The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks.

Abstract

The density of wood is a key indicator of the carbon investment strategies of trees, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbon stocks. Here we analyse information from 1.1 million forest inventory plots alongside wood density data from 10,703 tree species to create a spatially explicit understanding of the global wood density distribution and its drivers. Our findings reveal a pronounced latitudinal gradient, with wood in tropical forests being up to 30% denser than that in boreal forests. In both angiosperms and gymnosperms, hydrothermal conditions represented by annual mean temperature and soil moisture emerged as the primary factors influencing the variation in wood density globally. This indicates similar environmental filters and evolutionary adaptations among distinct plant groups, underscoring the essential role of abiotic factors in determining wood density in forest ecosystems. Additionally, our study highlights the prominent role of disturbance, such as human modification and fire risk, in influencing wood density at more local scales. Factoring in the spatial variation of wood density notably changes the estimates of forest carbon stocks, leading to differences of up to 21% within biomes. Therefore, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of terrestrial biomass distribution and how environmental changes and disturbances impact forest ecosystems.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Mo, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3805-7638 Crowther, T.W. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5674-8913 Maynard, D.S. van den Hoogen, J. Ma, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0709-1438 Bialic-Murphy, L. Liang, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9439-9320 de-Miguel, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9738-0657 Nabuurs, G.-J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9761-074X Reich, P.B. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4424-662X Phillips, O.L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8993-6168 Abegg, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5151-5889 Adou Yao, Y.C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9408-3497 Alberti, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2422-3009 Almeyda Zambrano, A.M. Alvarado, B.V. Alvarez-Dávila, E. Alvarez-Loayza, P. Alves, L.F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8944-1851 Amaral, I. Ammer, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4235-0135 Antón-Fernández, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5545-3320 Araujo-Murakami, A. Arroyo, L. Avitabile, V. Aymard, G.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9405-0508 Baker, T.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3251-1679 Bałazy, R. Banki, O. Barroso, J.G. Bastian, M.L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0000-9115 Bastin, J.-F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2602-7247 Birigazzi, L. Birnbaum, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4830-5500 Bitariho, R. Boeckx, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3998-0010 Bongers, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8431-6189 Boonman, C.C.F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2417-1579 Bouriaud, O. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8046-466X Brancalion, P.H.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8245-4062 Brandl, S. Brearley, F.Q. Brienen, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5397-5755 Broadbent, E.N. Bruelheide, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3135-0356 Bussotti, F. Gatti, R.C. César, R.G. Cesljar, G. Chazdon, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7349-5687 Chen, H.Y.H. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9477-5541 Chisholm, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7739-0508 Cho, H. Cienciala, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1254-4254 Clark, C. 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Gamarra, J.G.P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1290-9559 Gianelle, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7697-5793 Glick, H.B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2956-530X Harris, D.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6801-2484 Hector, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1309-7716 Hemp, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5369-2122 Hengeveld, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9592-3080 Hérault, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6950-7286 Herbohn, J.L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5701-4882 Herold, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0246-6886 Hietz, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0458-6593 Hillers, A. Honorio Coronado, E.N. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2314-590X Hui, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3660-8160 Ibanez, T. Imai, N. Jagodziński, A.M. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6899-0985 Jaroszewicz, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2042-8245 Johannsen, V.K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1268-9787 Joly, C.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-2805 Jucker, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0751-6312 Jung, I. Karminov, V. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9298-956X Kartawinata, K. Kearsley, E. Kenfack, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8208-3388 Kennard, D.K. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4842-8260 Kepfer-Rojas, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1681-2877 Keppel, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7092-6149 Khan, M.L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6849-0307 Killeen, T.J. Kim, H.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3440-6071 Kitayama, K. Köhl, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0182-7256 Korjus, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8522-7869 Kraxner, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3832-6236 Kucher, D. Laarmann, D. Lang, M. Lewis, S.L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8066-6851 Li, Y. Lopez-Gonzalez, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0814-8830 Lu, H. Lukina, N.V. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1235-0177 Maitner, B.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2118-9880 Malhi, Y. Marcon, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5249-321X Marimon, B.S. Marimon-Junior, B.H. Marshall, A.R. Martin, E.H. McCarthy, J.K. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3060-1678 Meave, J.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6241-8803 Melo-Cruz, O. Mendoza, C. Mendoza-Polo, I. Miscicki, S. Merow, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0561-053X Mendoza, A.M. Moreno, V.S. Mukul, S.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6955-2469 Mundhenk, P. Nava-Miranda, M.G. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5983-2053 Neill, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5143-9430 Neldner, V.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4233-4549 Nevenic, R.V. Ngugi, M.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3087-7634 Niklaus, P.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2360-1357 Ontikov, P. Ortiz-Malavasi, E. Pan, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1469-9348 Paquette, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1048-9674 Parada-Gutierrez, A. Parfenova, E.I. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3221-1457 Park, M. Parren, M. Parthasarathy, N. 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Saikia, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5481-282X Salas-Eljatib, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8468-0829 Saner, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9086-3074 Schall, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4808-818X Schelhaas, M.-J. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4525-2677 Schepaschenko, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7814-4990 Scherer-Lorenzen, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9566-590X Schmid, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8430-3214 Schöngart, J. Searle, E.B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3425-5998 Seben, V. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3692-446X Serra-Diaz, J.M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1988-1154 Sheil, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1166-6591 Shvidenko, A.Z. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7640-2151 Da Silva, A.C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1285-640X Silva-Espejo, J.E. Silveira, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0485-7872 Singh, J. Sist, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4565-4417 Slik, F. Sonké, B. Sosinski, E.E. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-9474 Souza, A.F. 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Wortel, V. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1224-8025 Zagt, R. Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, T. Zhang, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3091-5060 Zhao, X. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0879-4063 Zhou, M. Zhu, Z.-X. Zo-Bi, I.C. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0982-8579 Zohner, C.M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8302-4854
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Dates:	Published: December 2024 Published (online): 15 October 2024 Accepted: 16 September 2024
Institution:	The University of Leeds
Academic Units:	The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Ecology & Global Change (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > River Basin Processes & Management (Leeds) > SOG: water@leeds
Depositing User:	Symplectic Publications
Date Deposited:	23 Oct 2024 14:27
Last Modified:	11 Feb 2025 11:30
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Nature Research
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9
Related URLs:	PubMed URL Dataset
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:218746

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The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks.

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The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks.

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