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Amazonian rainforest tree mortality driven by climate and functional traits

Author

Listed:
  • Izabela Aleixo

    (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
    Wageningen University and Research)

  • Darren Norris

    (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
    Universidade Federal do Amapá
    Universidade Federal do Amapá)

  • Lia Hemerik

    (Wageningen University)

  • Antenor Barbosa

    (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia)

  • Eduardo Prata

    (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia)

  • Flávia Costa

    (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
    Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia)

  • Lourens Poorter

    (Wageningen University and Research)

Abstract

Tree mortality appears to be increasing in moist tropical forests1, with potentially important implications for global carbon and water cycles2. Little is known about the drivers of tree mortality in these diverse forests, partly because long-term data are lacking3. The relative importance of climatic factors and species functional traits as drivers of tropical tree mortality are evaluated using a unique dataset in which the survival of over 1,000 rainforest canopy trees from over 200 species has been monitored monthly over five decades in the Central Amazon. We found that drought, as well as heat, storms and extreme rainy years, increase tree mortality for at least two years after the climatic event. Specific functional groups (pioneers, softwoods and evergreens) had especially high mortality during extreme years. These results suggest that predicted climate change will lead to higher tree mortality rates, especially for short-lived species, which may result in faster carbon sequestration but lower carbon storage of tropical forests.

Suggested Citation

  • Izabela Aleixo & Darren Norris & Lia Hemerik & Antenor Barbosa & Eduardo Prata & Flávia Costa & Lourens Poorter, 2019. "Amazonian rainforest tree mortality driven by climate and functional traits," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 9(5), pages 384-388, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:9:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1038_s41558-019-0458-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0458-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Matheus Henrique Nunes & José Luís Campana Camargo & Grégoire Vincent & Kim Calders & Rafael S. Oliveira & Alfredo Huete & Yhasmin Mendes de Moura & Bruce Nelson & Marielle N. Smith & Scott C. Stark &, 2022. "Forest fragmentation impacts the seasonality of Amazonian evergreen canopies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. David B Clark & Antonio Ferraz & Deborah A Clark & James R Kellner & Susan G Letcher & Sassan Saatchi, 2019. "Diversity, distribution and dynamics of large trees across an old-growth lowland tropical rain forest landscape," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Antoine Leblois, 2021. "Mitigating the impact of bad rainy seasons in poor agricultural regions to tackle deforestation," Post-Print hal-03111007, HAL.
    4. Yanlei Feng & Robinson I. Negrón-Juárez & David M. Romps & Jeffrey Q. Chambers, 2023. "Amazon windthrow disturbances are likely to increase with storm frequency under global warming," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.

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