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Effects of Morella faya tree invasion on aboveground carbon storage in Hawaii

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Abstract

The negative effects of biological invasion are often the focus of ecological studies, but few have considered potential positive impacts, such as increased carbon storage, resulting from invasion. We combined airborne imaging spectrometer and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) observations with field measurements to assess if the highly invasive nitrogen-fixing tree Morella faya alters canopy 3-D structure and aboveground biomass (AGB) along a 1,500 mm precipitation gradient in Hawaii. Airborne analysis of canopy water content, leaf nitrogen concentration, fractional canopy cover, and vegetation height facilitated mapping of native- and Morella-dominated canopies in rainforest, woodland–savanna and shrubland ecosystems, with Morella detection errors ranging from 0 to 13.4%. Allometric equations were developed to relate the combined LiDAR and spectral data to field-based AGB estimates (r 2 = 0.97, P < 0.01), and to produce a map of biomass stocks throughout native and invaded ecosystems. The structure of the invasive Morella canopies varied by ecosystem type, and the invader shaded out native understory plants in rainforest zones. Despite a 350% increase in AGB going from shrubland to rainforest, Morella did not increase average AGB in any ecosystem it invaded. Furthermore, spatial distributions of biomass indicated that Morella decreased maximum AGB in the woodland–savanna ecosystems. We conclude that Morella tree invasion does not enhance aboveground carbon stocks in any ecosystem it invades in Hawaii, thereby minimizing its contribution to this potentially important ecosystem service. We also found that the fusion of spectral and LiDAR remote sensing provided canopy chemical and structural data facilitating a landscape assessment of how biological invasion alters on carbon stocks and other ecosystem properties.

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Acknowledgments

We thank T. Varga, J. Mascaro, and G. Sanchez for their work on the field measurements. Access to field sites was provided by the US National Park Service. This study was supported by NASA Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity Program grant NNG-06-GI-87G and the Carnegie Institution. The Carnegie Airborne Observatory is supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation and William Hearst III.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Gregory P. Asner, Roberta E. Martin, David E. Knapp & Ty Kennedy-Bowdoin

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  1. Gregory P. Asner
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Correspondence to Gregory P. Asner.

Appendices

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Fig. 6.

Fig. 6
figure 6

Natural color composite image showing the study area in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (HAVO) on Hawaii Island. Locations of field biomass plots are shown as yellow dots, along with precipitation isohyets in 500 mm yr−1 increments

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Appendix 2

See Table 5.

Table 5 Plot data on species dominance, stem counts, and estimated aboveground biomass
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Appendix 3

See Table 6.

Table 6 Allometric equations used to estimate aboveground biomass (AGB) at the plot level
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Appendix 4

See Fig. 7.

Fig. 7
figure 7

a Canopy fractional cover of photosynthetic vegetation (PV), non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) and bare substrate/shade, b total canopy water content, c upper-canopy leaf N concentration, and d vegetation height. Panels a–c were derived from imaging spectrometer data, and panel d was derived from the LiDAR measurements

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Asner, G.P., Martin, R.E., Knapp, D.E. et al. Effects of Morella faya tree invasion on aboveground carbon storage in Hawaii. Biol Invasions 12, 477–494 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9452-1

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