Title
The global biogeography of tree leaf form and habit
Author(s)
Ma, Haozhi;Crowther, Thomas W.;Mo, Lidong;Maynard, Daniel S.;Renner, Susanne S.;van den Hoogen, Johan;Zou, Yibiao;Liang, Jingjing;de-Miguel, Sergio;Nabuurs, Gert-Jan;Reich, Peter B.;Niinemets, Ülo;Abegg, Meinrad;Adou Yao, Yves C.;Alberti, Giorgio;Almeyda Zambrano, Angelica M.;Alvarado, Braulio Vilchez;Alvarez-Dávila, Esteban;Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia;Alves, Luciana F.;Ammer, Christian;Antón-Fernández, Clara;Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro;Arroyo, Luzmila;Avitabile, Valerio;Aymard, Gerardo A.;Baker, Timothy R.;Bałazy, Radomir;Banki, Olaf;Barroso, Jorcely G.;Bastian, Meredith L.;Bastin, Jean-Francois;Birigazzi, Luca;Birnbaum, Philippe;Bitariho, Robert;Boeckx, Pascal;Bongers, Frans;Bouriaud, Olivier;Brancalion, Pedro H. S.;Brandl, Susanne;Brearley, Francis Q.;Brienen, Roel;Broadbent, Eben N.;Bruelheide, Helge;Bussotti, Filippo;Cazzolla Gatti, Roberto;César, Ricardo G.;Cesljar, Goran;Chazdon, Robin;Chen, Han Y. H.;Chisholm, Chelsea;Cho, Hyunkook;Cienciala, Emil;Clark, Connie;Clark, David;Colletta, Gabriel D.;Coomes, David A.;Valverde, Fernando Cornejo;Corral-Rivas, José J.;Crim, Philip M.;Cumming, Jonathan R.;Dayanandan, Selvadurai;de Gasper, André L.;Decuyper, Mathieu;Derroire, Géraldine;DeVries, Ben;Djordjevic, Ilija;Dolezal, Jiri;Dourdain, Aurélie;Engone Obiang, Nestor Laurier;Enquist, Brian J.;Eyre, Teresa J.;Fandohan, Adandé Belarmain;Fayle, Tom M.;Feldpausch, Ted R.;Ferreira, Leandro V.;Finér, Leena;Fischer, Markus;Fletcher, Christine;Fridman, Jonas;Frizzera, Lorenzo;Gamarra, Javier G. P.;Gianelle, Damiano;Glick, Henry B.;Harris, David J.;Hector, Andrew;Hemp, Andreas;Hengeveld, Geerten;Hérault, Bruno;Herbohn, John L.;Herold, Martin;Hillers, Annika;Honorio Coronado, Eurídice N.;Hui, Cang;Ibanez, Thomas T.;Amaral, Iêda;Imai, Nobuo;Jagodziński, Andrzej M.;Jaroszewicz, Bogdan;Johannsen, Vivian Kvist;Joly, Carlos A.;Jucker, Tommaso;Jung, Ilbin;Karminov, Viktor;Kartawinata, Kuswata;Kearsley, Elizabeth;Kenfack, David;Kennard, Deborah K.;Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian;Keppel, Gunnar;Khan, Mohammed Latif;Killeen, Timothy J.;Kim, Hyun Seok;Kitayama, Kanehiro;Köhl, Michael;Korjus, Henn;Kraxner, Florian;Kucher, Dmitry;Laarmann, Diana;Lang, Mait;Lewis, Simon L.;Lu, Huicui;Lukina, Natalia V.;Maitner, Brian S.;Malhi, Yadvinder;Marcon, Eric;Marimon, Beatriz Schwantes;Marimon-Junior, Ben Hur;Marshall, Andrew R.;Martin, Emanuel H.;Meave, Jorge A.;Melo-Cruz, Omar;Mendoza, Casimiro;Merow, Cory;Monteagudo Mendoza, Abel;Moreno, Vanessa S.;Mukul, Sharif A.;Mundhenk, Philip;Nava-Miranda, María Guadalupe;Neill, David;Neldner, Victor J.;Nevenic, Radovan V.;Ngugi, Michael R.;Niklaus, Pascal A.;Oleksyn, Jacek;Ontikov, Petr;Ortiz-Malavasi, Edgar;Pan, Yude;Paquette, Alain;Parada-Gutierrez, Alexander;Parfenova, Elena I.;Park, Minjee;Parren, Marc;Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy;Peri, Pablo L.;Pfautsch, Sebastian;Phillips, Oliver L.;Picard, Nicolas;Piedade, Maria Teresa F.;Piotto, Daniel;Pitman, Nigel C. A.;Mendoza-Polo, Irina;Poulsen, Axel D.;Poulsen, John R.;Pretzsch, Hans;Ramirez Arevalo, Freddy;Restrepo-Correa, Zorayda;Rodeghiero, Mirco;Rolim, Samir G.;Roopsind, Anand;Rovero, Francesco;Rutishauser, Ervan;Saikia, Purabi;Salas-Eljatib, Christian;Saner, Philippe;Schall, Peter;Schelhaas, Mart-Jan;Schepaschenko, Dmitry;Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael;Schmid, Bernhard;Schöngart, Jochen;Searle, Eric B.;Seben, Vladimír;Serra-Diaz, Josep M.;Sheil, Douglas;Shvidenko, Anatoly Z.;Silva-Espejo, Javier E.;Silveira, Marcos;Singh, James;Sist, Plinio;Slik, Ferry;Sonké, Bonaventure;Souza, Alexandre F.;Miścicki, Stanislaw;Stereńczak, Krzysztof J.;Svenning, Jens-Christian;Svoboda, Miroslav;Swanepoel, Ben;Targhetta, Natalia;Tchebakova, Nadja;ter Steege, Hans;Thomas, Raquel;Tikhonova, Elena;Umunay, Peter M.;Usoltsev, Vladimir A.;Valencia, Renato;Valladares, Fernando;van der Plas, Fons;Van Do, Tran;van Nuland, Michael E.;Vasquez, Rodolfo M.;Verbeeck, Hans;Viana, Helder;Vibrans, Alexander C.;Vieira, Simone;von Gadow, Klaus;Wang, Hua-Feng;Watson, James V.;Werner, Gijsbert D. A.;Westerlund, Bertil;Wiser, Susan K.;Wittmann, Florian;Woell, Hannsjoerg;Wortel, Verginia;Zagt, Roderick;Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Tomasz;Zhang, Chunyu;Zhao, Xiuhai;Zhou, Mo;Zhu, Zhi-Xin;Zo-Bi, Irie C.;Zohner, Constantin M.
Published
2023
Publisher
Nature Plants
Abstract
Understanding what controls global leaf type variation in trees is crucial for comprehending their role in terrestrial ecosystems, including carbon, water and nutrient dynamics. Yet our understanding of the factors influencing forest leaf types remains incomplete, leaving us uncertain about the global proportions of needle-leaved, broadleaved, evergreen and deciduous trees. To address these gaps, we conducted a global, ground-sourced assessment of forest leaf-type variation by integrating forest inventory data with comprehensive leaf form (broadleaf vs needle-leaf) and habit (evergreen vs deciduous) records. We found that global variation in leaf habit is primarily driven by isothermality and soil characteristics, while leaf form is predominantly driven by temperature. Given these relationships, we estimate that 38% of global tree individuals are needle-leaved evergreen, 29% are broadleaved evergreen, 27% are broadleaved deciduous and 5% are needle-leaved deciduous. The aboveground biomass distribution among these tree types is approximately 21% (126.4 Gt), 54% (335.7 Gt), 22% (136.2 Gt) and 3% (18.7 Gt), respectively. We further project that, depending on future emissions pathways, 17–34% of forested areas will experience climate conditions by the end of the century that currently support a different forest type, highlighting the intensification of climatic stress on existing forests. By quantifying the distribution of tree leaf types and their corresponding biomass, and identifying regions where climate change will exert greatest pressure on current leaf types, our results can help improve predictions of future terrestrial ecosystem functioning and carbon cycling.
Keywords
biogeography; ecology
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the WCS Library to request.
![]()
Back
PUB36214