Our lab’s research addresses questions about the causes and consequences of disturbance and extreme events in tropical forest landscapes. Climate and land-use change are already altering the frequency and intensity of disturbance and climate extremes. Can we predict which forests will be most vulnerable to these events? What are the processes that underlie spatial heterogeneity in forest responses to disturbance and climate extremes? How do these events shape forest landscapes? To address these themes, we use a variety of tools including remote sensing and GIS, forest censuses, plant functional trait measurements, and socio-economic surveys.

2024

Pletcher, E. Smith-Tripp, S. Evans, D. and N. B. Schwartz. 2024. Evaluating global vegetation products for application in heterogeneous forest-savanna landscapes. International Journal of Remote Sensing 45 (2): 492-507. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2023.2299278

2023

Smith, C.C. Barlow, J. Healey, J.R. de Sousa Miranda, L. Young, P.J. and N.B. Schwartz. 2023. Amazonian secondary forests are greatly reducing fragmentation and edge exposure in old-growth forests. Environmental Research Letters 18 (12). doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad039e

Dwiputra, A. Coops, N. C. and N. B. Schwartz. 2023. GEDI waveform metrics in vegetation mapping – A case study from a heterogeneous tropical forest landscape. Environmental Research Letters 18 (1). doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/acad8d

2022

Vargas G., G. Kunert, N. Hammond, W. M. Berry, Z. C. Werden, L. K. Smith–Martin, C. M. Wolfe, B. T. Toro, L. Mondragon–Botero, A. Pinto–Ledezma, J. N. Schwartz, N. B. Uriarte, M. Sack, L. Anderson–Teixeira, K. J. and J. S. Powers. 2022. Leaf habit affects the distribution of drought sensitivity but not water transport efficiency in the tropics. Ecology Letters 25: 2637–2650.

Queinnec, M. Coops, N. C. White, J. C. Griess, V. C. Schwartz, N. B. and G. McCartney. 2022. Mapping Dominant Boreal Tree Species Groups by Combining Area–Based and Individual Tree Crown LiDAR Metrics with Sentinel–2 Data. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 49 (1). doi: 10.1080/07038992.2022.2130742

Hansen, W. D. Schwartz, N. B. Williams, A. P. Albrich, K. Kueppers, L. M.Rammig, A. Reyer, C. P. O. Staver, A. C. and R. Seidl. 2022. Global forests are influenced by the legacies of past inter–annual temperature variability. Environmental Research: Ecology 1 (1). doi: 10.1088/2752-664X/ac6e4a

Smith–Tripp, S. M. Eskelson, B. N. I. Coops, N. C. and N. B. Schwartz. 2022. Canopy height impacts on the growing season and monthly microclimate in a burned forest of British Columbia, Canada. Agriculture and Forest Meteorology 323. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109067

Jakovac, C.C. + many others including N.B. Schwartz. 2022. Strong floristic distinctiveness across Neotropical successional forests. Science Advances 8 (26).  doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn1767

Pletcher, E. Staver, A. C. and N.B. Schwartz. 2022. The environmental drivers of tree cover and forest–savanna mosaics in Southeast Asia. Ecography 2022 (8). doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.06280

Schwartz, N.B. Medvigy, D. Tijerin, J. Perez-Aviles, D. Rivera-Polanco, D. Pereira, D. Vargas G., G. Werden, L. Arnold, L. Powers, J. S. and D. Du. 2022. Intra-annual variation in microclimate conditions in relation to vegetation type and structure in two tropical dry forests undergoing secondary succession. Forest Ecology and Management 511, 120132. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120132

Piffer, P. R. Calaboni, A. Rosa, M. R. Schwartz, N. B. Tambosi, L. R. and M. Uriarte. 2022. Ephemeral forest regeneration limits carbon sequestration potential in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Global Change Biology 28: 630-643. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15944

2021

Vargas G., G. Brodribb, T. J. Dupuy, J. M. Gonzalez-M, R. Hulshof, C. M. Medvigy, D. Allerton, T. A. P. Pizano, C. Salgado-Negret, B. Schwartz, N. B. Van Bloem, S. J. Waring, B. G. and J. S. Powers. 2021. Beyond leaf habit: generalities in plant function across 97 tropical dry forest tree species. New Phytologist 232 (1): 148-161. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17584

Fiorella, K. J. Bageant, E. R. Schwartz, N. B. Thilsted, S. H. and Barrett, C. B. 2021. Fishers’ response to temperature change reveals the importance of integrating human behavior in climate change analysis. Science Advances  7 (18). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abc7425

Waring, B. G. De Guzman, M. E. Du, D. V., Dupuy, J. M. Gei, M. Gutknecht, J. Hulshof, C. Jelinski, N. Margenot, A. J. Medvigy, D. Pizano, C. Salgado-Negret, B. Schwartz, N. B. Trierweiler, A. M. Van Bloem, S. J. Vargas G., G. and J. S. Powers. 2021. Soil biogeochemistry across Central and South American tropical dry forests. Ecological Monographs 91(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1453

2020

Schwartz, N. B. Feng, X. Muscarella, R. Swenson, N. G. Umaña, M. N. Zimmerman, J. K. and M. Uriarte. 2020 Topography and Traits Modulate Tree Performance and Drought Response in a Tropical Forest. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.596256

Schwartz, N. B. Lintner, B. R. Feng, X. and J. S. Powers. 2020. Beyond MAP: A guide to dimensions of rainfall variability for tropical ecology. Biotropica 52(6): 1319-1332. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12830

Huechacona-Ruiz, A. H. Dupuy, J. M. Schwartz, N. B. Powers, J. S. Reyes-Garcia, C. Tun-Dzul, F. and Hernández-Stefanoni, J. L. 2020. Mapping Tree Species Deciduousness of Tropical DryForests Combining Reflectance, Spectral Unmixing, and Texture Data from High-Resolution Imagery. Forests 11(11). doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/f11111234

Schwartz, N. B. Aide, T. M. Graesser, J. Grau, H. R. and M. Uriarte. 2020. Reversals of Reforestation Across Latin America Limit Climate Mitigation Potential of Tropical Forests. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 3, 85. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00085

Powers, J. S. Vargas, G. G. Brodribb, T. J. Schwartz, N. B. Pérez-Aviles, D. Smith-Martin, C. N. Becknell, J. M. Aureli, F. Blanco, R. Calderón-Morales, E. Calvo-Obando, A. J. Chavarría, M. M. Carvajal-Vanegas, D. Jiménez-Rodríguez, C. D. Murillo Chacon, E. Schaffner, C. m. Werden, L. K. Xu, X. and Medvigy, D. 2020. A catastrophic tropical drought kills hydraulically vulnerable tree species. Global Change Biology 26(5): 3122-3133. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15037

2019

Poorter, L. and many others including N. B. Schwartz. 2019. Wet and dry tropical forests show opposite successional pathways in wood density but converge over time. Nature Ecology and Evolution 3(6): 928-934. doi: 10.1038/s41559-019-0882-6

Rozendaal, D. M. A., + 85 others including N. B. Schwartz. 2019. Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests. Science Advances 5(3). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aau3114

Schwartz, N. B., Budsock, A. M. and M. Uriarte. 2019. Fragmentation, forest structure, and topography modulate impacts of drought in a tropical forest landscape. Ecology 100(6). doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2677

Fagan, M. and N. B. Schwartz. 2019. Exploring the Social and Ecological Trade-offs in Tropical Reforestation: A Role-Playing Exercise. Lessons in Conservation 9(1): 38-54. doi: https://ncep.amnh.org/index.php/Detail/objects/1026