# Characterizing the structural complexity of the Earth’s forests with spaceborne lidar

*PRI Rank #5 · Topics and Trends in Most Cited Forest ecology and management Papers, Class of 2026*

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/forest-ecology-and-management/2026/rank-5*

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Rank | #5 |
| 18m citations | 69 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Year | 2024 |
| DOI | 10.1038/s41467-024-52468-2 |
| Corresponding authors | Ralph Dubayah |
| Institution | University of Maryland, United States |

**Ranking page:** [Topics and Trends in Most Cited Forest ecology and management Papers, Class of 2026](https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/forest-ecology-and-management/2026)

**Paper link:** [10.1038/s41467-024-52468-2](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52468-2)

## Topics

forest structural complexity · GEDI spaceborne lidar · forest structural complexity · tropical forests · temperate forests · canopy height · waveform layers · forest structural complexity · near-global mapping · biodiversity · habitat quality · light environments · nutrient cycling · biome-specific variations · Allometric models · canopy attributes · ecosystem functioning

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Forest ecology and management Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/forest-ecology-and-management/2026. Accessed 2026-07-23.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```