Project Grant 2028688

The National Science Foundation awarded a $263,080 Project Grant to Columbia University under the Biological Sciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.074) for the period of March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2023. The grant supports a collaborative research effort titled "A Mechanistic Approach to Assess the Impacts of Hurricanes on Tropical Forests."

Under the award, Columbia University will analyze pre- and post-hurricane lidar data collected over the Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot in Puerto Rico to assess individual tree crown damage as a function of tree characteristics. The University will extract individual tree crowns from lidar point clouds, model tree metrics, and match trees to field observations of properties like wood density. A subaward of $30,000 to the University of California, Los Angeles will support team member Jhon Ferraz to quality check lidar data, calibrate tree crown extraction algorithms, and compare pre- and post-hurricane lidar measurements to estimate crown damage individually. Findings will be integrated with wind models to analyze tree susceptibility under Hurricane Maria conditions. The research aims to further understanding of hurricane impacts on tropical forests.