Diverse anthropogenic disturbances shift Amazon forests along a structural spectrum

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  • Marielle Smith
    Michigan State University
  • Scott C. Stark
    Michigan State University
  • Tyeen C. Taylor
    University of Michigan
  • Juliana Schietti
    Universidade Federal do AmazonasNational Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Danilo Roberti Alves Almeida
    University of Sao Paulo
  • Susan Aragon
    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
  • Kelly Torralvo
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Albertina Lima
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Gabriel de Oliveira
    University of South Alabama, Dauphin Island
  • Rafael Leandro de Assis
    Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP)Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
  • Veronika Leitold
    University of Oslo
  • Aline Pontes-Lopes
    Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
  • Ricardo Scoles
    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
  • Luciana Cristina de Sousa Vieira
    Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
  • Angelica Faria Resende
    University of Sao Paulo
  • Alysha I. Coppola
    ETH Zürich
  • Diego Oliveira Brandao
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Joao de Althaydes Silva Junior
    Universidade Federal do Para
  • Laura F. Lobato
    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
  • Wagner Freitas
    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
  • Daniel Almeida
    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
  • Mendell S. Souza
    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
  • David M. Minor
    University of Maryland
  • Juan Camilo Villegas
    Universidad de Antioquia
  • Darin J. Law
    University of Arizona, Tucson
  • Nathan Goncalves
    Michigan State University
  • Daniel Gomes da Rocha
    University of California, Davis
  • Marcelino Carneiro Guedes
    Embrapa Amapá, Brazil
  • Helio Tonini
    Embrapa Pecuária Sul, Bagé, brazil
  • Katia Emidio da Silva
    Embrapa Amazônia Ocidental, Brazil
  • Joost van Haren
    University of Arizona, Tucson
  • Diogo Martins Rosa
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Dalton Freitas do Valle
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Carlos Leandro Cordeiro
    Instituto Internacional para Sustentabilidade, Brazil
  • Niclas Zaslavsky de Lima
    Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
  • Gang Shao
    Michigan State University
  • Imma Oliveiras Menor
    University of Oxford
  • Georgina Conti
    Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
  • Ana Paul Florentino
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Lia Montti
    Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina
  • Luiz E.O.C. Aragao
    Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
  • Sean MM. McMahon
    Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland
  • Geoffrey G. Parker
    Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland
  • David D. Breshears
    University of Arizona, Tucson
  • Antonio Carlos Lola Da Costa
    Universidade Federal do Para
  • William E. Magnusson
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Rita Mesquita
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Jose Luis C. Camargo
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
  • Raimundo C. de Oliveira
    Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Santarém, Brazil
  • Plinio B. de Camargo
    Universidade de São Paulo
  • Scott R. Saleska
    University of Arizona, Tucson
  • Bruce Walker Nelson
    National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus
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 igapó (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.

Keywords

  • Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)24-32
Number of pages9
JournalFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Volume21
Issue number1
Early online dateFeb 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2023
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