Measurement of Vegetation Structure
Woody Vegetation Structure will measure key aspects of vegetation structure that are directly comparable to airborne LiDAR observations, as well as additional structural metrics that enable estimation of per stem and per plot plant biomass and productivity. These measurements include: stem diameter(s), canopy diameter(s), stem height, stem location (for stems that meet certain criteria), stem species identification, canopy position, and stem status (i.e. healthy, dead, or damaged).   Woody Vegetation Structure data at SRER are collected annually in all Tower Plots (n = 18) and every 3 years in a subset of Distributed Plots (n = 20). Within each plot sampling occurs within two randomly selected subplots (quadrants of the entire plot).  Specific growth forms will be measured at a limited nested subplot size based on the abundance of the specific growth form, but within sixteen total nested subplots.