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Death from drought in tropical forests is triggered by hydraulics not carbon starvation

Author

Listed:
  • L. Rowland

    (School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh)

  • A. C. L. da Costa

    (Centro de Geosciências, Universidade Federal do Pará)

  • D. R. Galbraith

    (School of Geography, University of Leeds)

  • R. S. Oliveira

    (Instituto de Biologia, UNICAMP)

  • O. J. Binks

    (School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh)

  • A. A. R. Oliveira

    (Centro de Geosciências, Universidade Federal do Pará)

  • A. M. Pullen

    (The University of Cambridge)

  • C. E. Doughty

    (Environmental Change Institute, The University of Oxford)

  • D. B. Metcalfe

    (Lund University)

  • S. S. Vasconcelos

    (EMBRAPA Amazônia Oriental)

  • L. V. Ferreira

    (Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi)

  • Y. Malhi

    (Environmental Change Institute, The University of Oxford)

  • J. Grace

    (School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh)

  • M. Mencuccini

    (School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
    ICREA at CREAF)

  • P. Meir

    (School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
    Research School of Biology, Australian National University)

Abstract

It has been suggested that carbon starvation, owing to reduced availability of non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs), is an important contributor to tree mortality during drought in tropical rainforests; however, data from the world’s longest-running experimental drought study presented here show no evidence of carbon starvation, and instead the researchers conclude that impaired water hydraulic processes (involving the transport of water from soil to leaf) have a more important role in triggering tree death from long-term drought.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Rowland & A. C. L. da Costa & D. R. Galbraith & R. S. Oliveira & O. J. Binks & A. A. R. Oliveira & A. M. Pullen & C. E. Doughty & D. B. Metcalfe & S. S. Vasconcelos & L. V. Ferreira & Y. Malhi & J., 2015. "Death from drought in tropical forests is triggered by hydraulics not carbon starvation," Nature, Nature, vol. 528(7580), pages 119-122, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:528:y:2015:i:7580:d:10.1038_nature15539
    DOI: 10.1038/nature15539
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    Cited by:

    1. Cho, Nanghyun & Agossou, Casimir & Kim, Eunsook & Lim, Jong-Hwan & Seo, Jeong-Wook & Kang, Sinkyu, 2023. "Machine-learning modeling on tree mortality and growth reduction of temperate forests with climatic and ecophysiological parameters," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 483(C).
    2. de Assis Prado, Carlos Henrique Britto & de Brito Melo Trovão, Dilma Maria, 2023. "The woody crown network model incorporates maximum height," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 481(C).
    3. Rius, Bianca Fazio & Filho, João Paulo Darela & Fleischer, Katrin & Hofhansl, Florian & Blanco, Carolina Casagrande & Rammig, Anja & Domingues, Tomas Ferreira & Lapola, David Montenegro, 2023. "Higher functional diversity improves modeling of Amazon forest carbon storage," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 481(C).
    4. William M. Hammond & A. Park Williams & John T. Abatzoglou & Henry D. Adams & Tamir Klein & Rosana López & Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero & Henrik Hartmann & David D. Breshears & Craig D. Allen, 2022. "Global field observations of tree die-off reveal hotter-drought fingerprint for Earth’s forests," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.

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