Region-specific forest structure pathways reveal climate effects on old-growth tropical forest biomass

Depoortere P.; Bauman D.; Fayolle A.; Phillips O.; Bialic-Murphy L.; Zohner C.M.; Vander Linden A.; Plumacker A.; de Lame H.; Liang J.; Reich P.B.; Gamarra J.G.P.; Alberti G.; Hérault B.; Picard N.; de-Miguel S.; Nabuurs G.-J.; Crowther T.W.; Paquette A.; Pretzsch H.; Wiser S.K.; Zhou M.; Chen H.Y.H.; Verbeeck H.; De Cannière C.; Sullivan M.J.P.; Poorter L.; Ponette Q.; Bauters M.; Deblauwe V.; Keppel G.; Brearley F.Q.; Zo-Bi I.C.; Ouattara T.A.; Lawes M.J.; Bongers F.; Meave J.A.; Schulze M.; Ngoh M.L.; ter Steege H.; Homeier J.; Azihou A.F.; Trethowan L.; Slik J.W.F.; Derroire G.; Bonal D.; Laurance W.F.; Hemp A.; Murdjoko A.; Aguirre-Gutiérrez J.; Kintamani E.; White L.; Lewis S.L.; Hector A.; Amani C.; Andrade A.; Angbonga A.; Aragão L.; Kurian A.; Allah Barem F.; Almeyda Zambrano A.M.; Alvarez-Davila E.; Alvarez-Loayza P.; Amstrong E.; Araujo-Murakami A.; Arroyo L.; Baker T.R.; Bako O.; Bánki O.; Baraloto C.; Barbier N.; Barroso J.G.; Bassama P.; Beeckman H.; Benu N.M.H.; Bihiya H.; Birnbaum P.; Bitariho R.; Boeckx P.; Boekee K.; Bogaert J.; Böhning-Gease K.; Boyemba F.; Brandão da Cunha H.; Brienen R.; Briseño-Reyes J.; Broadbent E.N.; Camargo J.L.; Cassart B.; Cazzolla Gatti R.; Chave J.; Chuyong G.; Clark D.B.; Clark C.; Collalti A.; Collins M.; Cornejo Valverde F.; Corral-Rivas J.J.; Couteron P.; Cuni-Sanchez A.; da Costa L.; Daniel Soto J.; Dar A.A.; Dar J.A.; Dauby G.; de Haulleville T.; Di Fiore A.; Diisi J.; Djuikouo K M.-N.; Dolezal J.; Dongmo N.; Doucet J.-L.; Droissart V.; Engel J.; Engone Obiang N.L.; Espinosa S.; Eyre T.; Fauset S.; Feldpausch T.R.; Fischer M.; Gajapersad K.; Girmansyah D.; Gloor E.; Gomes do Amaral I.; Gonmadje C.F.; Grieco E.; Grogan J.; Habonayo R.; Harris D.J.; Honorio Coronado E.; Huamantupa-Chuquimaco I.; Hubau W.; Jansen P.A.; Jeffery K.J.; Jumbam B.; Kanda N.B.; Kamdem N.; Kasongo Yakusu E.; Katembo J.; Kayijamahe C.; Kearsley E.; Kenfack D.; Khan M.L.; Killeen T.; Kothandaraman S.; Kougue R.; Kumar A.; Kuswandi R.; Labrière N.; Lasso D.; Laurance S.; Leal M.; Leblanc H.; Libalah M.; Lisingo J.; Malhi Y.; Marimon B.S.; Marimon Junior B.H.; Marshall A.R.; Martin E.H.; Martin-Ducup O.; Mbasi M.M.; Mbayu F.; Mendoza C.; Mendoza Polo I.; Mofack G.; Monteagudo-Mendoza A.; Mtui A.; Muthuramkumar S.; Narayanan A.; Nava-Miranda M.G.; Neill D.; Neldner V.J.; Tchatchouang E.N.; Ngoula F.; Ngugi M.R.; Sainge M.N.; Núñez Vargas P.; Ortiz-Malavassi E.; Pallqui Camacho N.; Pandi V.; Parada Gutierrez G.A.; Pardo G.; Parthasarathy N.; Pelissier R.; Pfautsch S.; Pijanowski B.C.; Piotto D.; Pipoly J.; Pitman N.; Ploton P.; Poulsen J.R.; Ramesh B.R.; Ramirez Arevalo F.; Ramírez-Angulo H.; Rasingam L.; Réjou-Méchain M.; Restrepo Correa Z.; Spironello W.R.; Rodrigues de Souza C.; Rodriguez L.O.; Rolim S.; Roopsind A.; Rovero F.; Sagang L.B.; Saikia P.; Salis A.; Salla B.P.; Silva Espejo J.E.; Silveira M.; Simo-Droissart M.; Sirri N.; Sonké B.; Sundarapandian S.; Swaine M.; Swanepoel B.; Taedoumg H.; Tcheferi I.; Terborgh J.; Thomas D.; Thomas R.; Tshibamba Mukendi J.; Umunay P.M.; Valencia R.; Valenzuela Gamarra L.; Valle Ferreira L.; van der Heijden G.; Vasquez Martinez R.; Vega-Nieva J.D.; Vilanova E.; Vilchez Alvarado B.; Vinceti B.; Vleminckx J.; von Gadow K.; Vos V.A.; Wasingya E.; Watson J.; Wortel V.; Zagt R.; Zébazé D.; Zambrano A.M.; Slik J.W.F.; Chen H.Y.H.; Gamarra J.G.P.; Bastin J.-F. · Scientific Reports (2026) · DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-61888-7

Resumen

Old-growth tropical forests store vast amounts of carbon in their aboveground biomass (AGB), yet the relative roles of abiotic factors such as climate, soil, and topography in governing its spatial distribution remain poorly understood. In particular, the degree to which climate acts on AGB through forest structure is still poorly quantified at the pantropical scale. Using a pantropical dataset of more than 2,000 old-growth forest plots and a structure-explicit framework, we assess how climate influences AGB through its effects on four structural attributes: basal area, mean diameter, stem density, and basal area-weighted wood density. We find that climate shapes AGB primarily through its effects on forest structure. However, structural attributes respond to climate in opposite directions, so climate’s net effect on AGB largely cancels out, and no clear climate-AGB relationship emerges across tropical regions. Moreover, only wood density responds consistently, decreasing with annual precipitation and increasing with precipitation seasonality, whereas all other attributes respond to climate differently from one region to another. This geographical variation further obscures any global climatic signal on AGB and points to the role of biogeographic history in shaping forest structure. Our findings highlight the central role of the climate-structure nexus in explaining AGB variation, and call for structure-explicit models to improve carbon stock predictions and inform climate adaptation strategies. © The Author(s) 2026.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana; Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco; Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios