The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks

Mo Lidong; Thomas W Crowther; Daniel S Maynard; Johan van den Hoogen; Haozhi Ma; Lalasia Bialic-Murphy; Jingjing Liang; Sergio de-Miguel; Gert-Jan Nabuurs; Peter B Reich; See article text for complete list of authors; Robin Chazdon; John Herbohn; Andrew Marshall; Sharif A Mukul

doi:10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9

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The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks

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The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks

Mo Lidong, Thomas W Crowther, Daniel S Maynard, Johan van den Hoogen, Haozhi Ma, Lalasia Bialic-Murphy, Jingjing Liang, Sergio de-Miguel, Gert-Jan Nabuurs, Peter B Reich, …

Nature Ecology & Evolution, Vol.8, pp.2195-2212

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9

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Abstract

ecological modelling

forest ecology

plant ecology

The density of wood is a key indicator of the carbon investment strategies of trees, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbon stocks. Here we analyse information from 1.1 million forest inventory plots alongside wood density data from 10,703 tree species to create a spatially explicit understanding of the global wood density distribution and its drivers. Our findings reveal a pronounced latitudinal gradient, with wood in tropical forests being up to 30% denser than that in boreal forests. In both angiosperms and gymnosperms, hydrothermal conditions represented by annual mean temperature and soil moisture emerged as the primary factors influencing the variation in wood density globally. This indicates similar environmental filters and evolutionary adaptations among distinct plant groups, underscoring the essential role of abiotic factors in determining wood density in forest ecosystems. Additionally, our study highlights the prominent role of disturbance, such as human modification and fire risk, in influencing wood density at more local scales. Factoring in the spatial variation of wood density notably changes the estimates of forest carbon stocks, leading to differences of up to 21% within biomes. Therefore, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of terrestrial biomass distribution and how environmental changes and disturbances impact forest ecosystems.

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Title: The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
Authors: Mo Lidong (Corresponding Author) - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
Thomas W Crowther (Author) - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
Daniel S Maynard (Author) - ETH Zurich
Johan van den Hoogen (Author) - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
Haozhi Ma (Author) - ETH Zurich
Lalasia Bialic-Murphy (Author) - ETH Zurich
Jingjing Liang (Author) - Purdue University West Lafayette
Sergio de-Miguel (Author) - Universitat de Lleida
Gert-Jan Nabuurs (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Peter B Reich (Author) - Western Sydney University
See article text for complete list of authors (Author)
Robin Chazdon - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
John Herbohn (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research Institute
Andrew Marshall (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research Institute
Sharif A Mukul (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research Institute
Publication details: Nature Ecology & Evolution, Vol.8, pp.2195-2212
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Date published: 2024
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02564-9
ISSN: 2397-334X
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Data Availability: Data are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13331493 (ref. 135).
Organisation Unit: Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991066893802621
Output Type: Journal article

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