ALBERT

Description: The Amazon Basin has experienced more variable climate over the last decade, with a severe and widespread drought in 2005 causing large basin-wide losses of biomass. A drought of similar climatological magnitude occurred again in 2010; however, there has been no basin-wide ground-based evaluation of effects on vegetation. We examine to what extent the 2010 drought affected forest dynamics using ground-based observations of mortality and growth utilizing data from an extensive forest plot network. We find that during the 2010 drought interval, forests did not gain biomass (net change: −0.43 Mg ha -1 , CI: −1.11, 0.19, n = 97), regardless of whether forests experienced precipitation deficit anomalies. This loss contrasted with a long-term biomass sink during the baseline pre-2010 drought period (1998 − pre-2010) of 1.33 Mg ha -1 yr -1 (CI: 0.90, 1.74, p  〈 0.01). The resulting net impact of the 2010 drought (i.e., reversal of the baseline net sink) was −1.95 Mg ha -1 yr -1 (CI:−2.77, −1.18; p  〈 0.001). This net biomass impact was driven by an increase in biomass mortality (1.45 Mg ha -1 yr -1 CI: 0.66, 2.25, p  〈 0.001), and a decline in biomass productivity (−0.50 Mg ha -1 yr -1 , CI:−0.78, −0.31; p  〈 0.001). Surprisingly, the magnitude of the losses through tree mortality was unrelated to estimated local precipitation anomalies, and was independent of estimated local pre-2010 drought history. Thus, there was no evidence that pre-2010 droughts compounded the effects of the 2010 drought. We detected a systematic basin-wide impact of drought on tree growth rates across Amazonia, with this suppression of productivity driven by moisture deficits in 2010, an impact which was not apparent during the 2005 event [ Phillips et al. , 2009]. Based on these ground data, both live biomass in trees and corresponding estimates of live biomass in roots, we estimate that intact forests in Amazonia were carbon neutral in 2010 (−0.07 PgC yr -1 CI:−0.42, 0.23), consistent with results from an independent analysis of airborne estimates of land-atmospheric fluxes during 2010 [ Gatti et al. , 2014]. Relative to the long-term mean, the 2010 drought resulted in a reduction in biomass carbon uptake of 1.1 PgC, compared to 1.6 PgC for the 2005 event [ Phillips et al . 2009].

Description: Amazon forests are a key but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. If, as anticipated, they dry this century, they might accelerate climate change through carbon losses and changed surface energy balances. We used records from multiple long-term monitoring plots across Amazonia to assess forest responses to the intense 2005 drought, a possible analog of future events. Affected forest lost biomass, reversing a large long-term carbon sink, with the greatest impacts observed where the dry season was unusually intense. Relative to pre-2005 conditions, forest subjected to a 100-millimeter increase in water deficit lost 5.3 megagrams of aboveground biomass of carbon per hectare. The drought had a total biomass carbon impact of 1.2 to 1.6 petagrams (1.2 x 10(15) to 1.6 x 10(15) grams). Amazon forests therefore appear vulnerable to increasing moisture stress, with the potential for large carbon losses to exert feedback on climate change.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Phillips, Oliver L -- Aragao, Luiz E O C -- Lewis, Simon L -- Fisher, Joshua B -- Lloyd, Jon -- Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela -- Malhi, Yadvinder -- Monteagudo, Abel -- Peacock, Julie -- Quesada, Carlos A -- van der Heijden, Geertje -- Almeida, Samuel -- Amaral, Ieda -- Arroyo, Luzmila -- Aymard, Gerardo -- Baker, Tim R -- Banki, Olaf -- Blanc, Lilian -- Bonal, Damien -- Brando, Paulo -- Chave, Jerome -- de Oliveira, Atila Cristina Alves -- Cardozo, Nallaret Davila -- Czimczik, Claudia I -- Feldpausch, Ted R -- Freitas, Maria Aparecida -- Gloor, Emanuel -- Higuchi, Niro -- Jimenez, Eliana -- Lloyd, Gareth -- Meir, Patrick -- Mendoza, Casimiro -- Morel, Alexandra -- Neill, David A -- Nepstad, Daniel -- Patino, Sandra -- Penuela, Maria Cristina -- Prieto, Adriana -- Ramirez, Fredy -- Schwarz, Michael -- Silva, Javier -- Silveira, Marcos -- Thomas, Anne Sota -- Steege, Hans Ter -- Stropp, Juliana -- Vasquez, Rodolfo -- Zelazowski, Przemyslaw -- Alvarez Davila, Esteban -- Andelman, Sandy -- Andrade, Ana -- Chao, Kuo-Jung -- Erwin, Terry -- Di Fiore, Anthony -- Honorio C, Euridice -- Keeling, Helen -- Killeen, Tim J -- Laurance, William F -- Pena Cruz, Antonio -- Pitman, Nigel C A -- Nunez Vargas, Percy -- Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma -- Rudas, Agustin -- Salamao, Rafael -- Silva, Natalino -- Terborgh, John -- Torres-Lezama, Armando -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2009 Mar 6;323(5919):1344-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1164033.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. o.phillips@leeds.ac.uk〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19265020" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The vast extent of the Amazon Basin has historically restricted the study of its tree communities to the local and regional scales. Here, we provide empirical data on the commonness, rarity, and richness of lowland tree species across the entire Amazon Basin and Guiana Shield (Amazonia), collected in 1170 tree plots in all major forest types. Extrapolations suggest that Amazonia harbors roughly 16,000 tree species, of which just 227 (1.4%) account for half of all trees. Most of these are habitat specialists and only dominant in one or two regions of the basin. We discuss some implications of the finding that a small group of species--less diverse than the North American tree flora--accounts for half of the world's most diverse tree community.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉ter Steege, Hans -- Pitman, Nigel C A -- Sabatier, Daniel -- Baraloto, Christopher -- Salomao, Rafael P -- Guevara, Juan Ernesto -- Phillips, Oliver L -- Castilho, Carolina V -- Magnusson, William E -- Molino, Jean-Francois -- Monteagudo, Abel -- Nunez Vargas, Percy -- Montero, Juan Carlos -- Feldpausch, Ted R -- Coronado, Euridice N Honorio -- Killeen, Tim J -- Mostacedo, Bonifacio -- Vasquez, Rodolfo -- Assis, Rafael L -- Terborgh, John -- Wittmann, Florian -- Andrade, Ana -- Laurance, William F -- Laurance, Susan G W -- Marimon, Beatriz S -- Marimon, Ben-Hur Jr -- Guimaraes Vieira, Ima Celia -- Amaral, Ieda Leao -- Brienen, Roel -- Castellanos, Hernan -- Cardenas Lopez, Dairon -- Duivenvoorden, Joost F -- Mogollon, Hugo F -- Matos, Francisca Dionizia de Almeida -- Davila, Nallarett -- Garcia-Villacorta, Roosevelt -- Stevenson Diaz, Pablo Roberto -- Costa, Flavia -- Emilio, Thaise -- Levis, Carolina -- Schietti, Juliana -- Souza, Priscila -- Alonso, Alfonso -- Dallmeier, Francisco -- Montoya, Alvaro Javier Duque -- Fernandez Piedade, Maria Teresa -- Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro -- Arroyo, Luzmila -- Gribel, Rogerio -- Fine, Paul V A -- Peres, Carlos A -- Toledo, Marisol -- Aymard C, Gerardo A -- Baker, Tim R -- Ceron, Carlos -- Engel, Julien -- Henkel, Terry W -- Maas, Paul -- Petronelli, Pascal -- Stropp, Juliana -- Zartman, Charles Eugene -- Daly, Doug -- Neill, David -- Silveira, Marcos -- Paredes, Marcos Rios -- Chave, Jerome -- Lima Filho, Diogenes de Andrade -- Jorgensen, Peter Moller -- Fuentes, Alfredo -- Schongart, Jochen -- Cornejo Valverde, Fernando -- Di Fiore, Anthony -- Jimenez, Eliana M -- Penuela Mora, Maria Cristina -- Phillips, Juan Fernando -- Rivas, Gonzalo -- van Andel, Tinde R -- von Hildebrand, Patricio -- Hoffman, Bruce -- Zent, Eglee L -- Malhi, Yadvinder -- Prieto, Adriana -- Rudas, Agustin -- Ruschell, Ademir R -- Silva, Natalino -- Vos, Vincent -- Zent, Stanford -- Oliveira, Alexandre A -- Schutz, Angela Cano -- Gonzales, Therany -- Trindade Nascimento, Marcelo -- Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma -- Sierra, Rodrigo -- Tirado, Milton -- Umana Medina, Maria Natalia -- van der Heijden, Geertje -- Vela, Cesar I A -- Vilanova Torre, Emilio -- Vriesendorp, Corine -- Wang, Ophelia -- Young, Kenneth R -- Baider, Claudia -- Balslev, Henrik -- Ferreira, Cid -- Mesones, Italo -- Torres-Lezama, Armando -- Urrego Giraldo, Ligia Estela -- Zagt, Roderick -- Alexiades, Miguel N -- Hernandez, Lionel -- Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau -- Milliken, William -- Palacios Cuenca, Walter -- Pauletto, Daniela -- Valderrama Sandoval, Elvis -- Valenzuela Gamarra, Luis -- Dexter, Kyle G -- Feeley, Ken -- Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela -- Silman, Miles R -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2013 Oct 18;342(6156):1243092. doi: 10.1126/science.1243092.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24136971" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The high alpha-diversity of tropical forests has been amply documented, but beta-diversity-how species composition changes with distance-has seldom been studied. We present quantitative estimates of beta-diversity for tropical trees by comparing species composition of plots in lowland terra firme forest in Panama, Ecuador, and Peru. We compare observations with predictions derived from a neutral model in which habitat is uniform and only dispersal and speciation influence species turnover. We find that beta-diversity is higher in Panama than in western Amazonia and that patterns in both areas are inconsistent with the neutral model. In Panama, habitat variation appears to increase species turnover relative to Amazonia, where unexpectedly low turnover over great distances suggests that population densities of some species are bounded by as yet unidentified processes. At intermediate scales in both regions, observations can be matched by theory, suggesting that dispersal limitation, with speciation, influences species turnover.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Condit, Richard -- Pitman, Nigel -- Leigh, Egbert G Jr -- Chave, Jerome -- Terborgh, John -- Foster, Robin B -- Nunez, Percy -- Aguilar, Salomon -- Valencia, Renato -- Villa, Gorky -- Muller-Landau, Helene C -- Losos, Elizabeth -- Hubbell, Stephen P -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2002 Jan 25;295(5555):666-9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 0948, APO AA 34002-0948, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11809969" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Understanding the processes that determine aboveground biomass (AGB) in Amazonian forests is important for predicting the sensitivity of these ecosystems to environmental change and for designing and evaluating dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). AGB is determined by inputs from woody productivity (woody NPP) and the rate at which carbon is lost through tree mortality. Here, we test whether two direct metrics of tree mortality (the absolute rate of woody biomass loss and the rate of stem mortality) and/or woody NPP, control variation in AGB among 167 plots in intact forest across Amazonia. We then compare these relationships and the observed variation in AGB and woody NPP with the predictions of four DGVMs. The observations show that stem mortality rates, rather than absolute rates of woody biomass loss, are the most important predictor of AGB, which is consistent with the importance of stand size-structure for determining spatial variation in AGB. The relationship between stem mortality rates and AGB varies among different regions of Amazonia, indicating that variation in wood density and height/diameter relationships also influence AGB. In contrast to previous findings, we find that woody NPP is not correlated with stem mortality rates, and is weakly positively correlated with AGB. Across the four models, basin-wide average AGB is similar to the mean of the observations. However, the models consistently overestimate woody NPP, and poorly represent the spatial patterns of both AGB and woody NPP estimated using plot data. In marked contrast to the observations, DGVMs typically show strong positive relationships between woody NPP and AGB. Resolving these differences will require incorporating forest size structure, mechanistic models of stem mortality and variation in functional composition in DGVMs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world's major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve 'health': about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Laurance, William F -- Useche, D Carolina -- Rendeiro, Julio -- Kalka, Margareta -- Bradshaw, Corey J A -- Sloan, Sean P -- Laurance, Susan G -- Campbell, Mason -- Abernethy, Kate -- Alvarez, Patricia -- Arroyo-Rodriguez, Victor -- Ashton, Peter -- Benitez-Malvido, Julieta -- Blom, Allard -- Bobo, Kadiri S -- Cannon, Charles H -- Cao, Min -- Carroll, Richard -- Chapman, Colin -- Coates, Rosamond -- Cords, Marina -- Danielsen, Finn -- De Dijn, Bart -- Dinerstein, Eric -- Donnelly, Maureen A -- Edwards, David -- Edwards, Felicity -- Farwig, Nina -- Fashing, Peter -- Forget, Pierre-Michel -- Foster, Mercedes -- Gale, George -- Harris, David -- Harrison, Rhett -- Hart, John -- Karpanty, Sarah -- Kress, W John -- Krishnaswamy, Jagdish -- Logsdon, Willis -- Lovett, Jon -- Magnusson, William -- Maisels, Fiona -- Marshall, Andrew R -- McClearn, Deedra -- Mudappa, Divya -- Nielsen, Martin R -- Pearson, Richard -- Pitman, Nigel -- van der Ploeg, Jan -- Plumptre, Andrew -- Poulsen, John -- Quesada, Mauricio -- Rainey, Hugo -- Robinson, Douglas -- Roetgers, Christiane -- Rovero, Francesco -- Scatena, Frederick -- Schulze, Christian -- Sheil, Douglas -- Struhsaker, Thomas -- Terborgh, John -- Thomas, Duncan -- Timm, Robert -- Urbina-Cardona, J Nicolas -- Vasudevan, Karthikeyan -- Wright, S Joseph -- Arias-G, Juan Carlos -- Arroyo, Luzmila -- Ashton, Mark -- Auzel, Philippe -- Babaasa, Dennis -- Babweteera, Fred -- Baker, Patrick -- Banki, Olaf -- Bass, Margot -- Bila-Isia, Inogwabini -- Blake, Stephen -- Brockelman, Warren -- Brokaw, Nicholas -- Bruhl, Carsten A -- Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh -- Chao, Jung-Tai -- Chave, Jerome -- Chellam, Ravi -- Clark, Connie J -- Clavijo, Jose -- Congdon, Robert -- Corlett, Richard -- Dattaraja, H S -- Dave, Chittaranjan -- Davies, Glyn -- Beisiegel, Beatriz de Mello -- da Silva, Rosa de Nazare Paes -- Di Fiore, Anthony -- Diesmos, Arvin -- Dirzo, Rodolfo -- Doran-Sheehy, Diane -- Eaton, Mitchell -- Emmons, Louise -- Estrada, Alejandro -- Ewango, Corneille -- Fedigan, Linda -- Feer, Francois -- Fruth, Barbara -- Willis, Jacalyn Giacalone -- Goodale, Uromi -- Goodman, Steven -- Guix, Juan C -- Guthiga, Paul -- Haber, William -- Hamer, Keith -- Herbinger, Ilka -- Hill, Jane -- Huang, Zhongliang -- Sun, I Fang -- Ickes, Kalan -- Itoh, Akira -- Ivanauskas, Natalia -- Jackes, Betsy -- Janovec, John -- Janzen, Daniel -- Jiangming, Mo -- Jin, Chen -- Jones, Trevor -- Justiniano, Hermes -- Kalko, Elisabeth -- Kasangaki, Aventino -- Killeen, Timothy -- King, Hen-biau -- Klop, Erik -- Knott, Cheryl -- Kone, Inza -- Kudavidanage, Enoka -- Ribeiro, Jose Lahoz da Silva -- Lattke, John -- Laval, Richard -- Lawton, Robert -- Leal, Miguel -- Leighton, Mark -- Lentino, Miguel -- Leonel, Cristiane -- Lindsell, Jeremy -- Ling-Ling, Lee -- Linsenmair, K Eduard -- Losos, Elizabeth -- Lugo, Ariel -- Lwanga, Jeremiah -- Mack, Andrew L -- Martins, Marlucia -- McGraw, W Scott -- McNab, Roan -- Montag, Luciano -- Thompson, Jo Myers -- Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob -- Nakagawa, Michiko -- Nepal, Sanjay -- Norconk, Marilyn -- Novotny, Vojtech -- O'Donnell, Sean -- Opiang, Muse -- Ouboter, Paul -- Parker, Kenneth -- Parthasarathy, N -- Pisciotta, Katia -- Prawiradilaga, Dewi -- Pringle, Catherine -- Rajathurai, Subaraj -- Reichard, Ulrich -- Reinartz, Gay -- Renton, Katherine -- Reynolds, Glen -- Reynolds, Vernon -- Riley, Erin -- Rodel, Mark-Oliver -- Rothman, Jessica -- Round, Philip -- Sakai, Shoko -- Sanaiotti, Tania -- Savini, Tommaso -- Schaab, Gertrud -- Seidensticker, John -- Siaka, Alhaji -- Silman, Miles R -- Smith, Thomas B -- de Almeida, Samuel Soares -- Sodhi, Navjot -- Stanford, Craig -- Stewart, Kristine -- Stokes, Emma -- Stoner, Kathryn E -- Sukumar, Raman -- Surbeck, Martin -- Tobler, Mathias -- Tscharntke, Teja -- Turkalo, Andrea -- Umapathy, Govindaswamy -- van Weerd, Merlijn -- Rivera, Jorge Vega -- Venkataraman, Meena -- Venn, Linda -- Verea, Carlos -- de Castilho, Carolina Volkmer -- Waltert, Matthias -- Wang, Benjamin -- Watts, David -- Weber, William -- West, Paige -- Whitacre, David -- Whitney, Ken -- Wilkie, David -- Williams, Stephen -- Wright, Debra D -- Wright, Patricia -- Xiankai, Lu -- Yonzon, Pralad -- Zamzani, Franky -- England -- Nature. 