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Effect of 7 yr of experimental drought on vegetation dynamics and biomass storage of an eastern Amazonian rainforest

  1. Antonio Carlos Lola da Costa1,
  2. David Galbraith2,3,
  3. Samuel Almeida4,
  4. Bruno Takeshi Tanaka Portela1,
  5. Mauricio da Costa1,
  6. João de Athaydes Silva Junior1,
  7. Alan P. Braga1,
  8. Paulo H. L. de Gonçalves1,
  9. Alex AR de Oliveira1,
  10. Rosie Fisher5,
  11. Oliver L. Phillips6,
  12. Daniel B. Metcalfe7,
  13. Peter Levy3,
  14. Patrick Meir2

Article first published online: 9 JUN 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03309.x

Issue

New Phytologist

New Phytologist

Special Issue: Featured papers on ‘Amazonian rain forests and drought’

Volume 187, Issue 3, pages 579–591, August 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

da Costa, A. C. L., Galbraith, D., Almeida, S., Portela, B. T. T., da Costa, M., de Athaydes Silva Junior, J., Braga, A. P., de Gonçalves, P. H. L., de Oliveira, A. A., Fisher, R., Phillips, O. L., Metcalfe, D. B., Levy, P. and Meir, P. (2010), Effect of 7 yr of experimental drought on vegetation dynamics and biomass storage of an eastern Amazonian rainforest. New Phytologist, 187: 579–591. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03309.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Universidade Federal do Pará, Centro de Geociências, Belém, CEP 66017-970, Pará, Brazil

  2. 2

    School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP

  3. 3

    Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK

  4. 4

    Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Coordenação de Botânica, Belém, CEP 66077-530, Pará, Brazil

  5. 5

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA

  6. 6

    Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

  7. 7

    Centre for the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK

*Author for correspondence: David Galbraith Tel: +44 131 445 8594 Email: darga@ceh.ac.uk

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 19 JUL 2010
  2. Article first published online: 9 JUN 2010
  3. Received: 27 December 2009, Accepted: 24 March 2010

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Keywords:

  • Amazon rainforest;
  • biomass;
  • drought;
  • tree mortality;
  • wood production

Summary

  • •
    At least one climate model predicts severe reductions of rainfall over Amazonia during this century. Long-term throughfall exclusion (TFE) experiments represent the best available means to investigate the resilience of the Amazon rainforest to such droughts.
  • •
    Results are presented from a 7 yr TFE study at Caxiuanã National Forest, eastern Amazonia. We focus on the impacts of the drought on tree mortality, wood production and above-ground biomass.
  • •
    Tree mortality in the TFE plot over the experimental period was 2.5% yr−1, compared with 1.25% yr−1 in a nearby control plot experiencing normal rainfall. Differences in stem mortality between plots were greatest in the largest (> 40 cm diameter at breast height (dbh)) size class (4.1% yr−1 in the TFE and 1.4% yr−1 in the control). Wood production in the TFE plot was c. 30% lower than in the control plot. Together, these changes resulted in a loss of 37.8 ± 2.0 Mg carbon (C) ha−1 in the TFE plot (2002–2008), compared with no change in the control.
  • •
    These results are remarkably consistent with those from another TFE (at Tapajós National Forest), suggesting that eastern Amazonian forests may respond to prolonged drought in a predictable manner.
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