What makes forests resilient? A remote sensing method to detect and monitor forest adaptation to climate change

Tropical forests are celebrated for their biodiversity and crucial role in providing ecosystem services, including climate change

mitigation. Understanding their response to climate change is vital. Plants adapt to changing environments through a complex

interplay of morphological, physiological, biochemical, and regenerative attributes, known as functional traits. Adaptations to a

warmer climate often involve trade-offs between growth rate and resource conservation. This project employs advanced remote

sensing and ground data to monitor forest responses to climate stress. It posits that vegetation responses to environmental changes

occur through shifts in whole functional strategies due to the coordination among traits. These strategies are influenced by various

environmental factors, leading to the emergence of different trait combinations in response to the same environmental conditions.

The project aims to explore the resilience of forests to climate change and to provide a tool for tracking this resilience through functional traits theory and remote sensing. The project involves four work packages. Work Package 1 focuses on project

management and training activities. Work Package 2 aims to characterize key functional strategies and identify environmental drivers.

Work Package 3 aims to recognize functional strategies using spectral data from drones and satellites. Work Package 4 investigates

shifts in functional strategies of tropical forests over the last decades. The research output will include open-access datasets, code,

scientific publications, and dissemination through conferences and science communication channels. By shedding light on how

tropical forests respond to climate change, this project contributes valuable insights for forest conservation and sustainable ecosystem management in a changing world.