AUTHOR=Durgante Flavia Machado , Higuchi Niro , Ohashi Shinta , Householder John Ethan , Lima Adriano José Nogueira , Ishizuka Moriyoshi , Wittmann Florian , dos Santos Joaquim , Carneiro Vilany Matilla Colares , Xu Xiaomei , do Nascimento Claudete Catanhede , Schöngart Jochen , Piedade Maria Teresa Fernandez , Schmitt Adalberto Rodrigo Kossmann , Alves Yanka Laryssa Almeida , Lehman Jennifer , Gimenez Bruno Oliva , Baggio Priscilla Maia , de Ourique Lucas Kosvoski , Trumbore Susan TITLE=Soil fertility and drought interact to determine large variations in wood production for a hyperdominant Amazonian tree species JOURNAL=Frontiers in Forests and Global Change VOLUME=5 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/forests-and-global-change/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.1065645 DOI=10.3389/ffgc.2022.1065645 ISSN=2624-893X ABSTRACT=Introduction

The productivity of the Amazon Rainforest is related to climate and soil fertility. However, the degrees to which these interactions influence multiannual to decadal variations in tree diameter growth are still poorly explored.

Methods

To fill this gap, we used radiocarbon measurements to evaluate the variation in tree growth rates over the past decades in an important hyperdominant species, Eschweilera coriacea (Lecythidaceae), from six sites in the Brazilian Amazon that span a range of soil properties and climate.

Results

Using linear mixed-effects models, we show that temporal variations in mean annual diameter increment evaluated over a specific time period reflect interactions between soil fertility and the drought index (SPEI-Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index).

Discussion

Our results indicate that the growth response of trees to drought is strongly dependent on soil conditions, a facet of forest productivity that is still underexplored, and which has great potential for improving predictions of future tropical tree growth in the face of projected climate change.