Scope

Recent advances in observations of vegetation structure, be it ground based (e.g. Terrestrial Laser Scanning; TLS), airborne (e.g. Airborne Laser Scanning; ALS) or spaceborne (e.g. Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation; GEDI Lidar), provide unprecedented opportunities for advancing ecological research. Such information can be combined with ecosystem models, whether process based or empirical / statistical. By integrating vegetation structure in models, we can improve our understanding and ability to estimate floral and faunal diversity, vegetation three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneity, and other key ecosystem functional and structural attributes.

Combining newly available data about vegetation structure with ecological models (e.g.: Madingley) can improve predictions of animal ecology including community assembly and distribution. Advances along these lines would improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and the role of vegetation structure in ecosystem functioning. In addition, it may provide insights into these relationships on scales much larger as currently possible; this is particularly relevant when considering how interactions among species size and shape are influenced by these relations.

The potential synergies between LIDAR data and ecological models (e.g.: DGVMs, Dynamic Global Vegetation Models), can improve our understanding of vegetation community assembly processes and particularly biotic interactions related to vegetation structure. This would strengthen simulations of key ecosystem parameters, such as plant biomass and biodiversity, under future scenarios. Incorporating structural information from GEDI into ecosystem models with vertical structure parameterizations can characterize forest succession and structural traits in more detail and, in turn, improve predictions of biomass, carbon fluxes, and faunal influences on the carbon cycle. Lidar provides a means to improve models that incorporate animal mobility in canopy environments, e.g., in relation to mass and branch structural traits.

Our aim with this special issue is to comprehensively aggregate a coherent set of studies that can be used to bridge gaps in our current understanding and theory about the mechanisms through which flora and fauna interact in the 3D landscape of forest canopies across scales. We welcome contributions that incorporate, but are not limited to, any of the following topics:

• Modelling studies exploring how vegetation structure mediates and interacts with ecosystem processes.
• Interactions between animal (including insect) species with vegetation canopies.
• Field studies reporting how animal size, shape and mobility impact usage of vegetation 3D landscapes.
• Reviews and theoretical perspectives related to key parameters incorporating plant and animal species traits that shape other species distributions.

Submission process

Focus issue articles are subject to the same review process and high standard as regular Environmental Research: Ecology (ERE) articles.

Articles should be submitted using our online submission form. In Step 1, where the form asks if you would like your submission to be considered for inclusion within a focus issue, please select “Unravelling the Role of Vegetation Structure in Ecosystem Functioning with LIDAR, Field Studies and Modelling” in the drop down box.

Deadline for submissions

The deadline for submissions will be extended until the end of 2024. ERE is able to publish ‘focus on’ collections incrementally. If you submit early in the period your article will not be delayed waiting for other papers in the collection. If you are not able to meet the deadline, please let us know.

ERE is an open access journal. As part of our commitment to open science, IOP Publishing is covering the APC for all articles submitted to the journal until the end of 2023. For information on article publication charges, including all of the discounts, waivers and funding arrangements available that apply from 2024 onward, please visit our publication charges page.