title: Drought-mortality relationships for tropical forests.
abstract: *The rich ecology of tropical forests is intimately tied to their moisture status. Multi-site syntheses can provide a macro-scale view of these linkages and their susceptibility to changing climates. Here, we report pan-tropical and regional-scale analyses of tree vulnerability to drought. *We assembled available data on tropical forest tree stem mortality before, during, and after recent drought events, from 119 monitoring plots in 10 countries concentrated in Amazonia and Borneo. *In most sites, larger trees are disproportionately at risk. At least within Amazonia, low wood density trees are also at greater risk of drought-associated mortality, independent of size. For comparable drought intensities, trees in Borneo are more vulnerable than trees in the Amazon. There is some evidence for lagged impacts of drought, with mortality rates remaining elevated 2 yr after the meteorological event is over. *These findings indicate that repeated droughts would shift the functional composition of tropical forests toward smaller, denser-wooded trees. At very high drought intensities, the linear relationship between tree mortality and moisture stress apparently breaks down, suggesting the existence of moisture stress thresholds beyond which some tropical forests would suffer catastrophic tree mortality.
authors.affiliation: Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. o.phillips@leeds.ac.uk
authors.forename: Oliver L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Geertje
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van der Heijden
authors.forename: Simon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: López-González
authors.forename: Luiz E O C
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Aragão
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.forename: Yadvinder
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Malhi
authors.forename: Abel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monteagudo
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Esteban Alvarez
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Dávila
authors.forename: Iêda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amaral
authors.forename: Sandy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andelman
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Luzmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arroyo
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aymard
authors.forename: Tim R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Blanc
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bonal
authors.forename: Atila Cristina Alves
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Kuo-Jung
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Nallaret Dávila
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Cardozo
authors.forename: Lola
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: da Costa
authors.forename: Ted R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Feldpausch
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Nikolaos M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Fyllas
authors.forename: Maria Aparecida
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Galbraith
authors.forename: Emanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gloor
authors.forename: Niro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Eurídice
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Honorio
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keeling
authors.forename: Tim J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Killeen
authors.forename: Jon C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lovett
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meir
authors.forename: Casimiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morel
authors.forename: Percy Núñez
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patiño
authors.forename: Kelvin S-H
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Peh
authors.forename: Antonio Peña
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prieto
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Quesada
authors.forename: Fredy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Hirma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rudas
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salamão
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.forename: J W Ferry
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Slik
authors.forename: Bonaventure
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sonké
authors.forename: Anne Sota
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stropp
authors.forename: James R D
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Taplin
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vásquez
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vilanova
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D018533:Biomass; D001938:Brazil; D055864:Droughts; D017753:Ecosystem; D008954:Models, Biological; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000254:growth & development; D011891:Rain; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013997:Time Factors; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development*; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014867:Water; D014934:Wood / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D014867:Water