Monitoring seasonally dry tropical vegetations using phenocameras

• Grant number: 24/08348-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Grantee: Natumanya Ezrah
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10639-5 - Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change, AP.CEPID

Abstract

This postdoctoral research is proposed to contribute knowledge to the subject of monitoring seasonally dry tropical vegetation using phenocameras under the PhenoChange project. PhenoChange is an initiative being run under the Phenology Lab at the Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change in Department of Biodiversity, Biosciences Institute at São Paulo State University (UNESP). This proposed postdoctoral research study project aims at monitoring phenology in addition to comparative analysis of data provided by the Brazilian phenocam network for seasonally dry tropical vegetation to determine the drivers of leaf production across the dry tropics and responses to climate changes and extreme events. PhenoChange initiative already has a standardized monitoring network for the phenological dynamics data collection in Brazillian and Africa tropical seasonally dry vegetation. The proposed postdoctoral research will in addition to collected data, use comparative analysis of data provided by the PhenoChange phenocamera network to determine the changes and drivers of leaf production in relation to seasonality for selected sites and plant species in seasonally dry tropical vegetation in Brazil. This study is planned to fill a knowledge gap to understand tropical phenology and its shifts under climate change, because the majority of tested models using land surface phenology or remote sensing information of vegetation land cover but ground-based studies focused on phenology monitoring at fine scale are still not enough especially in the dry tropical forests. This is key information on phenology patterns, drivers and shifts facing climate change scenarios. The research is proposed over a period of 24 months with major target outputs of published scientific papers and sharing databases with relevant stakeholders.