TY - JOUR
T1 - Basin-wide variation in tree hydraulic safety margins predicts the carbon balance of Amazon forests
AU - Tavares, Julia Valentim
AU - Oliveira, Rafael S.
AU - Mencuccini, Maurizio
AU - Signori-Müller, Caroline
AU - Pereira, Luciano
AU - Diniz, Francisco Carvalho
AU - Gilpin, Martin
AU - Marca Zevallos, Manuel J.
AU - Salas Yupayccana, Carlos A.
AU - Acosta, Martin
AU - Pérez Mullisaca, Flor M.
AU - Barros, Fernanda de V.
AU - Bittencourt, Paulo
AU - Jancoski, Halina
AU - Scalon, Marina Corrêa
AU - Marimon, Beatriz S.
AU - Oliveras Menor, Imma
AU - Marimon, Ben Hur
AU - Fancourt, Max
AU - Chambers-Ostler, Alexander
AU - Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane
AU - Rowland, Lucy
AU - Meir, Patrick
AU - Lola da Costa, Antonio Carlos
AU - Nina, Alex
AU - Sanchez, Jesus M. B.
AU - Tintaya, Jose S.
AU - Chino, Rudi S. C.
AU - Baca, Jean
AU - Fernandes, Leticia
AU - Cumapa, Edwin R. M.
AU - Santos, João Antônio R.
AU - Teixeira, Renata
AU - Tello, Ligia
AU - Ugarteche, Maira T. M.
AU - Cuellar, Gina A.
AU - Martinez, Franklin
AU - Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro
AU - Almeida, Everton
AU - da Cruz, Wesley Jonatar Alves
AU - del Aguila Pasquel, Jhon
AU - Aragāo, Luís
AU - Baker, Timothy R.
AU - de Camargo, Plinio Barbosa
AU - Brienen, Roel
AU - Castro, Wendeson
AU - Ribeiro, Sabina Cerruto
AU - Coelho de Souza, Fernanda
AU - Cosio, Eric G.
AU - Davila Cardozo, Nallaret
AU - da Costa Silva, Richarlly
AU - Disney, Mathias
AU - Espejo, Javier Silva
AU - Feldpausch, Ted R.
AU - Ferreira, Leandro
AU - Giacomin, Leandro
AU - Higuchi, Niro
AU - Hirota, Marina
AU - Honorio, Euridice
AU - Huaraca Huasco, Walter
AU - Lewis, Simon
AU - Flores Llampazo, Gerardo
AU - Malhi, Yadvinder
AU - Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel
AU - Morandi, Paulo
AU - Chama Moscoso, Victor
AU - Muscarella, Robert
AU - Penha, Deliane
AU - Rocha, Mayda Cecília
AU - Rodrigues, Gleicy
AU - Ruschel, Ademir R.
AU - Salinas, Norma
AU - Schlickmann, Monique
AU - Silveira, Marcos
AU - Talbot, Joey
AU - Vásquez, Rodolfo
AU - Vedovato, Laura
AU - Vieira, Simone Aparecida
AU - Phillips, Oliver L.
AU - Gloor, Emanuel
AU - Galbraith, David R.
PY - 2023/5/4
Y1 - 2023/5/4
N2 - Tropical forests face increasing climate risk1,2, yet our ability to predict their response to climate change is limited by poor understanding of their resistance to water stress. Although xylem embolism resistance thresholds (for example, Ψ50) and hydraulic safety margins (for example, HSM50) are important predictors of drought-induced mortality risk3,4,5, little is known about how these vary across Earth’s largest tropical forest. Here, we present a pan-Amazon, fully standardized hydraulic traits dataset and use it to assess regional variation in drought sensitivity and hydraulic trait ability to predict species distributions and long-term forest biomass accumulation. Parameters Ψ50 and HSM50 vary markedly across the Amazon and are related to average long-term rainfall characteristics. Both Ψ50 and HSM50 influence the biogeographical distribution of Amazon tree species. However, HSM50 was the only significant predictor of observed decadal-scale changes in forest biomass. Old-growth forests with wide HSM50 are gaining more biomass than are low HSM50 forests. We propose that this may be associated with a growth–mortality trade-off whereby trees in forests consisting of fast-growing species take greater hydraulic risks and face greater mortality risk. Moreover, in regions of more pronounced climatic change, we find evidence that forests are losing biomass, suggesting that species in these regions may be operating beyond their hydraulic limits. Continued climate change is likely to further reduce HSM50 in the Amazon6,7, with strong implications for the Amazon carbon sink.
AB - Tropical forests face increasing climate risk1,2, yet our ability to predict their response to climate change is limited by poor understanding of their resistance to water stress. Although xylem embolism resistance thresholds (for example, Ψ50) and hydraulic safety margins (for example, HSM50) are important predictors of drought-induced mortality risk3,4,5, little is known about how these vary across Earth’s largest tropical forest. Here, we present a pan-Amazon, fully standardized hydraulic traits dataset and use it to assess regional variation in drought sensitivity and hydraulic trait ability to predict species distributions and long-term forest biomass accumulation. Parameters Ψ50 and HSM50 vary markedly across the Amazon and are related to average long-term rainfall characteristics. Both Ψ50 and HSM50 influence the biogeographical distribution of Amazon tree species. However, HSM50 was the only significant predictor of observed decadal-scale changes in forest biomass. Old-growth forests with wide HSM50 are gaining more biomass than are low HSM50 forests. We propose that this may be associated with a growth–mortality trade-off whereby trees in forests consisting of fast-growing species take greater hydraulic risks and face greater mortality risk. Moreover, in regions of more pronounced climatic change, we find evidence that forests are losing biomass, suggesting that species in these regions may be operating beyond their hydraulic limits. Continued climate change is likely to further reduce HSM50 in the Amazon6,7, with strong implications for the Amazon carbon sink.
KW - Article
KW - /704/158/2455
KW - /704/158/2454
KW - /704/158/2450
KW - /704/158/670
KW - /123
KW - article
U2 - 10.1038/s41586-023-05971-3
DO - 10.1038/s41586-023-05971-3
M3 - Article
SN - 0028-0836
VL - 617
SP - 111
EP - 117
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
IS - 7959
ER -
