Cedar Creek FAB2

A long-term forest biodiversity experiment (FAB2), is designed to expand the capacity and scope of FAB1, established in 2012. Like its predecessor, FAB2 focuses on trees of our region, tested for survival and growth at Cedar Creek. We designed the FAB2 experiment to determine the influence of tree diversity and composition on long-term community processes and ecosystem function and resilience. Our main objective is to experimentally test hypotheses that generate insights to inform forest restoration. We are specifically interested in understanding the importance of 1) species and lineage effects and 2) tree diversity for other trophic levels and for ecosystem functions; and in 3) deciphering the mechanisms by which tree species influence each other with consequences for ecosystem processes. 

Our aim is to use relatively inexpensive (multispectral, thermal, LiDAR) and advanced (hyperspectral) sensors on UAV platforms to characterize phenological changes in forest structure and canopy chemistry to test our hypotheses. We are using this remotely sensed information to model multiple dimensions of biodiversity as well as ecosystem productivity.