Characterizing the structural complexity of the Earth’s forests with spaceborne lidar

Characterizing the structural complexity of the Earth’s forests with spaceborne lidar | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Characterizing the structural complexity of the Earth’s forests with spaceborne lidar Tiago de Conto, Ralph Dubayah, John Armston This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4445870/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Forest structural complexity is a key element of ecosystem functioning, impacting light environments, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and habitat quality. Addressing the need for a comprehensive global assessment we derive the first, near-global map of 3D canopy complexity using data from the GEDI spaceborne lidar mission. These data show that tropical forests harbor most of the high complexity observations, while less than 20% of temperate forests reached median levels of tropical complexity. Structural complexity in tropical forests is more strongly related to canopy attributes from lower and middle waveform layers, whereas in temperate forests upper and middle layers are more influential. Globally, forests exhibit robust scaling relationships between complexity and canopy height, but these vary geographically and by biome. Our results offer insights into the spatial distribution of forest structural complexity and emphasize the importance of considering biome-specific and fine-scale variations for ecological research and management applications. Biogeography Geographic Information Systems Forestry Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4445870","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":304287752,"identity":"82cc6170-ae60-42c8-ba81-1cc8d4a7e89a","order_by":0,"name":"Tiago de Conto","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1827-829X","institution":"University of Maryland","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tiago","middleName":"","lastName":"de Conto","suffix":""},{"id":304287753,"identity":"2ff2b3a7-b9cb-4554-bdd9-db6d134d6d91","order_by":1,"name":"Ralph 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cycling, biodiversity, and habitat quality. Addressing the need for a comprehensive global assessment we derive the first, near-global map of 3D canopy complexity using data from the GEDI spaceborne lidar mission. These data show that \u0026nbsp;tropical forests harbor most of the high complexity observations, while\u0026nbsp;less than 20% of temperate forests reached median levels of tropical complexity. Structural complexity in tropical forests is more strongly related to canopy attributes from lower and middle waveform layers, whereas in temperate forests upper and middle layers are more\u0026nbsp;influential. Globally, forests exhibit robust scaling relationships between complexity and canopy height, but these vary geographically and by biome. 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