Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests

Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests

The 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.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane, Phillips, Oliver L., Brienen, Roel Jacobus Wilhelmus, Fauset, Sophie, Sullivan, Martin J. P., Baker, Timothy R., Chao, Kuo-Jung, Feldpausch, Ted R., Gloor, Emanuel, Higuchi, Niro, Houwing-Duistermaat, Jeanne, Lloyd, Jon, Liu, Haiyan, Malhi, Yadvinder, Marimon, Beatriz Schwantes, Marimon Junior, Ben Hur, Monteagudo-Mendoza, Abel, Poorter, Lourens, Silveira, Marcos, Vilanova Torre, Emilio, Álvarez-Dávila, Esteban, del Aguila Pasquel, Jhon, Almeida, Everton José, Alvarez Loayza, Patricia, Andrade, Ana, Aragao, Luiz E.O.C., Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro, Arets, Eric, Arroyo, Luzmila, Aymard C., Gerardo A., Baisie, Michel, Baraloto, Christopher, Barbosa Camargo, Plínio, Barroso, Jorcely, Blanc, Lilian, Bonal, Damien, Bongers, Frans, Boot, René, Brown, Foster, Burban, Benoit, Camargo, Jose Luis C., Castro, Wendeson, Chama Moscoso, Victor, Chave, Jérôme, Comiskey, James A., Cornejo Valverde, Fernando, Lola da Costa, Antonio Carlos, Davila Cardozo, Nallaret, Di Fiore, Anthony, Dourdain, Aurélie, et al.
Format: article biblioteca
Language:eng
Subjects:K70 - Dégâts causés aux forêts et leur protection, K01 - Foresterie - Considérations générales, dégradation des forêts, santé des forêts, mortalité, écologie forestière, forêt tropicale, facteur de risque, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_331593, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36676, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4945, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3044, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24904, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_32668, http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_32372,
Online Access:http://agritrop.cirad.fr/599762/
http://agritrop.cirad.fr/599762/1/599762.pdf
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Summary:The 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.

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