2012 Sep 13;489(7415):290-4. doi: 10.1038/nature11318.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia. bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22832582" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Earth is home to a remarkable diversity of plant forms and life histories, yet comparatively few essential trait combinations have proved evolutionarily viable in today's terrestrial biosphere. By analysing worldwide variation in six major traits critical to growth, survival and reproduction within the largest sample of vascular plant species ever compiled, we found that occupancy of six-dimensional trait space is strongly concentrated, indicating coordination and trade-offs. Three-quarters of trait variation is captured in a two-dimensional global spectrum of plant form and function. One major dimension within this plane reflects the size of whole plants and their parts; the other represents the leaf economics spectrum, which balances leaf construction costs against growth potential. The global plant trait spectrum provides a backdrop for elucidating constraints on evolution, for functionally qualifying species and ecosystems, and for improving models that predict future vegetation based on continuous variation in plant form and function.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Diaz, Sandra -- Kattge, Jens -- Cornelissen, Johannes H C -- Wright, Ian J -- Lavorel, Sandra -- Dray, Stephane -- Reu, Bjorn -- Kleyer, Michael -- Wirth, Christian -- Prentice, I Colin -- Garnier, Eric -- Bonisch, Gerhard -- Westoby, Mark -- Poorter, Hendrik -- Reich, Peter B -- Moles, Angela T -- Dickie, John -- Gillison, Andrew N -- Zanne, Amy E -- Chave, Jerome -- Wright, S Joseph -- Sheremet'ev, Serge N -- Jactel, Herve -- Baraloto, Christopher -- Cerabolini, Bruno -- Pierce, Simon -- Shipley, Bill -- Kirkup, Donald -- Casanoves, Fernando -- Joswig, Julia S -- Gunther, Angela -- Falczuk, Valeria -- Ruger, Nadja -- Mahecha, Miguel D -- Gorne, Lucas D -- England -- Nature. 2016 Jan 14;529(7585):167-71. doi: 10.1038/nature16489. Epub 2015 Dec 23.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biologia Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET and FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Casilla de Correo 495, 5000 Cordoba, Argentina. ; Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knoll-Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany. ; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. ; Systems Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia. ; Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, UMR 5553, CNRS - Universite Grenoble Alpes, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. ; Laboratoire de Biometrie et Biologie Evolutive, UMR5558, Universite Lyon 1, CNRS, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France. ; Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. ; Escuela de Biologia, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Cra. 27 Calle 9, 680002 Bucaramanga, Colombia. ; Landscape Ecology Group, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Oldenburg, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany. ; Department of Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. ; AXA Chair in Biosphere and Climate Impacts, Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment and Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK. ; Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (UMR 5175), CNRS-Universite de Montpellier - Universite Paul-Valery Montpellier - EPHE, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. ; Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH, D-52425 Julich, Germany. ; Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA. ; Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith New South Wales 2751, Australia. ; Evolution &Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia. ; Collections , The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK. ; Center for Biodiversity Management, P.O. Box 120, Yungaburra, Queensland 4884, Australia. ; Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA. ; Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri 