Forest-rainfall cascades buffer against drought across the Amazon

Author(s)

Staal, Arie ^[1] ; Tuinenburg, Obbe A. ^[2] ; Bosmans, Joyce H. C. ^[3] ; Holmgren, Milena ^[4] ; van Nes, Egbert H. ^[1] ; Scheffer, Marten ^[1] ; Zemp, Delphine Clara ^{[5, 6]} ; Dekker, Stefan C. ^{[2, 7]}

Affiliation

^[1] Wageningen Univ, Aquat Ecol & Water Qual Management Grp, Wageningen - Netherlands

^[2] Univ Utrecht, Copernicus Inst Sustainable Dev, Dept Environm Sci, Utrecht - Netherlands

^[3] Univ Utrecht, Dept Phys Geog, Utrecht - Netherlands

^[4] Wageningen Univ, Resource Ecol Grp, Wageningen - Netherlands

^[5] Univ Goettingen, Biodivers Macroecol & Biogeog Grp, Gottingen - Germany

^[6] Potsdam Inst Climate Impact Res, Earth Syst Anal, Potsdam - Germany

^[7] Open Univ, Fac Management Sci & Technol, Heerlen - Netherlands

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE; v. 8, n. 6, p. 539+, JUN 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 21

Abstract

Tree transpiration in the Amazon may enhance rainfall for downwind forests. Until now it has been unclear how this cascading effect plays out across the basin. Here, we calculate local forest transpiration and the subsequent trajectories of transpired water through the atmosphere in high spatial and temporal detail. We estimate that one-third of Amazon rainfall originates within its own basin, of which two-thirds has been transpired. Forests in the southern half of the basin contribute most to the stability of other forests in this way, whereas forests in the south-western Amazon are particularly dependent on transpired-water subsidies. These forest-rainfall cascades buffer the effects of drought and reveal a mechanism by which deforestation can compromise the resilience of the Amazon forest system in the face of future climatic extremes. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/50151-0 - Dynamical phenomena in complex networks: fundamentals and applications
• Grantee: Elbert Einstein Nehrer Macau
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants