Family imprint reveals basin-wide patterns of Amazon forest embolism resistance
Abstract
Abstract Amazon rainforests face intensifying water stress due to increases in vapour pressure deficit and changing hydrological regimes. Embolism resistance (Ψ 50 ) is a critical metric of tree survival under drought conditions, it is defined as a plant’s capacity to resist disruption of xylem water flow due to air bubble formation from water stress. However, measurements of Ψ 50 are only available for a limited number of Amazon locations and species. Conversely, data on forest taxonomic composition are abundant across Amazonia, and if Ψ 50 is conserved phylogenetically, these data could provide a way to scale-up drought resistance patterns. Here we evaluate Ψ 50 measurements across non-flooded Amazonian tree taxa and reveal a moderate phylogenetic signal, with phylogenetic conservatism evident at the family-level. Notably, Fabaceae is amongst the most embolism-resistant tree families in Amazonia. Leveraging the phylogenetic signal we use species composition and tree size data from 448 forest plots across Amazonia to produce a macroecological assessment of Amazonian vulnerability to embolism. The resulting estimate spatial pattern reveals that forests in the Brazilian and Guiana Shield regions, where Fabaceae abundance is high, show strong resistance to embolism. In contrast, tree communities in Western Amazonia appear more vulnerable to embolism, suggesting a reduced capacity to withstand future drought conditions.
Article Details
Authors (95)
Julia Valentim Tavares
Emanuel Gloor
Thiago S. F. Silva
Rafael S. Oliveira
Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas
Fernanda Coelho de Souza
Coordenação de Pesquisas em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Caroline Signori-Müller
Francisco Carvalho Diniz
Luciano Pereira
Martin Acosta
Martin Gilpin
Manuel J. Marca Zevallos
Carlos A. Salas Yupayccana
Flor M. Perez-Mullisaca
Halina Jancoski
Marina Corrêa Scalon
Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
Ben Hur Marimon Junior
Yadvinder Malhi
Imma Oliveras Menor
Lucy Rowland
Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Patrick Meir
Paulo Bittencourt
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Antonio Carlos Lola da Costa
João Antônio R. Santos
Renata Teixeira de Oliveira
Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert
Esteban Alvarez-Davila
Miguel N. Alexiades
School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent
Edmar Almeida de Oliveira
Ana Andrade
Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Luiz Aragao
Alejandro Araujo-Murakami
Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno
Luzmila Arroyo
Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno
Gerardo Aymard
Jorcely G. Barroso
Damien Bonal
Roel Brienen
School of Geography, University of Leeds
Carlos Cerón
Escuela de Biología Herbario Alfredo Paredes, Universidad Central
José Luís Camargo
Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Richarlly Silva
Wendeson Castro
Jérôme Chave
James Comiskey
Douglas C. Daly
Géraldine Derroire
Mathias Disney
Aurelie Dourdain
Sophie Fauset
Ted Feldpausch
Gerardo Flores Llampazo
Bruno Hérault
Lionel Hernández
Niro Higuchi
Euridice N. Honorio Coronado
Department for Accelerated Taxonomy, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Eliana Jimenez-Rojas
Michelle Kalamandeen
Susan Laurance
William Laurance
Simon Lewis
Antonio S. Lima
Abel Monteagudo-Mendoza
Paulo Morandi
Percy NúñezVargas
David Neill
Walter Palacios
Alexander Parada Gutierrez
Guido Pardo-Molina
Maria Cristina Penuela-Mora
Nigel Pitman
Rocio Rojas
Adriana Prieto
Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Maxime Réjou-Méchain
Hirma Ramirez-Angulo
Sabina Cerruto Ribeiro
Kalle Ruokolainen
Rafael P. Salomão
Programa Professor Visitante Nacional Sênior na Amazônia-Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia
Julio Serrano
Rodrigo Sierra
Geoinformática y Sistemas, Compañía Limitada
Ademir R. Ruschel
Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa Florestas
Marcos Silveira
Hans ter Steege
John Terborgh
Department of Biology and Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
Luis Valenzuela Gamarra
Jardín Botánico de Missouri
Rodolfo Vasquez Martinez
Ima Vieira
Emilio Vilanova Torre
Vincent A. Vos
Ophelia Wang
Kenneth Young
Robert Muscarella
Kyle G. Dexter
Timothy R. Baker
Oliver L. Phillips
Maurizio Mencuccini
Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Barcelona, Spain.
David Galbraith