ENSO Drives interannual variation of forest woody growth across the tropics

Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-04T12:31:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-11-19 UK Natural Environment Research Council European Research Council Advanced Investigator Award (GEM-TRAIT) Nature Conservancy-Oxford Martin School Climate Partnership NERC Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Sime Darby Foundation Project USA-NAS/PEER Project ReFlor FAPEMAT Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria - Embrapa European Research Council (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015) UK government Darwin Initiative Nature Conservancy UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Jackson Foundation Meteorological extreme events such as El Nino events are expected to affect tropical forest net primary production (NPP) and woody growth, but there has been no large-scale empirical validation of this expectation. We collected a large high-temporal resolution dataset (for 1-13 years depending upon location) of more than 172 000 stem growth measurements using dendrometer bands from across 14 regions spanning Amazonia, Africa and Borneo in order to test how much month-to-month variation in stand-level woody growth of adult tree stems (NPPstem) can be explained by seasonal variation and interannual meteorological anomalies. A key finding is that woody growth responds differently to meteorological variation between tropical forests with a dry season (where monthly rainfall is less than 100 mm), and aseasonal wet forests lacking a consistent dry season. In seasonal tropical forests, a high degree of variation in woody growth can be predicted from seasonal variation in temperature, vapour pressure deficit, in addition to anomalies of soil water deficit and shortwave radiation. The variation of aseasonal wet forest woody growth is best predicted by the anomalies of vapour pressure deficit, water deficit and shortwave radiation. In total, we predict the total live woody production of the global tropical forest biome to be 2.16 Pg C yr(-1), with an interannual range 1.96-2.26 Pg C yr(-1) between 1996-2016, and with the sharpest declines during the strong El Nino events of 1997/8 and 2015/6. There is high geographical variation in hotspots of El Nino-associated impacts, with weak impacts in Africa, and strongly negative impacts in parts of Southeast Asia and extensive regions across central and eastern Amazonia. Overall, there is high correlation (r = -0.75) between the annual anomaly of tropical forest woody growth and the annual mean of the El Nino 3.4 index, driven mainly by strong correlations with anomalies of soil water deficit, vapour pressure deficit and shortwave radiation. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'The impact of the 2015/2016 El Nino on the terrestrial tropical carbon cycle: patterns, mechanisms and implications'. Univ Oxford, Sch Geog & Environm, Environm Change Inst, South Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3QY, England IIAP, Iquitos, Peru No Arizona Univ, Sch Informat Comp & Cyber Syst, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA Univ Stirling, Fac Nat Sci, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland CENAREST, Inst Rech Ecol Trop, BP 842, Libreville, Gabon ANPN, BP 20379, Libreville, Gabon Univ Exeter, Coll Life & Environm Sci, Geog, Amory Bldg, Exeter EX4 4RJ, Devon, England Univ Autonoma Gabriel Rene Moreno, Museo Hist Nat Noel Kempff Mercado, Ave Irala 565,Casilla Postal 2489, Santa Cruz, CA, Bolivia Forestry Res Inst Ghana, Kumasi, Ghana Woods Hole Res Ctr, Falmouth, MA USA Univ Nacl San Antonio Abad Cusco, Cuzco, Peru Univ Estado Mato Grosso, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Convervacao, BR-78690000 Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil Ctr Euromediterraneo Cambiamente Climat, Lecce, Italy Minist Foret & Environm, BP199, Libreville, Gabon Amazon Environm Res Inst IPAM, Canarana, MG, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Ecol, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil Embrapa Amazonia Oriental, Trav Dr Eneas Pinheiro S-N,CP 48, BR-66095100 Belem, PA, Brazil Univ La Serena, Dept Biol, La Serena, Chile Univ Lancaster, Lancaster Environm Ctr, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, England Univ Fed Para, Inst Geosciencias, Belem, Para, Brazil Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Biol, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia Univ Edinburgh, Sch Geosci, Edinburgh EH93FF, Midlothian, Scotland Lund Univ, Phys Geog & Ecosyst Sci, Lund, Sweden Univ Leeds, Sch Geog, Leeds, W Yorkshire, England Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Ecol, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil UK Natural Environment Research Council: NE/P001092/1 European Research Council Advanced Investigator Award (GEM-TRAIT): 321131 NERC: NE/I014705/1 NERC: NE/K016369/1 NERC: NE/F005776/1 NERC: NE/K016385/1 NERC: NE/J011002/1 CNPq: 457914/2013-0/MCTI/ CNPq/FNDCT/LBA/ESECAFLOR CNPq: 403725/ 2012-7 CNPq: 441244/2016-5 CNPq: 457602/2012-0 Project USA-NAS/PEER: PGA-2000005316 Project ReFlor FAPEMAT: 0589267/2016 CNPq: 574008/2008-0 Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria - Embrapa: SEG: 02.08.06.005.00 European Research Council (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015): 691053-ODYSSEA UK government Darwin Initiative: 17-023 UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC): NE/F01614X/1 UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC): NE/G000816/1 UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC): NE/K016431/1 UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC): NE/P004512/1 : PQ-2