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Increasing tree size across Amazonia
Author(s)
University of Leeds
Rebecca Banbury Morgan
University of Leeds
Roel Brienen
University of Leeds
Emanuel Gloor
University of Leeds
Simon L. Lewis
University of Leeds
Kyle G. Dexter
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Everton Almeida
Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
Edmar Almeida de Oliveira
Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Esteban Álvarez‐Dávila
Fundación Con Vida
Atila Alves de Oliveira
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Ana Andrade
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Simone Aparecida Vieira
Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Luiz E. O. C. Aragão
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
Alejandro Araujo‐Murakami
E.J.M.M. Arets
Wageningen University & Research
Luzmila Arroyo
Gerardo Aymard-Corredor
Olaf Bánki
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Plínio Barbosa de Camargo
Universidade de São Paulo
Jorcely Barroso
Universidade Federal do Acre
Lilian Blanc
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
Foster Brown
Woodwell Climate Research Center
José Luís Camargo
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Wendeson Castro
Universidade Federal do Acre
Víctor Chama Moscoso
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Jérôme Chave
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Ezequiel Chavez
Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado
James A. Comiskey
National Park Service
Antônio C. L. da Costa
Universidade Federal do Pará
Jhon del Águila Pasquel
Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana
Géraldine Derroire
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Anthony Di Fiore
Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Sophie Fauset
University of Plymouth
Ted R. Feldpausch
University of Exeter
Gerardo Flores Llampazo
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana
René Guillén Villaroel
Rafael Herrera
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas
Niro Higuchi
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Eurídice Honorio Coronado
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana
Isau Huamantupa‐Chuquimaco
Amazon National University of Madre de Dios
Walter Huaraca Huasco
University of Oxford
E. Jiménez
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Timothy J. Killeen
Missouri Botanical Garden
Susan G. W. Laurance
James Cook University
William F. Laurance
James Cook University
Aurora Levesley
University of Leeds
Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez
University of Leeds
Yadvinder Malhi
University of Oxford
Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Ben Hur Marimon Junior
Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Simone Matias Reis
Universidade Federal do Acre
Casimiro Mendoza Bautista
Universidad Mayor de San Simón
Irina Polo
Fundación Jardín Botánico “Joaquín Antonio Uribe” de Medellín
Abel Monteagudo Mendoza
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Paulo Sérgio Morandi
Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Adriano Nogueira Lima
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Percy Núñez Vargas
National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco
Nadir Pallqui Camacho
National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco
Alexander Parada Gutierrez
Julie Peacock
University of Leeds
María Cristina Peñuela-Mora
Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAM
Georgia Pickavance
University of Leeds
John Pipoly
Florida Atlantic University
Nigel C. A. Pitman
Field Museum of Natural History
Adriana Prieto
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Carlos Quesada
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Freddy Ramírez Arévalo
Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana
Maxime Réjou-Méchain
UMR Botanique et Modélisation de l’Architecture des Plantes et des végétations
Zorayda Restrepo Correa
Fundación Con Vida
Rocio Rojas
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Lily O. Rodríguez
Centro de Conservación Investigación y Manejo de Areas Naturales
Anand Roopsind
Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development
Rafael Paiva Salomão
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Natalino Silva
Javier Silva Espejo
Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity
Marcos Silveira
Universidade Federal do Acre
Juliana Stropp
Joey Talbot
University of Leeds
Hans ter Steege
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
John Terborgh
University of Florida
Raquel Thomas
Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development
Luis Valenzuela Gamarra
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Peter van der Hout
Rodolfo Vásquez
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Emilio Vilanova
University of the Andes
Roderick Zagt
Utrecht University
Timothy R. Baker
University of Leeds
Oliver L. Phillips
University of Leeds
Date Issued
25 de septiembre de 2025
Type
Article
Volume
11
Issue
10
Series/Report No.
Nature Plants
Start Page
2016
End Page
2025
ISSN
2055-026X
2055-0278
Abstract
Abstract Climate change and increasing availability of resources such as carbon dioxide are modifying forest functioning worldwide, but the effects of these changes on forest structure are unclear. As additional resources become available, for example, through CO 2 fertilization or nitrogen deposition, large trees, with greater access to light, may be expected to gain further advantages. Conversely, smaller light-suppressed trees might benefit more if their light compensation point changes, while bigger trees may be the most negatively impacted by increasing heat and drought. We assessed recent changes in the structure of Earth’s largest tropical forest by analysing 30 years of Amazonian tree records across 188 mature forest plots. We find that, at a stand level, trees have become larger over time, with mean tree basal area increasing by 3.3% per decade (95% CI 2.4; 4.1). Larger trees have increased in both number and size, yet we observed similar rates of relative size gain in large and small trees. This evidence is consistent with a resource-driven boost for larger trees but also a reduction in suppression among smaller trees. These results, especially the persistence and consistency of tree size increases across Amazonian forest plots, communities and regions, indicate that any negative impacts of climate change on forests and large trees here have so far been mitigated by the positive effects of increased resources.
Keywords