Determinants of tree cover in tropical floodplains.

ABSTRACT: Tree cover differentiates forests from savannas and grasslands. In tropical floodplains, factors differentiating these systems are poorly known, even though floodplains cover 10% of the tropical landmass. Seasonal inundation potentially presents trees with both challenges (soil anoxia) and benefits (moisture and nutrient deposition), the relative importance of which may depend on ecological context, e.g. if floods alleviate water stress more in more arid ecosystems. Here, we use remotely sensed data across 13 large tropical and sub-tropical floodplain ecosystems on five continents to show that climatic water balance (i.e. precipitation-potential evapotranspiration) strongly increases floodplain tree cover in interaction with flooding, fire and topography. As predicted, flooding increases t

SUBMITTER: Daskin JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6842852 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature