The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks

The density of wood is a key indicator of the carbon investment strategies of trees, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbo...

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Autores principales: Mo, Lidong, Crowther, Thomas W., Maynard, Daniel S., van den Hoogen, Johan, Ma, Haozhi, Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia, Liang, Jingjing, de-Miguel, Sergio, Nabuurs, Gert-Jan, Reich, Peter B., Peri, Pablo Luis, Zohner, Constantin M.
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer Nature 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22256
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02564-9
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9
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author Mo, Lidong
Crowther, Thomas W.
Maynard, Daniel S.
van den Hoogen, Johan
Ma, Haozhi
Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia
Liang, Jingjing
de-Miguel, Sergio
Nabuurs, Gert-Jan
Reich, Peter B.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Zohner, Constantin M.
author_browse Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia
Crowther, Thomas W.
Liang, Jingjing
Ma, Haozhi
Maynard, Daniel S.
Mo, Lidong
Nabuurs, Gert-Jan
Peri, Pablo Luis
Reich, Peter B.
Zohner, Constantin M.
de-Miguel, Sergio
van den Hoogen, Johan
author_facet Mo, Lidong
Crowther, Thomas W.
Maynard, Daniel S.
van den Hoogen, Johan
Ma, Haozhi
Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia
Liang, Jingjing
de-Miguel, Sergio
Nabuurs, Gert-Jan
Reich, Peter B.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Zohner, Constantin M.
author_sort Mo, Lidong
collection INTA Digital
description The density of wood is a key indicator of the carbon investment strategies of trees, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbon stocks. Here we analyse information from 1.1 million forest inventory plots alongside wood density data from 10,703 tree species to create a spatially explicit understanding of the global wood density distribution and its drivers. Our findings reveal a pronounced latitudinal gradient, with wood in tropical forests being up to 30% denser than that in boreal forests. In both angiosperms and gymnosperms, hydrothermal conditions represented by annual mean temperature and soil moisture emerged as the primary factors influencing the variation in wood density globally. This indicates similar environmental filters and evolutionary adaptations among distinct plant groups, underscoring the essential role of abiotic factors in determining wood density in forest ecosystems. Additionally, our study highlights the prominent role of disturbance, such as human modification and fire risk, in influencing wood density at more local scales. Factoring in the spatial variation of wood density notably changes the estimates of forest carbon stocks, leading to differences of up to 21% within biomes. Therefore, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of terrestrial biomass distribution and how environmental changes and disturbances impact forest ecosystems.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
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spelling INTA222562025-05-13T14:42:25Z The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks Mo, Lidong Crowther, Thomas W. Maynard, Daniel S. van den Hoogen, Johan Ma, Haozhi Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia Liang, Jingjing de-Miguel, Sergio Nabuurs, Gert-Jan Reich, Peter B. Peri, Pablo Luis Zohner, Constantin M. Primary Forests Wood Density Carbon Bosques Primarios Dendidad de la Madera Carbono Nothofagus pumilio Nothofagus Carbon Storage Global Forest Carbon Stocks Almacenamiento de Carbono Reservas Forestales Globales de Carbono Nothofagus antarctica Ñire The density of wood is a key indicator of the carbon investment strategies of trees, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbon stocks. Here we analyse information from 1.1 million forest inventory plots alongside wood density data from 10,703 tree species to create a spatially explicit understanding of the global wood density distribution and its drivers. Our findings reveal a pronounced latitudinal gradient, with wood in tropical forests being up to 30% denser than that in boreal forests. In both angiosperms and gymnosperms, hydrothermal conditions represented by annual mean temperature and soil moisture emerged as the primary factors influencing the variation in wood density globally. This indicates similar environmental filters and evolutionary adaptations among distinct plant groups, underscoring the essential role of abiotic factors in determining wood density in forest ecosystems. Additionally, our study highlights the prominent role of disturbance, such as human modification and fire risk, in influencing wood density at more local scales. Factoring in the spatial variation of wood density notably changes the estimates of forest carbon stocks, leading to differences of up to 21% within biomes. Therefore, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of terrestrial biomass distribution and how environmental changes and disturbances impact forest ecosystems. EEA Santa Cruz, INTA Fil: Mo, Lidong. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. Fil: Crowther, Thomas W. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. Fil: Maynard, Daniel S. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. Fil: Maynard, Daniel S. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. Fil: van den Hoogen, Johan. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. Fil: Ma, Haozhi. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. Fil: Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. Fil: Liang, Jingjing. Purdue University. Forest Advanced Computing and Artificial Intelligence Lab. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources; Estados Unidos. Fil: de-Miguel, Sergio. University of Lleida. Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering; España. Fil: de-Miguel, Sergio. Joint Research Unit CTFC – AGROTECNIO – CERCA; España. Fil: Nabuurs, Gert-Jan. Wageningen University and Research; Países Bajos. Fil: Reich, Peter B. University of Minnesota. Department of Forest Resources; Estados Unidos. Fil: Reich, Peter B. Western Sydney University. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment; Australia. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fil: Zohner, Constantin M. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Institute of Integrative Biology. ETH Zurich; Suiza. 2025-05-13T14:30:18Z 2025-05-13T14:30:18Z 2024-12 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22256 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02564-9 MO L.; CROWTHER T.W.; MAYNARD D.S.; van den HOOGEN J.; RENNER S.S.; LIANG J.; de MIGUEL S.; (…); PERI P.L.; et al. (2024) The Global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks. Nature Ecology & Evolution 8: 2195-2212. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9 2397-334X (online) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Springer Nature Nature Ecology & Evolution 8 (12) : 2195-2212. (December 2024)
spellingShingle Primary Forests
Wood Density
Carbon
Bosques Primarios
Dendidad de la Madera
Carbono
Nothofagus pumilio
Nothofagus
Carbon Storage
Global Forest Carbon Stocks
Almacenamiento de Carbono
Reservas Forestales Globales de Carbono
Nothofagus antarctica
Ñire
Mo, Lidong
Crowther, Thomas W.
Maynard, Daniel S.
van den Hoogen, Johan
Ma, Haozhi
Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia
Liang, Jingjing
de-Miguel, Sergio
Nabuurs, Gert-Jan
Reich, Peter B.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Zohner, Constantin M.
The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
title The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
title_full The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
title_fullStr The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
title_full_unstemmed The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
title_short The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
title_sort global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
topic Primary Forests
Wood Density
Carbon
Bosques Primarios
Dendidad de la Madera
Carbono
Nothofagus pumilio
Nothofagus
Carbon Storage
Global Forest Carbon Stocks
Almacenamiento de Carbono
Reservas Forestales Globales de Carbono
Nothofagus antarctica
Ñire
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22256
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02564-9
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9
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