Publications

Estimating Whole-Tree Sap Flow in Buttressed and Irregular Trunks (PDF)

M.W. Burnett, R. Ruggeri, K.K. Caylor, H.S. Young, L.D.L. Anderegg (2026).

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 388, 111357. doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111357

Examines the common assumption of sap flow models that tree trunks are circular, finding that sap flow estimates can become biased by over 50% when modeling trees with irregular trunk shapes. Two correction methods with minimal data requirements are presented alongside an R package, sapscaleR, that applies them to sap flux density data.

Satellite imagery reveals widespread coconut plantations on Pacific atolls (PDF)

M.W. Burnett, R. French, B. Jones, A. Fischer, A. Holland, I. Roybal, T. White, S. Steibl, L.D.L. Anderegg, H. Young, N.D. Holmes, A. Wegmann, (2024).

Environmental Research Letters. 19(12), 124095. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad8c66

Featured on: Hawaii Public Radio, Earth.com, ABC Pacific Beat, Pacific Media Network, and more

Maps coconut palms on nearly every Pacific atoll, finding that their canopy area surpasses that of native broadleaf trees and is 32 percentage points greater on atolls with a history of coconut oil production.

Microclimatic Effects of Kō (Sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum) Row Planting in the Leeward Kohala Field System, Hawaii Island (PDF)

M.W. Burnett, D. Coleman, G. Saiz, K. Bacasen, M. Luccioni, K. Marshall, and P.M. Vitousek (2024).

Pacific Science. 77(2-3), 163-175. doi: 10.2984/77.2.3

Featured on: BioOne Vista

Examines the effects of sugarcane row cropping on microclimatic conditions and sweet potato yields in the ancient Leeward Kohala Field System.

Foliar ẟ15N patterns in legumes and non-N fixers across a climate gradient, Hawaiʻi Island, USA (PDF)

M.W. Burnett, A.E. Bobbett, C.E. Brendel, K. Marshall, C. von Sperber, E.L. Paulus, and P.M. Vitousek (2022).

Oecologia. 198, 229-242. doi: 10.1007/s00442-021-05089-1

Do patterns of biological nitrogen fixation correspond to pedogenic thresholds in rock-derived nutrients? Intensive isotopic sampling along a climate gradient suggests that, despite the mobility of N, its fixation can correspond to established domains of soil fertility.

Global Patterns and Climatic Controls of Forest Structural Complexity (PDF)

M. Ehbrecht, D. Seidel, P. Annighöfer, H. Kraft, M. Köhler, D.C. Zemp, K. Puettmann, R. Nilus, F. Babweteera, K. Willim, M. Stiers, D. Soto, H.-J. Boehmer, N. Fisichelli, M. Burnett, G. Juday, S.L. Stephens, and C. Ammer (2021).

Nature Communications. 12, 519. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20767-z

Illuminates global patterns of forest structural complexity, as derived from terrestrial laser scanning, and finds these patterns to be largely explained by climatic variation.

Data-driven Estimates of Evapotranspiration and its Controls in the Congo Basin (PDF)

M.W. Burnett, G.R. Quetin, and A.G. Konings (2020).

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 24(8), 4189-4211. doi: 10.5194/hess-24-4189-2020

Uses a water balance model to estimate monthly evapotranspiration in the Congo Basin, revealing severe underestimation of variability by leading global ET models.

Quantifying Coconut Palm Extent on Pacific Islands using Spectral and Textural Analysis of Very High Resolution Imagery (PDF)

M.W. Burnett, T.D. White, D.J. McCauley, G.A. De Leo, and F. Micheli, (2019).

International Journal of Remote Sensing. 40(19), 7329-7355. doi: 10.1080/01431161.2019.1594440

Presents a novel classification algorithm for mapping coconut palms from very high resolution multispectral imagery.