Ecosystem ecology, tropical forests, global change, remote sensing, plant ecophysiology

I am a broadly trained ecosystem ecologist, driven to understand the fate of forests in the face of global change. Over the last decade, my work has focused on tropical forests particularly in the Brazilian Amazon. The forests of the Amazon basin constitute the world’s largest intact tropical rainforest and are critical to global climate function and biodiversity, as well as providing many other ecosystem services. But the future of these forests, and the carbon and they contain, is highly uncertain. My work aims to resolve key uncertainties associated with the responses of tropical forest structure and function to climate and land-use change. I use a variety of approaches, from remote sensing to field observations, within the context of large, international collaborations.

Thoday Building, room G19

Email: marielle.smith@bangor.ac.uk

Google Scholar

Twitter: @marielle_smith1

2024

• E-pub ahead of printAmazon forest biogeography predicts resilience and vulnerability to drought
  Chen, S., Stark, S. C., Nobre, A. D., Cuartas, L. A., Amore, D. D. J., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Smith, M., Chitra-Tarak, R., Ko, H., Nelson, B. & Saleska, S. R., 19 Jun 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Nature.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedDifferent model assumptions about plant hydraulics and photosynthetic temperature acclimation yield diverging implications for tropical forest gross primary production under warming
  Zarakas, C., Swann, A. L. S., Koven, C., Smith, M. & Taylor, T., 20 Sept 2024, In: Global Change Biology. 30, 9, e17449.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedRevealing forest structural "fingerprints": An integration of LiDAR and deep learning uncovers topographical influences on Central Amazon forests
  Goncalves, N., Rosa, D. M., do Valle, D. F., Smith, M., Dalagnol, R., Almeida, D. R. A., Nelson, B. & Stark, S. C., 31 Jul 2024, In: Ecological Informatics. 102628.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedVegetation growth responses to climate change: a cross-scale analysis of biological memory and time-lags using tree ring and satellite data
  Tang, W., Liu, S., Jing, M., Healey, J., Smith, M., Farooq, T. H., Zhu, L., Zhao, S. & Wu, Y., Jul 2024, In: Global Change Biology. 30, 7, e17441.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2023

• PublishedDiverse anthropogenic disturbances shift Amazon forests along a structural spectrum
  Smith, M., Stark, S. C., Taylor, T. C., Schietti, J., Almeida, D. R. A., Aragon, S., Torralvo, K., Lima, A., de Oliveira, G., de Assis, R. L., Leitold, V., Pontes-Lopes, A., Scoles, R., de Sousa Vieira, L. C., Resende, A. F., Coppola, A. I., Brandao, D. O., Junior, J. D. A. S., Lobato, L. F. & Freitas, W. & 32 others, Almeida, D., Souza, M. S., Minor, D. M., Villegas, J. C., Law, D. J., Goncalves, N., da Rocha, D. G., Guedes, M. C., Tonini, H., da Silva, K. E., van Haren, J., Rosa, D. M., do Valle, D. F., Cordeiro, C. L., de Lima, N. Z., Shao, G., Menor, I. O., Conti, G., Florentino, A. P., Montti, L., Aragao, L. E. O. C., McMahon, S. M., Parker, G. G., Breshears, D. D., Da Costa, A. C. L., Magnusson, W. E., Mesquita, R., Camargo, J. L. C., de Oliveira, R. C., de Camargo, P. B., Saleska, S. R. & Nelson, B. W., 1 Feb 2023, In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 21, 1, p. 24-32 9 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe other side of tropical forest drought: do shallow water table regions of Amazonia act as large-scale hydrological refugia from drought?
  Costa, F. R. C., Schietti, J., Stark, S. C. & Smith, M., Feb 2023, In: New Phytologist. 237, 3, p. 714-733
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThermal sensitivity across forest vertical profiles: patterns, mechanisms, and ecological implications
  Vinod, N., Slot, M., McGregor, I., Ordway, E., Smith, M., Taylor, T. C., Sack, L., Buckley, T. & Anderson-Teixeira, K., 1 Jan 2023, In: New Phytologist. 237, 1, p. 22-47
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

2022

• PublishedForest fragmentation impacts the seasonality of Amazonian evergreen canopies
  Nunes, M. H., Camargo, J. L. C., Vincent, G., Calders, K., Oliveira, R. S., Huete, A., de Moura, Y. M., Nelson, B., Smith, M., Stark, S. C. & Maeda, E. E., 17 Feb 2022, In: Nature Communications. 13, 1, 917.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

