ORCID
- Sophie Fauset: 0000-0003-4246-1828
Abstract
AbstractThe carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality. However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term RAINFOR forest plots. While tree mortality rates vary greatly Amazon-wide, on average trees are as likely to die standing as they are broken or uprooted—modes of death with different ecological consequences. Species-level growth rate is the single most important predictor of tree death in Amazonia, with faster-growing species being at higher risk. Within species, however, the slowest-growing trees are at greatest risk while the effect of tree size varies across the basin. In the driest Amazonian region species-level bioclimatic distributional patterns also predict the risk of death, suggesting that these forests are experiencing climatic conditions beyond their adaptative limits. These results provide not only a holistic pan-Amazonian picture of tree death but large-scale evidence for the overarching importance of the growth–survival trade-off in driving tropical tree mortality.
Publication Date
2020-11-09
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Volume
11
Issue
1
ISSN
2041-1723
Embargo Period
2021-10-06
Recommended Citation
Esquivel-Muelbert, A., Phillips, O., Brienen, R., Fauset, S., Sullivan, M., Baker, T., Chao, K., Feldpausch, T., Gloor, E., Higuchi, N., Houwing-Duistermaat, J., Lloyd, J., Liu, H., Malhi, Y., Marimon, B., Monteagudo-Mendoza, A., Poorter, L., Silveira, M., Torre, E., Dávila, E., del, A., Almeida, E., Loayza, P., Andrade, A., Aragão, L., Araujo-Murakami, A., Arets, E., Arroyo, L., Aymard, C., Baisie, M., Baisie, M., Baraloto, C., Camargo, P., Barroso, J., Blanc, L., Bonal, D., Bongers, F., Boot, R., Brown, F., Burban, B., Camargo, J., Castro, W., Moscoso, V., Chave, J., Comiskey, J., Valverde, F., da, C., Cardozo, N., Di, F., Dourdain, A., Erwin, T., Llampazo, G., Vieira, I., Herrera, R., Honorio, C., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I., Jimenez-Rojas, E., Killeen, T., Laurance, S., Laurance, W., Levesley, A., Lewis, S., Ladvocat, K., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Lovejoy, T., Meir, P., Mendoza, C., Morandi, P., Neill, D., Nogueira, L., Vargas, P., de, O., Camacho, N., Pardo, G., Peacock, J., Peña-Claros, M., Peñuela-Mora, M., Pickavance, G., Pipoly, J., Pitman, N., & Pr, N. (2020) 'Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests', Nature Communications, 11(1). Available at: 10.1038/s41467-020-18996-3
