Drought Sensitivity of the Amazon Rainforest

Phillips, Oliver L.; Aragão, Luiz E. O. C.; Lewis, Simon L.; Fisher, Joshua B.; Lloyd, Jon; López-González, Gabriela; Malhi, Yadvinder; Monteagudo, Abel; Peacock, Julie; Quesada, Carlos Alberto; Heijden, Geertje M. F. van der; Almeida, Samuel; Amaral, Iêda Leão do; Arroyo, Luzmila; Aymard, Gerardo; Baker, Tim R.; Bánki, Olaf; Blanc, Lilian; Bonal, Damien; Brando, Paulo M.; Chave, Jérôme; Oliveira, Átila Cristina Alves de; Cardozo, Nallaret Dávila; Czimczik, C. I.; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Freitas, Maria Aparecida; Gloor, Emanuel; Higuchi, Níro; Jiménez, Eliana; Lloyd, G. M.; Meir, Patrick; Mendoza, Casimiro; Morel, Alexandra; Neill, David; Nepstad, Daniel C.; Patiño, S.; Peñuela, M. C.; Prieto, A.; Ramírez, Fredy; Schwarz, Michael P.; Silva, Javier; Silveira, Marcos; Thomas, Anne Sota; Steege, Hans ter; Stropp, Juliana; Vásquez, Rodolfo; Zelazowski, Przemyslaw; Dávila, Estéban Alvarez; Andelman, Sandy; Andrade, Ana; Chao, Kuo Jung; Erwin, Terry L.; Fiore, Anthony Di; Honorio, C Eurídice; Keeling, Helen; Killeen, Tim J.; Laurance, William F.; Cruz, Antonio Peña; Pitman, Nigel C. A.; Vargas, Percy Núñez; Ramírez‐Angulo, Hirma; Rudas, Agustín; Salamão, Rafael; Silva, Natalino; Terborgh, John; Torres‐Lezama, Armando

doi:10.1126/science.1164033

Cited by 1,555 publications

(1,575 citation statements)

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“…Safety margins are largely independent of mean annual precipitation, showing that there is global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought, with all forest biomes equally vulnerable to hydraulic failure regardless of their current rainfall environment. These findings provide insight into why drought-induced forest decline is occurring not only in arid regions but also in wet forests not normally considered at drought risk 7,8 .…”

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confidence: 91%

“…The consequences of longer droughts and higher temperatures are potentially dramatic. For example, rapid forest collapse as a result of drought could convert the world's tropical forests from a net carbon sink into a large carbon source during this century 8,15 . Predicting how forests will respond to future climate changes hinges on a quantitative understanding of the physiological mechanisms governing drought stress at the species level.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought

Choat

Jansen

Brodribb

et al. 2012

Nature

2,175

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Shifts in rainfall patterns and increasing temperatures associated with climate change are likely to cause widespread forest decline in regions where droughts are predicted to increase in duration and severity. One primary cause of productivity loss and plant mortality during drought is hydraulic failure. Drought stress creates trapped gas emboli in the water transport system, which reduces the ability of plants to supply water to leaves for photosynthetic gas exchange and can ultimately result in desiccation and mortality. At present we lack a clear picture of how thresholds to hydraulic failure vary across a broad range of species and environments, despite many individual experiments. Here we draw together published and unpublished data on the vulnerability of the transport system to drought-induced embolism for a large number of woody species, with a view to examining the likely consequences of climate change for forest biomes. We show that 70% of 226 forest species from 81 sites worldwide operate with narrow hydraulic safety margins against injurious levels of drought stress and therefore potentially face long-term reductions in productivity and survival if temperature and aridity increase as predicted for many regions across the globe. Safety margins are largely independent of mean annual precipitation, showing that there is global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought, with all forest biomes equally vulnerable to hydraulic failure regardless of their current rainfall environment. These findings provide insight into why drought-induced forest decline is occurring not only in arid regions but also in wet forests not normally considered at drought risk

