2 product, and cloud cover frequency from the MODIS MOD09GA product. We also calculated the topographic wetness index and simulated clear-sky radiation budgets based on the SRTM elevation model. The relationship between phenology and environmental drivers was assessed using general linear models. Temporal displacement in the start date of the annual growth season was more evident than variations in season length among vegetation types, indicating a possible temporal separation in the use of resources. Season length was inversely proportional to elevation, decreasing 1.58 days per 100 m. Green-up and senescence rates were faster where annual temperature amplitude was higher. We found that water and light availability, modulated by topography, are the most likely drivers of land surface phenology in the region, determining the start, end and length of the growing season. Temperature had an important role in determining the rates of leaf development and the strength of vegetation seasonality, suggesting that tropical vegetation is also sensitive to latitudinal temperature changes, regardless of the elevational gradient. Our work improves the current understanding of phenological strategies in the seasonal tropics and emphasizes the importance of topography in shaping light and water availability for leaf development in snow-free mountains.
ISSN:1432-9840
1435-0629
DOI:10.1007/s10021-017-0123-2