biostudies-literatureTavares JVEuropean Research CouncilVetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council)RCUK | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education)2073https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12949053biostudies-literatureUnknown17(1)Amazon rainforests face intensifying water stress due to increases in vapour pressure deficit and changing hydrological regimes. Embolism resistance (Ψ₅₀) is a critical metric of tree survival under drought conditions, it is defined as a plant's capacity to resist disruption of xylem water flow due to air bubble formation from water stress. However, measurements of Ψ₅₀ are only available for a limited number of Amazon locations and species. Conversely, data on forest taxonomic composition are abundant across Amazonia, and if Ψ₅₀ is conserved phylogenetically, these data could provide a way to scale-up drought resistance patterns. Here we evaluate Ψ₅₀ measurements across non-flooded Amazonian tree taxa and reveal a moderate phylogenetic signal, wiNature communicationsFamily imprint reveals basin-wide patterns of Amazon forest embolism resistance.PMC129490532019-03758GDE 99999.001293/2015-00NE/N004655/1291585758873NE/S011811/1Arroyo LPitman NSierra REsquivel-Muelbert AAragao LSignori-Muller CMencuccini MSilva TSFBarroso JGBittencourt PBrienen RTerborgh JGilpin MRamirez-Angulo HTer Steege HWang OCastro WMorandi PSilveira MAndrade AHernandez LTeixeira de Oliveira RDisney MOliveras Menor ITavares JVGalbraith DPardo-Molina GRuschel ARKalamandeen MDaly DCFauset SJimenez-Rojas EGloor EScalon MCVieira ISilva RMuscarella RAcosta Mde Oliveira EAPhillips OLLewis SSchwantes Marimon BBonal DDiniz FCPenuela-Mora MCRejou-Mechain MMarimon Junior BHSerrano JYoung KAlvarez-Davila ERojas RAraujo-Murakami AVos VADourdain ABaker TRNunezVargas PPrieto AParada Gutierrez AFlores Llampazo GSalomao RPAymard GPalacios WFeldpausch TChave JSantos JARValenzuela Gamarra LMonteagudo-Mendoza ASalas Yupayccana CAJancoski HHerault BLaurance WDexter KGMalhi YLaurance SComiskey JDerroire GAlexiades MNPerez-Mullisaca FMHonorio Coronado ENOliveira RSHiguchi NCeron CRuokolainen KPereira LNeill DCamargo JLVilanova Torre ECoelho de Souza FCarlos Lola da Costa ALima ASMarca Zevallos MJMeir PVasquez Martinez RRowland LCerruto Ribeiro SfalseFamily imprint reveals basin-wide patterns of Amazon forest embolism resistance.Amazon rainforests face intensifying water stress due to increases in vapour pressure deficit and changing hydrological regimes. Embolism resistance (Ψ₅₀) is a critical metric of tree survival under drought conditions, it is defined as a plant's capacity to resist disruption of xylem water flow due to air bubble formation from water stress. However, measurements of Ψ₅₀ are only available for a limited number of Amazon locations and species. Conversely, data on forest taxonomic composition are abundant across Amazonia, and if Ψ₅₀ is conserved phylogenetically, these data could provide a way to scale-up drought resistance patterns. Here we evaluate Ψ₅₀ measurements across non-flooded Amazonian tree taxa and reveal a moderate phylogenetic signal, wi2026-01-01T00:00:00Z2026 Feb2026-07-16T23:09:19.577Z2026-07-12T03:11:07.723ZS-EPMC129490534174861010.1038/s41467-026-69892-1