Physiological fidelity of a satellite-derived forest resilience indicator in the Amazon

IF 17.1 1区生物学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Nature ecology & evolution Pub Date : 2026-07-21 DOI:10.1038/s41559-026-03116-z

Kexin Song, James Knighton, Shi Qiu, Xiucheng Yang, Ji Won Suh, Julia V. Tavares, Yanlan Liu, Xiaonan Tai, Robert Fahey, Christopher S. R. Neigh, Russell Callahan, Falu Hong, Tian Li, Ashley Grinstead, Wei Ren, Chandi Witharana, S. Blair Hedges, Zhiqiang Yang, Rodrigo Vieira Leite, Paulo R. L. Bittencourt, Zhe Zhu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Reliable resilience indicators are urgently needed to monitor global forest health under increasing climate stress. Lag-1 temporal autocorrelation (TAC) of satellite vegetation indices captures forest recovery speed and is widely used as a resilience metric, but its mechanistic underpinnings and methodological reliability have been questioned. Here we use Landsat observations and field data from the Amazon to investigate how satellite-derived TAC relates to in situ measurements of the hydraulic safety margin (HSM), a key physiological trait for plants’ capacity to accommodate drier conditions. We find a strong direct correlation between HSM and the resilience proxy (1-TAC) (R2 up to 0.57, P = 0.0116), providing evidence that forest recovery speed is constrained by drought resistance. A model incorporating both HSM and cumulative water deficit explains up to 83% of the variance in resilience, indicating that hydraulic strategies and local climate act as a joint, primary axis of forest resilience. Importantly, we show that this relationship is contingent on the selected vegetation index, the temporal frequency of satellite observations and the rolling window size. Taken together, our findings establish the physiological fidelity of TAC as a forest resilience metric and offer methodological guidance. This analysis shows that a widely used satellite-based ecosystem resilience indicator is a real signal linked to plant physiological responses to water deficit, provided that the estimation is based on appropriate methodological choice.

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亚马逊地区基于卫星的森林恢复力指标的生理保真度。

在日益加剧的气候压力下，迫切需要可靠的恢复力指标来监测全球森林健康。卫星植被指数的Lag-1时间自相关（TAC）捕获森林恢复速度，被广泛用作恢复力度量，但其机制基础和方法可靠性受到质疑。在这里，我们使用陆地卫星观测和亚马逊地区的野外数据来研究卫星衍生的TAC如何与水力安全边际（HSM）的原位测量相关联，HSM是植物适应干旱条件能力的一个关键生理特征。研究发现，森林恢复速度与恢复力指标（1-TAC）之间存在显著的直接相关（R2达0.57,P = 0.0116），表明森林恢复速度受抗旱性的制约。一个结合HSM和累积水分亏缺的模型解释了高达83%的恢复力差异，表明水力策略和当地气候是森林恢复力的共同主轴。重要的是，我们表明这种关系取决于所选择的植被指数、卫星观测的时间频率和滚动窗口大小。综上所述，我们的研究结果建立了TAC作为森林恢复力度量的生理保真度，并提供了方法指导。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Nature ecology & evolution Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

CiteScore

22.20

自引率

2.40%

发文量

282

期刊介绍： Nature Ecology & Evolution is interested in the full spectrum of ecological and evolutionary biology, encompassing approaches at the molecular, organismal, population, community and ecosystem levels, as well as relevant parts of the social sciences. Nature Ecology & Evolution provides a place where all researchers and policymakers interested in all aspects of life's diversity can come together to learn about the most accomplished and significant advances in the field and to discuss topical issues. An online-only monthly journal, our broad scope ensures that the research published reaches the widest possible audience of scientists.