What question did this study set out to answer?

To assess the contribution of large-diameter trees to aboveground biomass, stand structure, and species richness across global forest biomes.

May 8, 2018Global Ecology and Biogeography

Global importance of large‐diameter trees

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Authors

JLJames A. LutzUtah State University TFTucker J. FurnissUniversity of Wyoming DJDaniel J. JohnsonUniversity of Florida

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Implication

Global ecological analysis demonstrates that the largest one percent of trees store half of all aboveground biomass across mature forests, highlighting their critical control over carbon cycling.

Key Points

To assess the contribution of large-diameter trees to aboveground biomass, stand structure, and species richness across global forest biomes.
Analyzed 48 large forest plots (ranging from 2 to 60 ha) across global biomes, encompassing 5,601,473 stems from 9,298 species and 210 plant families.
Evaluated large-tree contributions using three metrics: the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), all trees ≥ 60 cm DBH, and the rank-ordered largest trees cumulatively comprising 50% of forest biomass.
The largest 1% of trees (≥ 1 cm DBH) comprised 50% of aboveground live biomass (hectare-scale SD: 26%), trees ≥ 60 cm DBH accounted for 41% of biomass, and maximum tree size strongly correlated with total forest biomass (r² = 0.62, p < 0.001).
Large-diameter trees in high-biomass forests represented fewer species relative to overall forest richness (r² = 0.45, p < 0.001), and lower large-diameter richness was associated with individuals belonging to more common species (r² = 0.17, p = 0.002).
Biomass concentration in the largest 1% of trees declined with increasing absolute latitude (r² = 0.46, p < 0.001), while forest structural complexity increased with absolute latitude (r² = 0.26, p < 0.001).

Cite This Study

Lutz et al. (2018) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69d6b5ca41375cf86eed88dd https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12747

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Implication

Global ecological analysis demonstrates that the largest one percent of trees store half of all aboveground biomass across mature forests, highlighting their critical control over carbon cycling.

Global importance of large‐diameter trees

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Global importance of large‐diameter trees

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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