63121, USA. ; UMR 5174 Laboratoire Evolution et Diversite Biologique, CNRS &Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31062, France. ; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama. ; Komarov Botanical Institute, Prof. Popov Street 2, St Petersburg 197376, Russia. ; INRA, UMR1202 BIOGECO, F-33610 Cestas, France. ; Universite de Bordeaux, BIOGECO, UMR 1202, F-33600 Pessac, France. ; International Center for Tropical Botany, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA. ; INRA, UMR Ecologie des Forets de Guyane, 97310 Kourou, French Guiana. ; Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Via J.H. Dunant 3, I-21100 Varese, Italy. ; Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (DiSAA), University of Milan, Via G. Celoria 2, I-20133 Milan, Italy. ; Departement de biologie, Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada. ; Biodiversity Informatics and Spatial Analysis, Jodrell Building, The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond TW9 3AB, UK. ; Unidad de Bioestadistica, Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza (CATIE), 7170 Turrialba, 30501, Costa Rica.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26700811" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Atmospheric carbon dioxide records indicate that the land surface has acted as a strong global carbon sink over recent decades, with a substantial fraction of this sink probably located in the tropics, particularly in the Amazon. Nevertheless, it is unclear how the terrestrial carbon sink will evolve as climate and atmospheric composition continue to change. Here we analyse the historical evolution of the biomass dynamics of the Amazon rainforest over three decades using a distributed network of 321 plots. While this analysis confirms that Amazon forests have acted as a long-term net biomass sink, we find a long-term decreasing trend of carbon accumulation. Rates of net increase in above-ground biomass declined by one-third during the past decade compared to the 1990s. This is a consequence of growth rate increases levelling off recently, while biomass mortality persistently increased throughout, leading to a shortening of carbon residence times. Potential drivers for the mortality increase include greater climate variability, and feedbacks of faster growth on mortality, resulting in shortened tree longevity. The observed decline of the Amazon sink diverges markedly from the recent increase in terrestrial carbon uptake at the global scale, and is contrary to expectations based on models.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Brienen, R J W -- Phillips, O L -- Feldpausch, T R -- Gloor, E -- Baker, T R -- Lloyd, J -- Lopez-Gonzalez, G -- Monteagudo-Mendoza, A -- Malhi, Y -- Lewis, S L -- Vasquez Martinez, R -- Alexiades, M -- Alvarez Davila, E -- Alvarez-Loayza, P -- Andrade, A -- Aragao, L E O C -- Araujo-Murakami, A -- Arets, E J M M -- Arroyo, L -- Aymard C, G A -- Banki, O S -- Baraloto, C -- Barroso, J -- Bonal, D -- Boot, R G A -- Camargo, J L C -- Castilho, C V -- Chama, V -- Chao, K J -- Chave, J -- Comiskey, J A -- Cornejo Valverde, F -- da Costa, L -- de Oliveira, E A -- Di Fiore, A -- Erwin, T L -- Fauset, S -- Forsthofer, M -- Galbraith, D R -- Grahame, E S -- Groot, N -- Herault, B -- Higuchi, N -- Honorio Coronado, E N -- Keeling, H -- Killeen, T J -- Laurance, W F -- Laurance, S -- Licona, J -- Magnussen, W E -- Marimon, B S -- Marimon-Junior, B H -- Mendoza, C -- Neill, D A -- Nogueira, E M -- Nunez, P -- Pallqui Camacho, N C -- Parada, A -- Pardo-Molina, G -- Peacock, J -- Pena-Claros, M -- Pickavance, G C -- Pitman, N C A -- Poorter, L -- Prieto, A -- Quesada, C A -- Ramirez, F -- Ramirez-Angulo, H -- Restrepo, Z -- Roopsind, A -- Rudas, A -- Salomao, R P -- Schwarz, M -- Silva, N -- Silva-Espejo, J E -- Silveira, M -- Stropp, J -- Talbot, J -- ter Steege, H -- Teran-Aguilar, J -- Terborgh, J -- Thomas-Caesar, R -- Toledo, M -- Torello-Raventos, M -- Umetsu, R K -- van der Heijden, G M F -- van der Hout, P -- Guimaraes Vieira, I C -- Vieira, S A -- Vilanova, E -- Vos, V A -- Zagt, R J -- England -- Nature. 2015 Mar 19;519(7543):344-8. doi: 10.1038/nature14283.