About the link between biodiversity and spectral variation

作者：Fabian Ewald Fassnacht, Jana Müllerová, Luisa Conti, Marco Malavasi, Sebastian Schmidtlein · 发表于：Applied Vegetation Science · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1111/avsc.12643 · 被引用次数：110 · 研究领域：Remote Sensing in Agriculture、Species Distribution and Climate Change、Land Use and Ecosystem Services

Abstract Aim The spectral variability hypothesis (SVH) suggests a link between spectral variation and plant biodiversity. The underlying assumptions are that higher spectral variation in canopy reflectance (depending on scale) is caused by either (1) variation in habitats or linked vegetation types or plant communities with their specific optical community traits or (2) variation in the species themselves and their specific optical traits. Methods The SVH was examined in several empirical remote‐sensing case studies, which often report some correlation between spectral variation and biodiversity‐related variables (mostly plant species counts); however, the strength of the observed correlations varies between studies. In contrast, studies focussing on understanding the causal relationship between (plant) species counts and spectral variation remain scarce. Here, we discuss these causal relationships and support our perspectives through simulations and experimental data. Results We reveal that in many situations the spectral variation caused by species or functional traits is subtle in comparison to other factors such as seasonality and physiological status. Moreover, the degree of contrast in reflectance has little to do with the number but rather with the identity of the species or communities involved. Hence, spectral variability should not be expressed based on contrast but rather based on metrics expressing manifoldness. While we describe cases where a certain link between...