Home > Research > Researchers > Fernando Espirito-Santo
Profile photo

Fernando Espirito-Santo

SUMMARY of research interests (100 words)

My primary research focus is to understand tropical forest structure and function over the Amazon region.  I have been examining tropical forest disturbances from natural (tree mortality, blow-downs, and droughts) to anthropogenic processes (deforestation, selective logging and fires) using remote sensing technologies, ecological models and long-term ecological experiments.  Over the past years I have been working with NASA, JPL and the Brazilian Space Agency (INPE) and using their remote sensing data (airborne LiDAR, Radar and Optical multi-satellite sensors) to understand forest response to multiple environmental stressors as well land-use processes.  More recently I have been collaborating with the RAINFOR Network (University of Leeds and Oxford), EMBRAPA (Campinas, Brazil) and INPA (Manaus, Brazil) to quantify terrestrial carbon budget for South America undisturbed tropical forests. 

Employment

Lancaster Intelligent, Robotic and Autonomous Systems Centre

Lancaster University

29/01/201814/07/2018

Geospatial Data Science

Lancaster University

1/01/201614/07/2018

Academic

Geospatial Data Science

Lancaster University

1/04/201514/07/2018

Lecturer

Academic

Lancaster Environment Centre

Lancaster University

Lancaster, United Kingdom

1/04/201514/07/2018

Post-Doc in Earth Observation, Ecology and Modeling

California Institute of Technology, JPL

Pasadena, CA 91125, United States

1/03/20121/03/2015

PhD in Earth and Environmental Science

University of New Hampshire Durham

Durham, New Hampshire, United States

1/08/20051/12/2011

Research Assistent

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE

Brazil

1/04/20031/07/2005

MS in Remote Sensing

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE

Brazil

1/03/20011/03/2003

BS in Forest Engineer

Univ Fed Lavras, Universidade Federal de Lavras

Brazil

1/08/19951/08/2000

Research output

Old-growth forest loss and secondary forest recovery across Amazonian countries

Smith, C. C., Healey, J. R., De Berenguer Cesar, E., Young, P., Taylor, B., Elias, F., Espirito-Santo, F. & Barlow, J., 4/08/2021, In: Environmental Research Letters. 16, 8, 14 p., 085009.

Estimating the multi-decadal carbon deficit of burned Amazonian forests

Silva, C., Aragão, L., Young, P., Espirito-Santo, F., De Berenguer Cesar, E., Anderson, L. O., Brasil, I., Pontes-Lopes, A., Ferreira, J., Withey, K., Machado Franca, F., Graça, P. M. L. A., Kirsten, L., Xaud, H. A. M., Salimon, C., Scaranello, M. A., Castro, B., Seixas, M., Farias, R. & Barlow, J., 21/10/2020, In: Environmental Research Letters. 15, 11, 10 p., 114023.

Drought-induced Amazonian wildfires instigate a decadal-scale disruption of forest carbon dynamics

Silva, C. V. J., Aragao, L. E. O. C., Barlow, J., Espirito-Santo, F., Young, P. J., Anderson, L. O., Berenguer, E., Brasil, I., Foster Brown, I., Castro, B., Farias, R., Ferreira, J., Franca, F., Graca, P. M. L. A., Kirsten, L., Lopes, A. P., Salimon, C., Scaranello, M. A., Seixas, M. & Souza, F. C. & 1 others, Xaud, H. A. M., 19/11/2018, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 373, 1760, 12 p., 20180043.

Quantifying immediate carbon emissions from El Nino-mediated wildfires in humid tropical forests

Withey, K., Berenguer, E., Palmeira, A. F., Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Lennox, G. D., Silva, C. V. J., Aragao, L. E. O. C., Ferreira, J., Franca, F., Malhi, Y., Rossi, L. C. & Barlow, J., 19/11/2018, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 373, 1760, 11 p., 20170312.

Quantifying immediate carbon emissions from El Niño-mediated wildfires in humid tropical forests

Withey, K., De Berenguer Cesar, E., Palmeira, A. F., Espirito-Santo, F., Lennox, G., Silva, C., Aragao, L. E. O. C., Ferreira, J., Machado Franca, F., Malhi, Y., Rossi, L. C. & Barlow, J., 19/11/2018, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 373, 1760

Drivers and mechanisms of tree mortality in moist tropical forests

McDowell, N., Allen, C. D. & Espirito-Santo, F., 08/2018, In: New Phytologist. 219, 3, p. 851-869 19 p.

Seasonality of vegetation types of South America depicted by moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) time series

Adami, M., Bernardes, S., Arai, E., Freitas, R. M., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Espírito-Santo, F. D. B., Rudorff, B. F. T. & Anderson, L. O., 07/2018, In: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 69, p. 148-163 16 p.

Drivers of metacommunity structure diverge for common and rare Amazonian tree species

da Conceição Bispo, P., Balzter, H., Malhi, Y., Ferry Silk, J. W., Santos, J. R. D., Renno, C. D., Espirito-Santo, F., Aragão, L., Ximenes, A. C. & da Conceição Bispo, P., 20/11/2017, In: PLoS ONE. 12, 11, 16 p., e0188300.

Seeing the forest beyond the trees

Saatchi, S., Mascaro, J., Xu, L., Keller, M., Yang, Y., Duffy, P., Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Baccini, A., Chambers, J. & Schimel, D., 05/2015, In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. 24, 5, p. 606-610 5 p.

