12 documents found, page 1 of 2
Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth’s tropical forests
Sullivan, Martin J. P.; Lewis, Simon L.; Affum-Baffoe, Kofi; Castilho, Carolina; Costa, Flávia; Sanchez, Aida Cuni; Ewango, Corneille E. N.The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate controls on forest carbon. Maximum temperature is the most important p...
Ecosystem heterogeneity determines the ecological resilience of the Amazon to c...
Levine, Naomi Marcil; Zhang, Ke; Longo, Marcos; Baccini, Alessandro; Phillips, Oliver L.; Lewis, Simon L.; Alvarez, EstebanAmazon forests, which store ∼50% of tropical forest carbon and play a vital role in global water, energy, and carbon cycling, are predicted to experience both longer and more intense dry seasons by the end of the 21st century. However, the climate sensitivity of this ecosystem remains uncertain: several studies have predicted large-scale dieback of the Amazon, whereas several more recent studies predict that th...
Do species traits determine patterns of wood production in Amazonian forests?
Baker, Timothy R.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Laurance, William F.; Pitman, Nigel C.A.; Almeida, Samuel Miranda; Arroyo, Luzmila P.; Di Fiore, AnthonyUnderstanding the relationships between plant traits and ecosystem properties at large spatial scales is important for predicting how compositional change will affect carbon cycling in tropical forests. In this study, we examine the relationships between species wood density, maximum height and above-ground, coarse wood production of trees ≥10 cm diameter (CWP) for 60 Amazonian forest plots. Average species max...
Evolutionary heritage influences amazon tree ecology
Souza, Fernanda Coelho de; Dexter, Kyle Graham; Phillips, Oliver L.; Brienen, Roel J.W.; Chave, Jérôme; Galbraith, David R.; Lopez-Gonzalez, GabrielaLineages tend to retain ecological characteristics of their ancestors through time. However, for some traits, selection during evolutionary history may have also played a role in determining trait values. To address the relative importance of these processes requires large-scale quantification of traits and evolutionary relationships among species. The Amazonian tree flora comprises a high diversity of angiospe...
Basin-wide variations in Amazon forest structure and function are mediated by b...
Quesada, Carlos Alberto; Phillips, Oliver L.; Schwarz, Michael; Czimczik, Claudia I.; Baker, Timothy R.; Patiño, Sandra; Fyllas, Nikolaos M.Forest structure and dynamics vary across the Amazon Basin in an east-west gradient coincident with variations in soil fertility and geology. This has resulted in the hypothesis that soil fertility may play an important role in explaining Basin-wide variations in forest biomass, growth and stem turnover rates. Soil samples were collected in a total of 59 different forest plots across the Amazon Basin and analys...
Individual-based modeling of amazon forests suggests that climate controls prod...
Fauset, Sophie; Gloor, Manuel U.; Fyllas, Nikolaos M.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Asner, Gregory P.; Baker, Timothy R.; Patrick Bentley, LisaClimate, species composition, and soils are thought to control carbon cycling and forest structure in Amazonian forests. Here, we add a demographics scheme (tree recruitment, growth, and mortality) to a recently developed non-demographic model—the Trait-based Forest Simulator (TFS)—to explore the roles of climate and plant traits in controlling forest productivity and structure. We compared two sites with diffe...
Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics
Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane; Baker, Timothy R.; Dexter, Kyle Graham; Lewis, Simon L.; ter Steege, H.; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Monteagudo-Mendoza, AbelWithin the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of water-stress on the physiological processes of most tree species. This implies that the range limits of taxa are defined by their ability to occur under dry conditions, and thus in terms of spe...
Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling
Fauset, Sophie; Johnson, Michelle O.; Gloor, Manuel U.; Baker, Timothy R.; Monteagudo M, Abel; Brienen, Roel J.W.; Feldpausch, Ted R.While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few â € hyperdominantâ €™ species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and produci...
Tree height integrated into pantropical forest biomass estimates
Feldpausch, Ted R.; Lloyd, Jon; Lewis, Simon L.; Brienen, Roel J.W.; Gloor, Manuel E.; Monteagudo-Mendoza, Abel; Lopez-Gonzalez, GabrielaAboveground tropical tree biomass and carbon storage estimates commonly ignore tree height (H). We estimate the effect of incorporating H on tropics-wide forest biomass estimates in 327 plots across four continents using 42 656 H and diameter measurements and harvested trees from 20 sites to answer the following questions: ; 1. What is the best H-model form and geographic unit to include in biomass models to mi...
Compositional response of Amazon forests to climate change
Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane; Baker, Timothy R.; Dexter, Kyle Graham; Lewis, Simon L.; Brienen, Roel J.W.; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Lloyd, JonMost of the planet's diversity is concentrated in the tropics, which includes many regions undergoing rapid climate change. Yet, while climate-induced biodiversity changes are widely documented elsewhere, few studies have addressed this issue for lowland tropical ecosystems. Here we investigate whether the floristic and functional composition of intact lowland Amazonian forests have been changing by evaluating ...