response of tropical rainforests to drought—lessons from recent research and future prospects

• Published in: Annals of forest science. Vol. 73; no. 1; pp. 27 - 44
• Main Authors: Bonal, Damien, Burban, Benoit, Stahl, Clément, Wagner, Fabien, Hérault, Bruno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Springer Paris 2016; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Nature (since 2011)/EDP Science (until 2010)
• Subjects: Annual rainfall; Carbon; climate; Communities; Complexity; Current issues in forest and wood science: series of reviews; Drought; Drought resistance; Ecosystems; Environment; Extreme values; Fluxes; forest ecosystems; Forestry; Forestry Management; Life Sciences; Mortality; Original Paper; rain; Rainforests; soil; Tree Biology; tree mortality; Trees; Tropical environments; Tropical forests; tropical rain forests; Wood Science & Technology; Asia; Amazonia; Africa; Water; Climate; Growth; Mortality; Global change; Soil; Tropical; Drought; Carbon; tropical; drought; carbon; global change; mortality; growth; climate; water
• ISSN: 1286-4560; 1297-966X
• DOI: 10.1007/s13595-015-0522-5

KEY MESSAGE : We review the recent findings on the influence of drought on tree mortality, growth or ecosystem functioning in tropical rainforests. Drought plays a major role in shaping tropical rainforests and the response mechanisms are highly diverse and complex. The numerous gaps identified here require the international scientific community to combine efforts in order to conduct comprehensive studies in tropical rainforests on the three continents. These results are essential to simulate the future of these ecosystems under diverse climate scenarios and to predict the future of the global earth carbon balance. CONTEXT : Tropical rainforest ecosystems are characterized by high annual rainfall. Nevertheless, rainfall regularly fluctuates during the year and seasonal soil droughts do occur. Over the past decades, a number of extreme droughts have hit tropical rainforests, not only in Amazonia but also in Asia and Africa. The influence of drought events on tree mortality and growth or on ecosystem functioning (carbon and water fluxes) in tropical rainforest ecosystems has been studied intensively, but the response mechanisms are complex. AIMS : Herein, we review the recent findings related to the response of tropical forest ecosystems to seasonal and extreme droughts and the current knowledge about the future of these ecosystems. RESULTS : This review emphasizes the progress made over recent years and the importance of the studies conducted under extreme drought conditions or in through-fall exclusion experiments in understanding the response of these ecosystems. It also points to the great diversity and complexity of the response of tropical rainforest ecosystems to drought. CONCLUSION : The numerous gaps identified here require the international scientific community to combine efforts in order to conduct comprehensive studies in tropical forest regions. These results are essential to simulate the future of these ecosystems under diverse climate scenarios and to predict the future of the global earth carbon balance.