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Large-scale, rapid reductions in forest and woodland tree cover caused by fire, drought-induced die-off, or wildfire-mitigating thinning prescriptions, all three of which differentially affect canopy structure, are increasingly altering coniferous-dominated landscapes across extensive regions such as western USA. These types of reductions in canopy cover can result in substantial increases in near-ground solar radiation, which in turn drive numerous ecological processes. However, existing relationships for how reductions in canopy cover translate into changes in incoming near-ground solar radiation do not account for the ways in which fire, die-off, and thinning differentially alter either or both the foliar and woody components of canopy architecture and the degree to which such alterations depend on foliar density. We systematically quantified trends in near-ground solar radiation for a broad range of canopy cover for two of the most extensive semiarid coniferous forest and woodland vegetation types in the western USA: those dominated by a combination of pi ˜ |
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