Remote Sensing of Environment xxx (xxxx) xxx Please cite this article as: Écio Souza Diniz, Remote Sensing of Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.112172 0034-4257/© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Phylogenetic signatures in refected foliar spectra of regenerating plants in Neotropical forest gaps ´ Ecio Souza Diniz a, * , Cibele Hummel Amaral a, c , Silas Tadin Sardinha a , Jan Thiele b , Jo˜ ao Augusto Alves Meira-Neto c a Laborat´ orio de Geoprocessamento e Sensoriamento Remoto, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Campus UFV s/n, 36570-000 Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil b Thünen-Institute of Biodiversity, Bundesallee 65, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany c Laborat´ orio de Ecologia e Evoluç˜ ao de Plantas, Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Campus UFV s/n, 36570-000 Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Evolutionary conservation Leaf spectra Trait convergence Forest regeneration Phylogenetic resemblance Field spectroscopy ABSTRACT Spectroscopy can be used to investigate ecosystem functioning and phylogenetic relationships, since it can provide information about the optical properties of a plant – a critical functional trait with regard to light usage. The link between phylogenetic relationships and foliar refectance spectra of Neotropical species has rarely been considered and no previous studies have explored this in relation to forest regeneration following natural gap formation. We investigated phylogenetic signatures, i.e. evolutionary conservation, of foliar spectra in gap- regenerating woody species in conserved Neotropical forests. We collected foliar spectra of 53 regenerating woody species in the forest gaps at two sites of Atlantic Seasonal Semi-deciduous forest, and quantifed the phylogenetic signal for spectral wavelengths using Blomberg’s K, Pagel’s lambda (λ) and LIPA (Local indicator of phylogenetic association) statistics. Analysis of foliar refectance spectra showed that the largest portion of phylogenetic signature from both K and λ occurred within the frst part of the shortwave infrared region (SWIR-1: 1551–1849 nm), followed by the near infrared (NIR: 701–1349 nm), and the lowest portion within the visible region (VIS: 400–700 nm). Most of the signifcant phylogenetic signal found for wavelengths of all spectral re- gions suggested convergent conservation, i.e. homoplasy. The largest portion of positive LIPA (i.e. phylogenetic similarity) was found for wavelengths within the second part of the SWIR (SWIR-2: 2051–2450 nm), while most of the negative LIPA (i.e. phylogenetic distinctiveness) occurred within the VIS. We conclude that there is a tendency towards evolutionary convergence in the phylogenetic signature of foliar spectra in certain parts of the spectrum. The extent of phylogenetic signal found in the SWIR allows us to conclude that this region carries the most potential for future investigations of phylogenetic infuence on spectral community dynamics within Neotropical forests. 1. Introduction The Atlantic Forests are among the most complex, dynamic and diverse ecosystems in the world, comprising around 15,000 vascular plant species, of which approximately 48% are endemic (Stehmann et al., 2009). When such forests are protected from anthropogenic dis- turbances (e.g. loggings and clearings) and not subject to local patho- genic outbreaks and climate change-related die-offs, their ecological succession follows a natural course. Thus, local natural disturbances, such as single tree falls that create gaps in the canopy, might become important drivers of forest dynamics (Chazdon, 2008a; Guariguata and Ostertag, 2001; Letcher, 2009). Since light availability is a highly infuential factor determining plant growth, reproduction and survival in tropical forests, light utilization performs a major role in regeneration responses (Chazdon, 1998; Valladares and Niinemets, 2008). Therefore, gap-regenerating communities typically present a phylogenetic-multi- lineage composition consisting of species of different life forms (Chaz- don, 2014a, 2014b; Fetcher et al., 1994; Letcher, 2010). Further, many phylogenetically distant forest species may share photosynthetic capa- bilities and related traits, which permit them to succeed in establishment * Corresponding author. E-mail address: eciodiniz@gmail.com ( ´ E.S. Diniz). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Remote Sensing of Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rse https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.112172 Received 4 May 2020; Received in revised form 3 September 2020; Accepted 31 October 2020