Resilience of Amazon forests emerges from plant trait diversity

• Published in: Nature climate change Vol. 6; no. 11; pp. 1032 - 1036
• Main Authors: Sakschewski, Boris, von Bloh, Werner, Boit, Alice, Poorter, Lourens, Peña-Claros, Marielos, Heinke, Jens, Joshi, Jasmin, Thonicke, Kirsten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.11.2016; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/158/2454; 704/158/1144; 704/158/2458; 704/158/670; Biodiversity; Biomass; Bosecologie en Bosbeheer; Carbon sinks; Climate Change; Climate change research; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Climatic conditions; Ecosystem resilience; Ecosystems; Environment; Environmental conditions; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Forest communities; Forest Ecology and Forest Management; Forests; Leerstoelgroep Bosecologie en bosbeheer; letter; PE&RC; Trees; Germany
• ISSN: 1758-678X; 1758-6798
• DOI: 10.1038/nclimate3109

Application of a terrestrial biogeochemical model that simulates diverse forest communities suggests that plant trait diversity may enable the Amazon rainforest to adjust to new climate conditions via a process of ecological sorting. Climate change threatens ecosystems worldwide, yet their potential future resilience remains largely unquantified 1 . In recent years many studies have shown that biodiversity, and in particular functional diversity, can enhance ecosystem resilience by providing a higher response diversity 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 . So far these insights have been mostly neglected in large-scale projections of ecosystem responses to climate change 6 . Here we show that plant trait diversity, as a key component of functional diversity, can have a strikingly positive effect on the Amazon forests’ biomass under future climate change. Using a terrestrial biogeochemical model that simulates diverse forest communities on the basis of individual tree growth 7 , we show that plant trait diversity may enable the Amazon forests to adjust to new climate conditions via a process of ecological sorting, protecting the Amazon’s carbon sink function. Therefore, plant trait diversity, and biodiversity in general, should be considered in large-scale ecosystem projections and be included as an integral part of climate change research and policy.