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mentioning

confidence: 91%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought

Choat

Jansen

Brodribb

et al. 2012

Nature

2,175

105

2,036

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“…Spatial variation in CWD stocks across the landscape may respond both to short-term climatic disturbances (e.g. Phillips et al 2009;Negrón-Juárez et al 2010) and to long-term differences in forest dynamics in response to environmental characteristics (Keller et al 2004;Malhi et al 2006;Chao et al 2009a). Soils represent an important environmental gradient in Amazonia, with a wide variety of soil types across the Basin and with diverse chemical and physical conditions (Quesada et al 2010;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil-induced impacts on forest structure drive coarse woody debris stocks across central Amazonia

Martins

Schietti

Feldpausch

et al. 2014

Plant Ecology & Diversity

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“…Forest fires burned in Acre and in neighboring parts of the state of Amazonas, an unprecedented event (Brown et al, 2006;Vasconcelos and Brown, 2007). The forest lost biomass through stunted growth and increased tree mortality (Phillips et al, 2009). The year 2005 was not an El Niño year; rather than warm water in the Pacific there was warm water in the southern part of the North Atlantic and colder-than-usual water in the northern part of the South Atlantic.…”

Section: ) Atlantic Oscillationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global warming in Amazonia: impacts and Mitigation

Fearnside

2009

Acta Amaz.

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Global warming has potentially catastrophic impacts in Amazonia, while at the same time maintenance of the Amazon forest offers one of the most valuable and cost-effective options for mitigating climate change. We know that the El Niño phenomenon, caused by temperature oscillations of surface water in the Pacific, has serious impacts in Amazonia, causing droughts and forest fires (as in 1997-1998). Temperature oscillations in the Atlantic also provoke severe droughts (as in 2005). We also know that Amazonian trees die both from fires and from water stress under hot, dry conditions. In addition, water recycled through the forest provides rainfall that maintains climatic conditions appropriate for tropical forest, especially in the dry season. What we need to know quickly, through intensified research, includes progress in representing El Niño and the Atlantic oscillations in climatic models, representation of biotic feedbacks in models used for decision-making about global warming, and narrowing the range of estimating climate sensitivity to reduce uncertainty about the probability of very severe impacts. Items that need to be negotiated include the definition of "dangerous" climate change, with the corresponding maximum levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Mitigation of global warming must include maintaining the Amazon forest, which has benefits for combating global warming from two separate roles: cutting the flow the emissions of carbon each year from the rapid pace of deforestation, and avoiding emission of the stock of carbon in the remaining forest that can be released by various ways, including climate change itself. Barriers to rewarding forest maintenance include the need for financial rewards for both of these roles. Other needs are for continued reduction of uncertainty regarding emissions and deforestation processes, as well as agreement on the basis of carbon accounting. As one of the countries most subject to impacts of climate change, Brazil must assume the leadership in fighting global warming.KEYWORDS: Carbon, Climate change, Deforestation, Environmental services, Global warming, Greenhouse effect Aquecimento Global na Amazônia: Impactos e Mitigação RESUMO O aquecimento global tem impactos potencialmente catastróficos na Amazônia, e, ao mesmo tempo, a manutenção da floresta amazônica oferece uma das opções mais valiosas e baratas para mitigar as mudanças climáticas. Nós sabemos que o fenômeno de El Niño, causado por uma oscilação da temperatura da superfície da água no Pacífico, tem impactos sérios na Amazônia, causando secas e incêndios florestais, como aconteceram em 1997-1998. Oscilações de temperatura no Atlântico também provocam secas severas, como em 2005. Nós também sabemos que árvores amazônicas morrem, tanto do fogo como do estresse hídrico sob condições quentes e secas. Além disso, a água reciclada pela floresta fornece chuva que mantém as condições climáticas apropriadas para floresta tropical, especialmente durante a estação seca. O que nós precisamos saber com urgên...

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Drought Sensitivity of the Amazon Rainforest

Cited by 1,555 publications

References 28 publications

Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought

Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought

Soil-induced impacts on forest structure drive coarse woody debris stocks across central Amazonia

Global warming in Amazonia: impacts and Mitigation

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