Y. Malhi

Tree Surface Area Allometry

This study uses terrestrial laser scanning to measure tree surface areas, finding discrepancies between direct measurements and theoretical predictions, suggesting the need to revise allometric models.

Why models underestimate West African tropical forest productivity

The paper investigates why models underestimate West African tropical forest productivity and finds that using local field measurements improves model accuracy.

TLS2trees: a scalable tree segmentation pipeline for TLS data

TLS2trees is an automated pipeline for segmenting trees from TLS data, showing good performance for larger trees across diverse forest types.

Contrasting carbon cycle along tropical forest aridity gradients in W Africa and Amazonia

This study compares carbon cycle metrics across tropical forests in West Africa and Amazonia, finding higher productivity and lower efficiency in West African forests.

Major axes of variation in tree demography across global forests

This study identifies key sources of variation in tree demography across global forests using a variance partitioning framework, finding species differences as a major driver of demographic variance.

Photosynthetic and water transport strategies of plants along a tropical forest aridity gradient: a test of optimality theory

The paper tests optimality theory predictions on plant photosynthetic and water transport traits along an aridity gradient in Ghana, finding support for photosynthetic trends but inconsistency in hydraulic traits.

Logging alters tropical forest structure, while conversion to agriculture reduces biodiversity and functioning

The paper analyzes the impacts of logging and conversion to oil palm on tropical forest structure, biodiversity, and functioning in Borneo, finding that logging affects structure more than biodiversity, while conversion has greater impacts on biodiversity and functioning.

Tropical tree growth sensitivity to climate is driven by species intrinsic growth rate and leaf traits

This study shows that tropical tree growth is influenced by both long-term climate averages and short-term anomalies, with species traits mediating these responses.

Does insect herbivory suppress ecosystem productivity? Evidence from a temperate woodland

This study quantifies the impact of insect herbivory on ecosystem productivity in a temperate woodland, finding that herbivory reduces net primary productivity by 54-69% when physiological changes in leaves are considered.

The evolutionary assembly of forest communities along environmental gradients: recent diversification or sorting of pre-adapted clades?

The paper investigates how environmental gradients shape community assembly through immigration and sorting of pre-adapted clades versus recent diversification, finding clade sorting dominates species turnover along elevational gradients.

Automated and accurate segmentation of leaf venation networks via deep learning

The paper develops deep learning algorithms to segment leaf vein networks and quantifies multi-scale architecture, revealing previously-undescribed variation across species.

Modification of forests by people means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity

The paper quantifies global forest modification, finding 40.5% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity, mostly in specific regions, and highlights the need for policies to protect these areas.

THE INFLUENCE OF ECOSYSTEM AND PHYLOGENY ON TROPICAL TREE CROWN SIZE AND SHAPE

This study examines how ecosystem and phylogeny influence tropical tree crown size and shape, finding that while Metabolic Scaling Theory explains part of the variation, local and phylogenetic factors also play significant roles.