Family imprint reveals basin-wide patterns of Amazon forest embolism resistance
Author(s)
E. Gloor
Thiago S. F. Silva
Rafael S. Oliveira
Fernanda Coelho de Souza
Caroline Signori-Müller
Francisco Carvalho Diniz
Luciano Pereira
Martin Acosta
Martin L. Gilpin
Manuel J. Marca Zevallos
Carlos A. Salas Yupayccana
Flor M. Perez-Mullisaca
Halina Soares Jancoski
Marina Corrêa Scalon
Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
B. H. Marimon Junior
Yadvinder Malhi
Imma Oliveras Menor
Lucy Rowland
Patrick Meir
P. Bittencourt
Antônio C. L. da Costa
João Antônio R. Santos
Renata Teixeira de Oliveira
Adriane Esquivel‐Muelbert
Esteban Álvarez-Dávila
Miguel N. Alexiades
Edmar Almeida de Oliveira
Ana Cristina Segalin Andrade
Luiz Aragão
Alejandro Araujo-Murakami
Luzmila Arroyo
Gerardo Aymard
Jorcely Barroso
Damien Bonal
R. Brienen
Carlos Céron
J. L. Camargo
R. S. A. Silva
Wendeson Castro
J. Chave
James A. Comiskey
Douglas C. Daly
G. Derroire
Mathias Disney
Aurélie Dourdain
Sophie Fauset
T. R. Feldpausch
Gerardo Flores Llampazo
Bruno Hérault
Lionel Hernández
Niro Higuchi
Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado
Eliana María Jiménez-Rojas
Michelle Kalamandeen
Susan Laurance
William Laurance
S. M. Lewis
Antonio S. Lima
Abel Monteagudo‐Mendoza
Paulo S. Morandi
Percy NúñezVargas
D. Neill
W. A. Palacios
Alexander Parada Gutierrez
Guido Pardo-Molina
María Cristina Peñuela-Mora
N. Pitman
Rocio Rojas
Adriana Prieto
Maxime Réjou-Méchain
Hirma Ramírez‐Angulo
S. Ribeiro
Kalle Ruokolainen
Rafael Paiva Salomão
Julio Serrano
Rodrigo Sierra
A. R. Ruschel
M. Silveira
Hans ter Steege
J. Terborgh
Luis Valenzuela Gamarra
Rodolfo Vásquez Martinez
Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira
Emilio Vilanova Torre
Vincent Antoine Vos
Ophelia Wang
Kenneth R. Young
Robert Muscarella
Kyle G. Dexter
T. R. Baker
O. L. Phillips
Maurizio Mencuccini
D. Galbraith
Date Issued
26 de febrero de 2026
Type
Article
Volume
17
Issue
1
Abstract
Abstract Amazon rainforests face intensifying water stress due to increases in vapour pressure deficit and changing hydrological regimes. Embolism resistance (Ψ 50 ) is a critical metric of tree survival under drought conditions, it is defined as a plant’s capacity to resist disruption of xylem water flow due to air bubble formation from water stress. However, measurements of Ψ 50 are only available for a limited number of Amazon locations and species. Conversely, data on forest taxonomic composition are abundant across Amazonia, and if Ψ 50 is conserved phylogenetically, these data could provide a way to scale-up drought resistance patterns. Here we evaluate Ψ 50 measurements across non-flooded Amazonian tree taxa and reveal a moderate phylogenetic signal, with phylogenetic conservatism evident at the family-level. Notably, Fabaceae is amongst the most embolism-resistant tree families in Amazonia. Leveraging the phylogenetic signal we use species composition and tree size data from 448 forest plots across Amazonia to produce a macroecological assessment of Amazonian vulnerability to embolism. The resulting estimate spatial pattern reveals that forests in the Brazilian and Guiana Shield regions, where Fabaceae abundance is high, show strong resistance to embolism. In contrast, tree communities in Western Amazonia appear more vulnerable to embolism, suggesting a reduced capacity to withstand future drought conditions.
Subjects