Introducing digital cameras to monitor plant phenology in the tropics: applications for conservation

Abstract

The application of digital cameras to monitor the environment is becoming global and changing the way of phenological data collection. The technique of repeated digital photographs to monitor plant phenology (phenocams) has increased due to its low-cost investment, reduced size, easy set up installation, and the possibility of handling high-resolution near-remote data. Considering the widespread use of phenocams worldwide, our main goals here are: (i) to provide a step-by-step guide for phenocam setup in the tropics, reinforce its appliance as an efficient tool for monitoring tropical phenology and foster networking, (ii) to discuss phenocam applications for biological conservation, management, and ecological restoration. We provide the concepts and properties for image analysis which allow representing the phenological status of the vegetation. The association of a long-term imagery data with local sensors (e.g., meteorological stations and surface-atmosphere flux towers) allows a wide range of studies, especially linking phenological patterns to climatic drivers