Resource availability and disturbance shape maximum tree height across the Amazon

• Published in: Global change biology Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 177 - 189
• Main Authors: Gorgens, Eric B., Nunes, Matheus H., Jackson, Tobias, Coomes, David, Keller, Michael, Reis, Cristiano R., Valbuena, Ruben, Rosette, Jacqueline, Almeida, Danilo R. A., Gimenez, Bruno, Cantinho, Roberta, Motta, Alline Z., Assis, Mauro, Souza Pereira, Francisca R., Spanner, Gustavo, Higuchi, Niro, Ometto, Jean Pierre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-2021
• Subjects: Airborne lasers; Airborne sensing; Availability; Biodiversity; Brazil; Distribution; dominant tree; Ecosystem; envelope model; Environmental changes; Environmental factors; Forest ecosystems; Forests; giant trees; Height; Lasers; Measuring instruments; modeling; Plant cover; Rainforests; random forest; Resource availability; sentinel tree; Shape; Surveys; tall tree; Trees; Tropical Climate; Tropical forests; Wildlife conservation; Brazil; sentinel tree; giant trees; envelope model; modeling; dominant tree; random forest; tall tree; distribution; height
• ISSN: 1354-1013; 1365-2486
• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15423

Tall trees are key drivers of ecosystem processes in tropical forest, but the controls on the distribution of the very tallest trees remain poorly understood. The recent discovery of grove of giant trees over 80 meters tall in the Amazon forest requires a reevaluation of current thinking. We used high‐resolution airborne laser surveys to measure canopy height across 282,750 ha of old‐growth and second‐growth forests randomly sampling the entire Brazilian Amazon. We investigated how resources and disturbances shape the maximum height distribution across the Brazilian Amazon through the relations between the occurrence of giant trees and environmental factors. Common drivers of height development are fundamentally different from those influencing the occurrence of giant trees. We found that changes in wind and light availability drive giant tree distribution as much as precipitation and temperature, together shaping the forest structure of the Brazilian Amazon. The location of giant trees should be carefully considered by policymakers when identifying important hot spots for the conservation of biodiversity in the Amazon.
Common drivers of height development are fundamentally different from those influencing the occurrence of giant trees. While maximum tree height across the Brazilian Amazon was related to a large number of environmental variables, changes in wind and light availability drive giant tree distribution.