Fire, fragmentation, and windstorms: A recipe for tropical forest degradation

• Published in: The Journal of ecology Vol. 107; no. 2; pp. 656 - 667
• Main Authors: Silvério, Divino V., Brando, Paulo M., Bustamante, Mercedes M. C., Putz, Francis E., Marra, Daniel Magnabosco, Levick, Shaun R., Trumbore, Susan E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford John Wiley & Sons Ltd 01.03.2019; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: aboveground biomass; Agricultural land; Amazonia; Biodegradation; Biomass; biomass loss; Canopies; Canopy; Control; death; Disturbances; Edge effect; edge effects; Fire damage; fire scar; fire scars; Fires; Forest degradation; forest dynamics; Forests; Fragmentation; Global change ecology; Height; Land degradation; Lesions; Lidar; Mortality; Scars; storm damage; synergism; Synergistic effect; tree damage; tree mortality; Trees; Tropical climate; Tropical forests; understory; Uprooting; Vegetation; Vulnerability; Wind damage; windstorms; Amazonia

1. Widespread degradation of tropical forests is caused by a variety of disturbances that interact in ways that are not well understood. 2. To explore potential synergies between edge effects, fire and windstorm damage as causes of Amazonian forest degradation, we quantified vegetation responses to...