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Using drone imagery to upscale estimates of water capacity in tank bromeliads on steep neotropical inselbergs
Author(s) -
Lehmann Jan R. K.,
Prior Milan D.,
Paula Luiza F. A.,
Azevedo Luísa,
Porembski Stefan,
Buttschardt Tillmann K.,
Solar Ricardo
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
austral ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 1442-9985
DOI - 10.1111/aec.13113
Subject(s) - drone , ecology , ecosystem , environmental science , biology , genetics
A substantial fraction of stored freshwater available on neotropical inselbergs is impounded within the rosettes of bromeliads. Their high water retention capacity can potentially have an outcome on the inselberg community as well as on the surrounding environment. However, there are no studies measuring and extrapolating the water retention capacity of bromeliads from single observations to larger spatial scales. Using simple drone‐based imagery, we were able to calculate and upscale the water tank capacity of Alcantarea distractila , a bromeliad genus which is widespread on inselbergs in Southeastern Brazil. Our results provide a firstarge scale quantification of the estimated availability of water tank reservoir of inselbergs, which highlights the potential provisional ecosystem service delivered by bromeliad species.