Diverse anthropogenic disturbances shift Amazon forests along a structural spectrum

Author(s):Show less -

Smith, Marielle N. ; Stark, Scott C. ; Taylor, Tyeen C. ; Schietti, Juliana ; de Almeida, Danilo Roberti Alves ; Aragon, Susan ; Torralvo, Kelly ; Lima, Albertina P. ; de Oliveira, Gabriel ; de Assis, Rafael Leandro ; Leitold, Veronika ; Pontes-Lopes, Aline ; Scoles, Ricardo ; Vieira, Luciana Cristina de Sousa ; Resende, Angelica Faria ; Coppola, Alysha, I ; Brandao, Diego Oliveira ; Silva Junior, Joao de Athaydes ; Lobato, Laura F. ; Freitas, Wagner ; Almeida, Daniel ; Souza, Mendell S. ; Minor, David M. ; Villegas, Juan Camilo ; Law, Darin J. ; Goncalves, Nathan ; da Rocha, Daniel Gomes ; Guedes, Marcelino Carneiro ; Tonini, Helio ; da Silva, Katia Emidio ; van Haren, Joost ; Rosa, Diogo Martins ; do Valle, Dalton Freitas ; Cordeiro, Carlos Leandro ; de Lima, Nicolas Zaslavsky ; Shao, Gang ; Menor, Imma Oliveras ; Conti, Georgina ; Florentino, Ana Paula ; Montti, Lia ; Aragao, Luiz E. O. C. ; McMahon, Sean M. ; Parker, Geoffrey G. ; Breshears, David D. ; Da Costa, Antonio Carlos Lola ; Magnusson, William E. ; Mesquita, Rita ; Camargo, Jose Luis C. ; de Oliveira, Raimundo C. ; de Camargo, Plinio B. ; Saleska, Scott R. ; Nelson, Bruce Walker

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT; v. 21, n. 1, p. 9-pg., 2023-02-01.

Abstract

Amazon forests are being degraded by myriad anthropogenic disturbances, altering ecosystem and climate function. We analyzed the effects of a range of land-use and climate-change disturbances on fine-scale canopy structure using a large database of profiling canopy lidar collected from disturbed and mature Amazon forest plots. At most of the disturbed sites, surveys were conducted 10-30 years after disturbance, with many exhibiting signs of recovery. Structural impacts differed in magnitude more than in character among disturbance types, producing a gradient of impacts. Structural changes were highly coordinated in a manner consistent across disturbance types, indicating commonalities in regeneration pathways. At the most severely affected site - burned igapo (seasonally flooded forest) - no signs of canopy regeneration were observed, indicating a sustained alteration of microclimates and consequently greater vulnerability to transitioning to a more open-canopy, savanna-like state. Notably, disturbances rarely shifted forests beyond the natural background of structural variation within mature plots, highlighting the similarities between anthropogenic and natural disturbance regimes, and indicating a degree of resilience among Amazon forests. Studying diverse disturbance types within an integrated analytical framework builds capacity to predict the risk of degradation-driven forest transitions. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/21043-8 - Airborne LiDAR for quantifying changes in biomass stocks and structural dynamics in fire-damaged forests in Central Amazon
• Grantee: Aline Pontes Lopes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 18/21338-3 - Monitoring forest landscape restoration from unmanned aerial vehicles using Lidar and hyperspectral remote sensing
• Grantee: Danilo Roberti Alves de Almeida
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 19/24049-5 - Monitoring São Paulo State restoration forests: application of new remote sensing tools and subsidies for public policies
• Grantee: Angelica Faria de Resende
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral