Abstract
Tree growth and longevity trade-offs fundamentally shape the terrestrial carbon balance. Yet, we lack a unified understanding of how such trade-offs vary across the world's forests. By mapping life history traits for a wide range of species across the Americas, we reveal considerable variation in life expectancies from 10 centimeters in diameter (ranging from 1.3 to 3195 years) and show that the pace of life for trees can be accurately classified into four demographic functional types. We found emergent patterns in the strength of trade-offs between growth and longevity across a temperature gradient. Furthermore, we show that the diversity of life history traits varies predictably across forest biomes, giving rise to a positive relationship between trait diversity and productivity. Our pan-latitudinal assessment provides new insights into the demographic mechanisms that govern the carbon turnover rate across forest biomes.
DOI
10.1126/science.adk9616
Publication Date
2024-10-04
Publication Title
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Volume
386
Issue
6717
ISSN
0036-8075
First Page
92
Last Page
98
Recommended Citation
Bialic-Murphy, L., McElderry, R., Esquivel-Muelbert, A., van den Hoogen, J., Zuidema, P., Phillips, O., de Oliveira, E., Loayza, P., Alvarez-Davila, E., Alves, L., Maia, V., Vieira, S., Arantes da Silva, L., Araujo-Murakami, A., Arets, E., Astigarraga, J., Baccaro, F., Baker, T., Banki, O., Barroso, J., Blanc, L., Bonal, D., Bongers, F., Bordin, K., Brienen, R., de Medeiros, M., Camargo, J., Araújo, F., Castilho, C., & Castro, W. (2024) 'The pace of life for forest trees', Science (New York, N.Y.), 386(6717), pp. 92-98. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk9616