Corrigendum: Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance (vol 5, 3434, 2014)

Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Gloor, M., Keller, M., Malhi, Y., Saatchi, S., Nelson, B., Oliveira Junior, R. C., Pereira, C., Lloyd, J., Frolking, S., Palace, M., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Duarte, V., Mendoza, A. M., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Baker, T. R., Feldpausch, T. R., Brienen, R. J. W., Asner, G. P. & Boyd, D. S. & 1 others, Phillips, O. L., 2/04/2015, In: Nature Communications. 6, 1 p., 6638.

Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance

Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Gloor, M., Keller, M., Malhi, Y., Saatchi, S., Nelson, B., Oliveira Junior, R. C., Pereira, C., Lloyd, J., Frolking, S., Palace, M., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Duarte, V., Mendoza, A. M., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Baker, T. R., Feldpausch, T. R., Brienen, R. J. W., Asner, G. P. & Boyd, D. S. & 1 others, Phillips, O. L., 18/03/2014, In: Nature Communications. 5, 6 p., 3434.

Gap formation and carbon cycling in the Brazilian Amazon: measurement using high-resolution optical remote sensing and studies in large forest plots

Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Keller, M. M., Linder, E., Oliveira Junior, R. C., Pereira, C. & Oliveira, C. G., 2014, In: Plant Ecology and Diversity. 7, 1-2, p. 305-318 14 p.

Regional ecosystem structure and function: ecological insights from remote sensing of tropical forests

Chambers, J. Q., Asner, G. P., Morton, D. C., Anderson, L. O., Saatch, S. S., Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Palace, M. & Souza, C., 08/2007, In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 22, 8, p. 414-423 10 p.

Cropland expansion changes deforestation dynamics in the southern Brazilian Amazon

Morton, D. C., DeFries, R. S., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Anderson, L. O., Arai, E., Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Freitas, R. & Morisette, J., 26/09/2006, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103, 39, p. 14637-14641 5 p.

Correction to Spatial validation of the collection 4 MODIS LAI product in Eastern Amazonia

Aragao, L. E. O. C., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Espirito-Santo, F. D. B. & Williams, M., 12/2005, In: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 43, 12, p. 2973-2973 1 p.

Estimates of forest canopy height and aboveground biomass using ICESat

Lefsky, M. A., Harding, D. J., Keller, M., Cohen, W. B., Carabajal, C. C., Espirito-Santo, F. D. B., Hunter, M. O. & de Oliveira, R., 1/11/2005, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 32, 22, 4 p., L22S02.

Landscape pattern and spatial variability of leaf area index in Eastern Amazonia

Aragão, L. E. O. C., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Espirito-Santo, F. D. B. & Williams, M., 20/06/2005, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 211, 3, p. 240-256 17 p.

Rapid assessment of annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon using MODIS data

Morton, D. C., Defries, R. S., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Anderson, L. O., Espírito-Santo, F. D. B., Hansen, M. & Carroll, M., 06/2005, In: Earth Interactions. 9, 8, p. 1-22 22 p.

Mapping forest successional stages following deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia using multi-temporal Landsat images

Espirito-Santo, F., Shimabukuro, Y. E. & Kuplich, T. M., 10/02/2005, In: International Journal of Remote Sensing. 26, 3, p. 635-642 8 p.

Analysis of the floristic and phytosociologic composition of Tapajós National Forest with geographic support of satellite images.

Espírito-Santo, F. D. B., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Aragão, L. E. O. E. C. D. & Machado, E. L. M., 2005, In: Acta Amazonica. 35, 2, p. 167-185 (in Portuguese)

Geographic database as a support tool for mapping and monitoring the Tapajós National Forest region (PA)

Espírito-Santo, F. D. B., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Santos, J. R. & Kuplich, T. M., 2005, In: Geografia. 30, 1, p. 159-176 (in Portuguese) 18 p.

Geo-spatial data integration for mapping landscape units in the Tapajós region

Aragão, L. E. O. C., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Espírito-Santo, F. D. B. & Williams, M., 2005, In: Geografia. 30, 3, p. 583-598 6 p.

Validation of tropical forest area mapping using aerial videography images and data from field work survey

Espírito-Santo, F. D. B. & Shimabukuro, Y. E., 2005, In: Revista Árvore. 29, 2, p. 227-239 13 p.

Técnicas de processamento de imagens e de análise espacial para estudo de áreas florestais sob a exploração madeireira

Espírito-Santo, F. D. B., Santos, J. R. D. & Silva, P. G. D., 2004, In: Revista Árvore. 28, 5, p. 699-706 8 p.

Análise das variações florísticas e estruturais da comunidade arbórea de um fragmento de floresta semidecídua às margens do rio Capivari, Lavras-MG.

Souza, J. S., Espírito-Santo, F. D. B., Fontes, M. A. L., Oliveira-Filho, A. T. & Botezelli, L., 2003, In: Revista Árvore. 27, 2, p. 185-206 22 p.

Variáveis ambientais e a distribuição de espécies arbóreas em um remanescente de floresta estacional semidecídua montana no campus da Universidade Federal de Lavras, MG

Espírito-Santo, F. D. B., Oliveira-Fillho, A. T. D., Machado, E. L. M., Souza, J. S., Fontes, M. A. L. & Melo Marques, J. J. G. D. S., 07/2002, In: Acta Botânica Brasílica. 16, 3, p. 331-356 26 p.