Region-specific forest structure pathways reveal climate effects on old-growth tropical forest biomass
Abstract
Old-growth tropical forests store vast amounts of carbon in their aboveground biomass (AGB), yet the relative roles of abiotic factors such as climate, soil, and topography in governing its spatial distribution remain poorly understood. In particular, the degree to which climate acts on AGB through forest structure is still poorly quantified at the pantropical scale. Using a pantropical dataset of more than 2,000 old-growth forest plots and a structure-explicit framework, we assess how climate influences AGB through its effects on four structural attributes: basal area, mean diameter, stem density, and basal area-weighted wood density. We find that climate shapes AGB primarily through its effects on forest structure. However, structural attributes respond to climate in opposite directions, so climate's net effect on AGB largely cancels out, and no clear climate-AGB relationship emerges across tropical regions. Moreover, only wood density responds consistently, decreasing with annual precipitation and increasing with precipitation seasonality, whereas all other attributes respond to climate differently from one region to another. This geographical variation further obscures any global climatic signal on AGB and points to the role of biogeographic history in shaping forest structure. Our findings highlight the central role of the climate-structure nexus in explaining AGB variation, and call for structure-explicit models to improve carbon stock predictions and inform climate adaptation strategies.
Related
- Climate-sensitive, spatially explicit multi-objective thinning for stand-structure and living-biomass-carbon trade-offs
- Tropical rainforest versus savannah: Biome-specific landscape structure mediates adaptive strategies and resilience to environmental change
- Growth, Antioxidant, and Physiological Responses Associated with Tuber Yield in Cassava Under Irrigation and Late-Season Drought Conditions in a Tropical Savanna Climate
- Hemispheric asymmetry in predicted range shifts of anti-tropical fish under future climate change
- Diapause in Populations of Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) from the Tropical Climate Zone: Morphological, Behavioral, and Metabolomic Characterization
BibTeX
@article{depoortere2026regionspecific,
title = {{Region-specific forest structure pathways reveal climate effects on old-growth tropical forest biomass}},
author = {Pauline Depoortere and David Bauman and Adeline Fayolle and Oliver Phillips and Lalasia Bialic-Murphy and Constantin M Zohner and Arthur Vander Linden and Antoine Plumacker and Hugo de Lame and Jingjing Liang and Peter B Reich and Javier G P Gamarra and Giorgio Alberti and Bruno Hérault and Nicolas Picard and Sergio De-Miguel and Gert-Jan Nabuurs and Thomas W Crowther and Alain Paquette and Hans Pretzsch and Susan K Wiser and Mo Zhou and Han Y H Chen and Hans Verbeeck and Charles de Cannière and Martin J P Sullivan and Lourens Poorter and Quentin Ponette and Marijn Bauters and Vincent Deblauwe and Gunnar Keppel and Francis Q Brearley and Irié Casimir Zo-Bi and Tiodionwa Abdoulaye Ouattara and Michael J Lawes and Frans Bongers and Jorge A Meave and Mark Schulze and Michael Lyonga Ngoh and Hans ter Steege and Jürgen Homeier and Akomian Fortuné Azihou and Liam Trethowan and J W Ferry Slik and Géraldine Derroire and Damien Bonal and William F Laurance and Andreas Hemp and Agustinus Murdjoko and Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez and Endang Kintamani and Lee White and Simon L Lewis and Andrew Hector and Christian Amani and Ana Andrade and Albert Angbonga and Luiz Aragão and Ayushi Kurian and Félix Allah Barem},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-61888-7},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05736877v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Region-specific forest structure pathways reveal climate effects on old-growth tropical forest biomass
AU - Pauline Depoortere
AU - David Bauman
AU - Adeline Fayolle
AU - Oliver Phillips
AU - Lalasia Bialic-Murphy
AU - Constantin M Zohner
AU - Arthur Vander Linden
AU - Antoine Plumacker
AU - Hugo de Lame
AU - Jingjing Liang
AU - Peter B Reich
AU - Javier G P Gamarra
AU - Giorgio Alberti
AU - Bruno Hérault
AU - Nicolas Picard
AU - Sergio De-Miguel
AU - Gert-Jan Nabuurs
AU - Thomas W Crowther
AU - Alain Paquette
AU - Hans Pretzsch
AU - Susan K Wiser
AU - Mo Zhou
AU - Han Y H Chen
AU - Hans Verbeeck
AU - Charles de Cannière
AU - Martin J P Sullivan
AU - Lourens Poorter
AU - Quentin Ponette
AU - Marijn Bauters
AU - Vincent Deblauwe
AU - Gunnar Keppel
AU - Francis Q Brearley
AU - Irié Casimir Zo-Bi
AU - Tiodionwa Abdoulaye Ouattara
AU - Michael J Lawes
AU - Frans Bongers
AU - Jorge A Meave
AU - Mark Schulze
AU - Michael Lyonga Ngoh
AU - Hans ter Steege
AU - Jürgen Homeier
AU - Akomian Fortuné Azihou
AU - Liam Trethowan
AU - J W Ferry Slik
AU - Géraldine Derroire
AU - Damien Bonal
AU - William F Laurance
AU - Andreas Hemp
AU - Agustinus Murdjoko
AU - Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez
AU - Endang Kintamani
AU - Lee White
AU - Simon L Lewis
AU - Andrew Hector
AU - Christian Amani
AU - Ana Andrade
AU - Albert Angbonga
AU - Luiz Aragão
AU - Ayushi Kurian
AU - Félix Allah Barem
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-61888-7
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05736877v1
AB - Old-growth tropical forests store vast amounts of carbon in their aboveground biomass (AGB), yet the relative roles of abiotic factors such as climate, soil, and topography in governing its spatial distribution remain poorly understood. In particular, the degree to which climate acts on AGB through forest structure is still poorly quantified at the pantropical scale. Using a pantropical dataset of more than 2,000 old-growth forest plots and a structure-explicit framework, we assess how climate influences AGB through its effects on four structural attributes: basal area, mean diameter, stem density, and basal area-weighted wood density. We find that climate shapes AGB primarily through its effects on forest structure. However, structural attributes respond to climate in opposite directions, so climate's net effect on AGB largely cancels out, and no clear climate-AGB relationship emerges across tropical regions. Moreover, only wood density responds consistently, decreasing with annual precipitation and increasing with precipitation seasonality, whereas all other attributes respond to climate differently from one region to another. This geographical variation further obscures any global climatic signal on AGB and points to the role of biogeographic history in shaping forest structure. Our findings highlight the central role of the climate-structure nexus in explaining AGB variation, and call for structure-explicit models to improve carbon stock predictions and inform climate adaptation strategies.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -