Final published version
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Drought-driven wildfire impacts on structure and dynamics in a wet Central Amazonian forest
AU - Pontes-Lopes, A.
AU - Silva, C.V.J.
AU - Barlow, J.
AU - Rincón, L.M.
AU - Campanharo, W.A.
AU - Nunes, C.A.
AU - de Almeida, C.T.
AU - Silva Júnior, C.H.L.
AU - Cassol, H.L.G.
AU - Dalagnol, R.
AU - Stark, S.C.
AU - Graça, P.M.L.A.
AU - Aragão, L.E.O.C.
PY - 2021/5/26
Y1 - 2021/5/26
N2 - While the climate and human-induced forest degradation is increasing in the Amazon, fire impacts on forest dynamics remain understudied in the wetter regions of the basin, which are susceptible to large wildfires only during extreme droughts. To address this gap, we installed burned and unburned plots immediately after a wildfire in the northern Purus-Madeira (Central Amazon) during the 2015 El-Niño. We measured all individuals with diameter of 10 cm or more at breast height and conducted recensuses to track the demographic drivers of biomass change over 3 years. We also assessed how stem-level growth and mortality were influenced by fire intensity (proxied by char height) and tree morphological traits (size and wood density). Overall, the burned forest lost 27.3% of stem density and 12.8% of biomass, concentrated in small and medium trees. Mortality drove these losses in the first 2 years and recruitment decreased in the third year. The fire increased growth in lower wood density and larger sized trees, while char height had transitory strong effects increasing tree mortality. Our findings suggest that fire impacts are weaker in the wetter Amazon. Here, trees of greater sizes and higher wood densities may confer a margin of fire resistance; however, this may not extend to higher intensity fires arising from climate change.
AB - While the climate and human-induced forest degradation is increasing in the Amazon, fire impacts on forest dynamics remain understudied in the wetter regions of the basin, which are susceptible to large wildfires only during extreme droughts. To address this gap, we installed burned and unburned plots immediately after a wildfire in the northern Purus-Madeira (Central Amazon) during the 2015 El-Niño. We measured all individuals with diameter of 10 cm or more at breast height and conducted recensuses to track the demographic drivers of biomass change over 3 years. We also assessed how stem-level growth and mortality were influenced by fire intensity (proxied by char height) and tree morphological traits (size and wood density). Overall, the burned forest lost 27.3% of stem density and 12.8% of biomass, concentrated in small and medium trees. Mortality drove these losses in the first 2 years and recruitment decreased in the third year. The fire increased growth in lower wood density and larger sized trees, while char height had transitory strong effects increasing tree mortality. Our findings suggest that fire impacts are weaker in the wetter Amazon. Here, trees of greater sizes and higher wood densities may confer a margin of fire resistance; however, this may not extend to higher intensity fires arising from climate change.
KW - biomass
KW - demography
KW - fire
KW - forest degradation
KW - growth
KW - morphological traits
KW - adult
KW - article
KW - breast
KW - climate change
KW - drought
KW - forest
KW - human
KW - Madeira
KW - morphological trait
KW - mortality
KW - wildfire
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2021.0094
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2021.0094
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34004131
VL - 288
SP - 20210094
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0962-8452
IS - 1951
M1 - 20210094
ER -