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. ; 1] School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. [2] Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK. ; 1] Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK. [2] School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, 4870 Queenland, Australia. ; Jardin Botanico de Missouri, Prolongacion Bolognesi Mz.e, Lote 6, Oxapampa, Pasco, Peru. ; Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QK, UK. ; 1] School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. [2] Department of Geography, University College London, Pearson Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. ; School of Anthropology and Conservation, Marlowe Building, University of Kent, Canterbury CT1 3EH, UK. ; Servicios Ecosistemicos y Cambio Climatico, Jardin Botanico de Medellin, Calle 73 no. 51 D-14, C.P. 050010, Medellin, Colombia. ; Center for Tropical Conservation, Duke University, Box 90381, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. ; Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragment Project (INPA &STRI), C.P. 478, Manaus AM 69011-970, Brazil. ; 1] Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4 4RJ, UK. [2] National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Av. Dos Astronautas, 1758, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo 12227-010, Brazil. ; Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Universidad Autonoma Gabriel Rene Moreno, Casilla 2489, Av. Irala 565, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. ; Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. ; UNELLEZ-Guanare, Programa de Ciencias del Agro y el Mar, Herbario Universitario (PORT), Mesa de Cavacas, Estado Portuguesa, 3350 Venezuela. ; Biodiversiteit en Ecosysteem Dynamica, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ; 1] Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UMR EcoFoG, Campus Agronomique, 97310 Kourou, French Guiana. [2] International Center for Tropical Botany, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA. ; Universidade Federal do Acre, Campus de Cruzeiro do Sul, Rio Branco, Brazil. ; INRA, UMR 1137 ''Ecologie et Ecophysiologie Forestiere'' 54280 Champenoux, France. ; Embrapa Roraima, Caixa Postal 133, Boa Vista, RR, CEP 69301-970, Brazil. ; Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Av. de la Cultura N degrees 733, Cusco, Peru. ; 1] School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. [2] International Master Program of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan. ; Universite Paul Sabatier CNRS, UMR 5174 Evolution et Diversite Biologique, Batiment 4R1, 31062 Toulouse, France. ; Northeast Region Inventory and Monitoring Program, National Park Service, 120 Chatham Lane, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22405, USA. ; Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program, Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, Peru. ; Universidade Federal do Para, Centro de Geociencias, Belem, CEP 66017-970 Para, Brazil. ; Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Campus de Nova Xavantina, Caixa Postal 08, CEP 78.690-000, Nova Xavantina MT, Brazil. ; Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, SAC Room 5.150, 2201 Speedway Stop C3200, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. ; Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, MRC 187, Washington DC 20013-7012, USA. ; Cirad, UMR Ecologie des Forets de Guyane, Campus Agronomique, 97310 Kourou, French Guiana. ; 1] School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. [2] Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana, Av. A. Jose Quinones km 2.5, Iquitos, Peru. ; World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington DC 20037, USA. ; Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) and School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia. ; Instituto Boliviano de Investigacion Forestal, C.P. 6201, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. ; National Institute for Research in Amazonia (INPA), C.P. 478, Manaus, Amazonas, CEP 69011-970, Brazil. ; 1] FOMABO, Manejo Forestal en las Tierras Tropicales de Bolivia, Sacta, Bolivia. [2] Escuela de Ciencias Forestales (ESFOR), Universidad Mayor de San Simon (UMSS), Sacta, Bolivia. ; Universidad Estatal Amazonica, Facultad de Ingenieria Ambiental, Paso lateral km 2 1/2 via Napo, Puyo, Pastaza, Ecuador. ; National Institute for Research in Amazonia (INPA), C.P. 2223, 69080-971, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. ; Universidad Autonoma del Beni, Campus Universitario, Av. Ejercito Nacional, Riberalta, Beni, Bolivia. ; 1] Instituto Boliviano de Investigacion Forestal, C.P. 6201, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. [2] Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. ; 1] Center for Tropical Conservation, Duke University, Box 90381, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] The Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496, USA. ; Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. ; Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru. ; Instituto de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo Forestal (INDEFOR), Universidad de Los Andes, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales, Conjunto Forestal, C.P. 5101, Merida, Venezuela. ; Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development, 77 High Street Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana. ; Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Av. Magalhaes Barata, 376 - Sao Braz, CEP 66040-170, Belem PA, Brazil. ; UFRA, Av. Presidente Tancredo Neves 2501, CEP 66.077-901, Belem, Para, Brazil. ; Museu Universitario, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco AC 69910-900, Brazil. ; European Commission - DG Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Via Enrico Fermi 274, 21010 Ispra, Italy. ; 1] Naturalis Biodiversity Center, PO Box, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands. [2] Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Utrecht University, PO Box 80084, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands. ; Museo de Historia Natural Alcide D'Orbigny, Av. Potosi no 1458, Cochabamba, Bolivia. ; 1] School of Earth and Environmental Science, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia. [2] Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia. ; 1] Northumbria University, School of Geography, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle NE1 8ST, UK. [2] University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202, USA. [3] Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal 0843-03092, Panama, Republic of Panama. ; Van der Hout Forestry Consulting, Jan Trooststraat 6, 3078 HP Rotterdam, The Netherlands. ; Universidade Estadual de Campinas, NEPAM, Rua dos Flamboyants, 155- Cidade Universitaria Zeferino Vaz, Campinas, CEP 13083-867, Sao Paulo, Brazil. ; 1] Universidad Autonoma del Beni, Campus Universitario, Av. Ejercito Nacional, Riberalta, Beni, Bolivia. [2] Centro de Investigacion y Promocion del Campesinado, regional Norte Amazonico, C/ Nicanor Gonzalo Salvatierra N degrees 362, Casilla 16, Riberalta, Bolivia. ; Tropenbos International, PO Box 232, 6700 AE Wageningen, The Netherlands.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25788097" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Despite advances in Earth observation and modeling, estimating tropical biomass remains a challenge. Recent work suggests that integrating satellite measurements of canopy height within ecosystem models is a promising approach to infer biomass. We tested the feasibility of this approach to retrieve above ground biomass (AGB) at three tropical forest sites by assimilating remotely sensed canopy height derived from a texture analysis algorithm applied to the high-resolution PLEIADES imager in the ORCHIDEE-CAN ecosystem model. While mean AGB could be estimated within 10% of AGB derived from census data in average across sites, canopy height derived from PLEIADES product was spatially too smooth, thus unable to accurately resolve large height (and biomass) variations within the site considered. The error budget was evaluated in details, and systematic errors related to the ORCHIDEE-CAN structure contribute as a secondary source of error and could be overcome by using improved allometric equations.