Large Amazon Trees More Climate-Resilient Than Expected, According to New Study

Large Amazon Trees More Climate-Resilient Than Expected, According to New Study
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The largest trees in the Amazon rainforest are proving more resilient to climate change than scientists previously believed, according to a new study published in Nature Plants and reported by The Guardian.

The research, conducted by nearly 100 researchers, tracked changes across 188 Amazonian forest plots over 30 years. It found that the mean cross-section of tree trunks thickened by 3.3% per decade, with the greatest growth observed in the largest trees. This expansion is attributed to the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which the trees are effectively sequestering.

This discovery is seen as a welcome confirmation that undisturbed tropical vegetation continues to function as an effective carbon sink, despite rising global temperatures and severe droughts.

However, the “good news is qualified,” warned Professor Oliver Phillips from the University of Leeds, a study author. Researchers cautioned that this vital climate role is increasingly jeopardized by human activities, including deforestation, fires, and forest fragmentation caused by the expansion of roads and farms. The areas of the Amazon heavily fragmented by agribusiness have already transitioned from carbon sinks to carbon sources, underscoring the urgency of preventing further land clearance.