• PublishedEmpirical evidence for resilience of tropical forest photosynthesis in a warmer world
  Smith, M., Taylor, T. C., van Haren, J., Rosolem, R., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Adams, J., Wu, J., de Oliveira, R. C., da Silva, R., de Araujo, A. C., de Camargo, P. B., Huxman, T. E. & Saleska, S. R., Oct 2020, In: Nature Plants. 6, 10, p. 1225–1230
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedReframing tropical savannization: linking changes in canopy structure to energy balance alterations that impact climate
  Stark, S. C., Breshears, D. D., Aragon, S., Villegas, J. C., Law, D. J., Smith, M., Minor, D. M., de Assis, R. L., de Almeida, D. R. A., de Oliveira, G., Saleska, S., Swann, A. L. S., Moura, J. M. S., Camargo, J. L., da Silva, R., Aragao, L. E. O. C. & Oliveira, R. C., 30 Sept 2020, In: Ecosphere. 11, 9, e03231.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedCryptic phenology in plants: Case studies, implications, and recommendations
  Albert, L. P., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Smith, M., Wu, J., Chavana-Bryant, C., Martins, G. A., Ciais, P., Mao, J., Arain, M. A., Li, W., Shi, X., Ricciuto, D. M., Huxman, T. E., McMahon, S. M. & Saleska, S. R., 1 Nov 2019, In: Global Change Biology. 25, 11, p. 3591-3608
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedSeasonal and drought-related changes in leaf area profiles depend on height and light environment in an Amazon forest
  Smith, M., Stark, S. C., Taylor, T. C., Ferreira, M. L., de Oliveira, E., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Chen, S., Woodcock, T., Dos Santos, D. B., Alves, L. F., Figueira, M., Camargo, P. B. D., de Oliveira, R. C., Aragao, L. E. O. C., Falk, D. A., McMahon, S. M., Huxman, T. E. & Saleska, S. R., 1 May 2019, In: New Phytologist. 222, 3, p. 1284-1297
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe capacity to emit isoprene differentiates the photosynthetic temperature responses of tropical plant species
  Taylor, T. C., Smith, M., Slot, M. & Feeley, K. J., 1 Aug 2019, In: Plant Cell and Environment. 42, 8, p. 2448-2457
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedTowards high throughput assessment of canopy dynamics: The estimation of leaf area structure in Amazonian forests with multitemporal multi-sensor airborne lidar
  Shao, G., Stark, S. C., de Almeida, D. R. A. & Smith, M., 1 Feb 2019, In: Remote Sensing of Environment. 221, p. 1-13
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• PublishedAge-dependent leaf physiology and consequences forcrown-scale carbon uptake during the dry season in an Amazonevergreen forest
  Albert, L. P., Wu, J., Prohaska, N., de Camargo, P. B., Huxman, T. E., Tribuzy, E. S., Ivanov, V. Y., Oliveira, R. S., Garcia, S., Smith, M., Junior, R. C. O., Restrepo-Coupe, N., da Silva, R., Stark, S. C., Martins, G. A., Penha, D. V. & Saleska, S. R., 1 Aug 2018, In: New Phytologist. 219, 3, p. 870-884
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedCarbon exchange in an Amazon forest: from hours to years
  Hayek, M. N., Longo, M., Wu, J., Smith, M., Restrepo-Coupe, N., Tapajos, R., da Silva, R., Fitzjarrald, D. R., Camargo, P. B., Hutyra, L. R., Alves, L. F., Daube, B., Munger, J. W., Wiedemann, K. T. & Saleska, S. R., 15 Aug 2018, In: Biogeosciences. 15, 15, p. 4833–4848
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedIsoprene emission structures tropical tree biogeography and community assembly responses to climate
  Taylor, T. C., McMahon, S. M., Smith, M., Boyle, B., Violle, C., van Haren, J., Simova, I., Meir, P., Ferreira, L. V., de Camargo, P. B., da Costa, A. C. L., Enquist, B. J. & Saleska, S. R., 1 Oct 2018, In: New Phytologist. 220, 2, p. 435-446
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2014

• PublishedRevisiting Darwin's hypothesis: Does greater intraspecific variability increase species’ ecological breadth?
  Sides, C. B., Enquist, B. J., Ebersole, J. J., Smith, M., Henderson, A. N. & Sloat, L. L., 30 Jan 2014, In: American Journal of Botany. 101, 1, p. 56-62
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Toward a unified theory of tropical forest structural and functional responses to natural and anthropogenic disturbance

  01/07/2023 – 30/06/2026 (Active)

• Mapping forest carbon stocks using polarimetric SAR images in complex mountainous forest regions

  01/04/2023 – 30/04/2026 (Active)