Sensitivity of South American tropical forests to an extreme climate anomaly
Copyright policy )Sensitivity of South American tropical forests to an extreme climate anomaly
AbstractThe tropical forest carbon sink is known to be drought sensitive, but it is unclear which forests are the most vulnerable to extreme events. Forests with hotter and drier baseline conditions may be protected by prior adaptation, or more vulnerable because they operate closer to physiological limits. Here we report that forests in drier South American climates experienced the greatest impacts of the 2015–2016 El Niño, indicating greater vulnerability to extreme temperatures and drought. The long-term, ground-measured tree-by-tree responses of 123 forest plots across tropical South America show that the biomass carbon sink ceased during the event with carbon balance becoming indistinguishable from zero (−0.02 ± 0.37 Mg C ha−1 per year). However, intact tropical South American forests overall were no more sensitive to the extreme 2015–2016 El Niño than to previous less intense events, remaining a key defence against climate change as long as they are protected.
- Forest Research United Kingdom
- Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana Peru
- Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University Bolivia
- Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana Peru
- University of Oxford United Kingdom
Tropical savanna climate, Atmospheric Science, [SDV.SA.SF]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Silviculture, 550, environment/Bioclimatology, Tropical climate, 551, Estimation of Forest Biomass and Carbon Stocks, Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, Carbon sink, Tropical forest, SDG 13 - Climate Action, 4101 Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, Climate change, 0502 Environmental Science and Management, Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, Climatology, Global and Planetary Change, Tropical Forests, Geography, Ecology, Forestry Sciences, Causes and Impacts of Climate Change Over Millennia, 3103 Ecology, forestry, 3007 Forestry Sciences, Geology, Carbon cycle, Biological Sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Sink (geography), [SDV.EE.BIO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, Physical Sciences, [SDV.SA.SF] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Silviculture, forestry, 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, Cartography, Life on Land, Environmental Science and Management, Veterinary and Food Sciences, 30 Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences, 41 Environmental Sciences, 333, Environmental science, Atmospheric Sciences, Life Science, Agroforestry, Biology, Ecosystem, Nature and Landscape Conservation, 580, Agricultural, 13 Climate Action, Global Forest Drought Response and Climate Change, 15 Life on Land, Tropics, DAS, FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences, Climate Action, [SDV.EE.BIO] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Bioclimatology, FOS: Biological sciences, Environmental Science, 0401 Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, Environmental Sciences, 31 Biological Sciences
Tropical savanna climate, Atmospheric Science, [SDV.SA.SF]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Silviculture, 550, environment/Bioclimatology, Tropical climate, 551, Estimation of Forest Biomass and Carbon Stocks, Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, Carbon sink, Tropical forest, SDG 13 - Climate Action, 4101 Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, Climate change, 0502 Environmental Science and Management, Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, Climatology, Global and Planetary Change, Tropical Forests, Geography, Ecology, Forestry Sciences, Causes and Impacts of Climate Change Over Millennia, 3103 Ecology, forestry, 3007 Forestry Sciences, Geology, Carbon cycle, Biological Sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Sink (geography), [SDV.EE.BIO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, Physical Sciences, [SDV.SA.SF] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Silviculture, forestry, 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, Cartography, Life on Land, Environmental Science and Management, Veterinary and Food Sciences, 30 Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences, 41 Environmental Sciences, 333, Environmental science, Atmospheric Sciences, Life Science, Agroforestry, Biology, Ecosystem, Nature and Landscape Conservation, 580, Agricultural, 13 Climate Action, Global Forest Drought Response and Climate Change, 15 Life on Land, Tropics, DAS, FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences, Climate Action, [SDV.EE.BIO] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Bioclimatology, FOS: Biological sciences, Environmental Science, 0401 Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, Environmental Sciences, 31 Biological Sciences
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