ORCID
- Sophie Fauset: 0000-0003-4246-1828
Document Type
Article
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.
DOI Link
Publication Date
2020-11-09
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Volume
11
Issue
1
ISSN
2041-1723
Acceptance Date
2020-09-09
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., 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., 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
