TY - DATA ID - doi:10.5061/dryad.t6md2 T1 - Data from: A hyperspectral image can predict tropical tree growth rates in single-species stands AU - Caughlin TT AU - Graves SJ AU - Asner GP AU - van Breugel M AU - Hall JS AU - Martin RE AU - Ashton MS AU - Bohlman SA Y1 - 2016/10/13/ N2 - Remote sensing is increasingly needed to meet the critical demand for estimates of forest structure and composition at landscape to continental scales. Hyperspectral images can detect tree canopy properties, including species identity, leaf chemistry and disease. Tree growth rates are related to these measurable canopy properties but whether growth can be directly predicted from hyperspectral data remains unknown. We used a single hyperspectral image and LiDAR-derived elevation to predict growth rates for twenty tropical tree species planted in experimental plots. We asked whether a consistent relationship between spectral data and growth rates exists across all species and which spectral regions, associated with different canopy chemical and structural properties, are important for predicting growth rates. We found that a linear combination of narrowband indices and elevation is correlated with standardized growth rates across all twenty tree species (R2=53.70%). Although wavelengths from the entire visible-to-shortwave infrared spectrum were involved in our analysis, results point to relatively greater importance of visible and near-infrared regions for relating canopy reflectance to tree growth data. Overall, we demonstrate the potential for hyperspectral data to quantify tree demography over a much larger area than possible with field-based methods in forest inventory plots. KW - field planting trial KW - reforestation KW - plantation KW - tropical tree KW - Albizia adinocephala KW - Albizia guachapele KW - Astronium graveolens KW - Calycophyllum candidissimum KW - Cedrela odorata KW - Colubrina glandulosa KW - Cordia alliodora KW - Diphysia americana KW - Enterolobium cyclocarpum KW - Erythrina fusca KW - Gliricidia sepium KW - Guazuma ulmifolia KW - Luehea seemannii KW - Ochroma pyramidale KW - Pachira quinata KW - Samanea saman KW - Spondias mombin KW - Tabebuia guayacan KW - Tectonia grandis KW - Terminalia amazonia JF - Ecological Applications PB - Dryad Digital Repository UR - https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t6md2 DO - doi:10.5061/dryad.t6md2 ER -