Water table depth modulates productivity and biomass across Amazonian forests

Abstract

Aim

Water availability is the major driver of tropical forest structure and dynamics. Most research has focused on the impacts of climatic water availability, whereas remarkably little is known about the influence of water table depth and excess soil water on forest processes. Nevertheless, given that plants take up water from the soil, the impacts of climatic water supply on plants are likely to be modulated by soil water conditions.

Location

Lowland Amazonian forests.

Time period

1971–2019.

Methods

We used 344 long-term inventory plots distributed across Amazonia to analyse the effects of long-term climatic and edaphic water supply on forest functioning. We modelled forest structure and dynamics as a function of climatic, soil-water and edaphic properties.

Results

Water supplied by both precipitation and groundwater affects forest structure and dynamics, but in different ways. Forests with a shallow water table (depth <5 m) had 18% less above-ground woody productivity and 23% less biomass stock than forests with a deep water table. Forests in drier climates (maximum cumulative water deficit < −160 mm) had 21% less productivity and 24% less biomass than those in wetter climates. Productivity was affected by the interaction between climatic water deficit and water table depth. On average, in drier climates the forests with a shallow water table had lower productivity than those with a deep water table, with this difference decreasing within wet climates, where lower productivity was confined to a very shallow water table.

Main conclusions

We show that the two extremes of water availability (excess and deficit) both reduce productivity in Amazon upland (terra-firme) forests. Biomass and productivity across Amazonia respond not simply to regional climate, but rather to its interaction with water table conditions, exhibiting high local differentiation. Our study disentangles the relative contribution of those factors, helping to improve understanding of the functioning of tropical ecosystems and how they are likely to respond to climate change.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Sousa, TR Schietti, J Ribeiro, IO Emilio, T Herrera Fernández, R ter Steege, H Castilho, CV Esquivel-Muelbert, A Baker, T https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3251-1679 Pontes-Lopes, A Silva, CVJ Silveira, JM Derroire, G Castro, W Monteagudo Mendoza, A Ruschel, A Prieto, A Nogueira Lima, AJ Rudas, A Araujo-Murakami, A Parada Gutierrez, A Andrade, A Roopsind, A Manzatto, AG Di Fiore, A Torres-Lezama, A Dourdain, A Marimon, B Marimon, BH Burban, B van Ulft, B Herault, B Quesada, C Mendoza, C Stahl, C Bonal, D Galbraith, D Neill, D de Oliveira, EA Hase, E Jimenez-Rojas, E Vilanova, E Arets, E Berenguer, E Alvarez-Davila, E Honorio Coronado, EN Almeida, E Coelho, F Cornejo Valverde, F Elias, F Brown, F Bongers, F Arevalo, FR Lopez-Gonzalez, G van der Heijden, G Aymard, GA Llampazo, GF Pardo, G Ramirez-Angulo, H do Amaral, IL Guimaraes Vieira, IC Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I Comiskey, JA Singh, J Silva Espejo, J Del Aguila-Pasquel, J Zwerts, JA Talbot, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6520-4560 Terborgh, J Ferreira, J Barroso, JG Barlow, J Camargo, JL Stropp, J Peacock, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1344-4335 Serrano, J Melgaco, K Ferreira, LV Blanc, L Poorter, L Valenzuela Gamarra, L Aragao, L Arroyo, L Silveira, M Cristina Penuela-Mora, M Nunez Vargas, MP Toledo, M Disney, M Rejou-Mechain, M Baisie, M Kalamandeen, M Pallqui Camacho, N Davila Cardozo, N Silva, N Pitman, N Higuchi, N Banki, O Alvarez Loayza, P Graca, PMLA Morandi, PS van der Meer, PJ van der Hout, P Naisso, P Camargo, PB Salomao, R Thomas, R Boot, R Umetsu, RK Silva, RDC Burnham, R Zagt, R Vasquez Martinez, R Brienen, R Ribeiro, SC Lewis, SL Vieira, SA de Almeida Reis, SM Fauset, S Laurance, S Feldpausch, T Erwin, T Killeen, T Wortel, V Chama Moscoso, V Vos, V Huaraca Huasco, W Laurance, W Malhi, Y Magnusson, WE Phillips, OL https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8993-6168 Costa, FRC
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Sousa, T. R., Schietti, J., Ribeiro, I. O., Emílio, T., Fernández, R. H., ter Steege, H., Castilho, C. V., Esquivel-Muelbert, A., Baker, T., Pontes-Lopes, A., Silva, C. V., Silveira, J. M., Derroire, G., Castro, W., Mendoza, A. M., Ruschel, A., Prieto, A., Lima, A. J., Rudas, A. … Costa, F. R. (2022). Water table depth modulates productivity and biomass across Amazonian forests. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1– 18, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13531. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Keywords:	above-ground biomass; carbon; forest dynamics; groundwater; seasonality; tropical ecology
Dates:	Published (online): 22 May 2022 Accepted: 3 May 2022
Institution:	The University of Leeds
Academic Units:	The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Transport Studies (Leeds) > ITS: Sustainable Transport Policy (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Ecology & Global Change (Leeds)
Funding Information:	Funder Grant number NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/B503384/1 NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/F005806/1 NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/N012542/1 NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/N004655/1 RCUK (Research Councils UK) NE/M022021/1 Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation N/A Royal Society CH160091 NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/D005590/1 Royal Society No External Ref EU - European Union 291585 (ERC 2011 ADG)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Publications
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2022 11:27
Last Modified:	22 May 2023 00:13
Status:	Published online
Publisher:	Wiley
Identification Number:	10.1111/geb.13531
Related URLs:	Author
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:187983

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Water table depth modulates productivity and biomass across Amazonian forests

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