A scientist from the University of Plymouth has contributed to new research showing what factors control tree mortality rates in Amazon forests and why tree mortality is increasing across the Amazon basin.
An international analysis found that the mean growth rate of tree species is the main risk factor behind Amazon tree death, with faster-growing trees dying off at a younger age.
These findings have important consequences for our understanding of the future of these forests, particularly as climate change tends to select fast-growing species. If the forests selected by climate change are more likely die younger, they will also store less carbon.
The study involved more than 100 scientists, including Lecturer in Environmental Science Dr Sophie Fauset, and is the first large scale analysis of the causes of tree death in the Amazon.
It was compiled using long-term records gathered by the international RAINFOR network and the results, published in Nature Communications, show that species-level growth rates are a key risk factor for tree mortality.