Browsing by Autor "Thomas W. Crowther"

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Author Correction: Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions
(Nature Portfolio, 2023) Camille S. Delavaux; Thomas W. Crowther; Constantin M. Zohner; Niamh M. Robmann; T. Bruce Lauber; Johan van den Hoogen; Sara E. Kuebbing; Jingjing Liang; Sergio de‐Miguel; G.J. Nabuurs
Correction to: Nature Published online 23 August 2023 In the version of the article initially published, Stanislaw Miscicki’s name incorrectly appeared as Miscicki Stanislaw. Additionally, the affiliation for Thomas T. Ibanez has been updated to “AMAP, University of Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France”, and the second affiliation for Sharif A. Mukul has been updated to “Department of Environment and Development Studies, United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh”. The corrections have been made to the HTML and PDF versions of the article
Consistent climatic controls of global wood density among angiosperms and gymnosperms
(2024) Lidong Mo; Thomas W. Crowther; Daniel S. Maynard; Johan van den Hoogen; Haozhi Ma; Lalasia Bialic‐Murphy; Susanne S. Renner; Jingjing Liang; Sergio de‐Miguel; G.J. Nabuurs
<title>Abstract</title> The density of wood is a key indicator of trees’ carbon investment strategies, 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 analyze 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 dry forests being up to twice as dense as that in boreal forests. In both angiosperms and gymnosperms, temperature and water availability 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.
Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions
(Nature Portfolio, 2023) Camille S. Delavaux; Thomas W. Crowther; Constantin M. Zohner; Niamh M. Robmann; T. Bruce Lauber; Johan van den Hoogen; Sara E. Kuebbing; Jingjing Liang; Sergio de‐Miguel; G.J. Nabuurs
Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species1,2. Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though they have the potential to transform ecosystems and economies3,4. Here, leveraging global tree databases5-7, we explore how the phylogenetic and functional diversity of native tree communities, human pressure and the environment influence the establishment of non-native tree species and the subsequent invasion severity. We find that anthropogenic factors are key to predicting whether a location is invaded, but that invasion severity is underpinned by native diversity, with higher diversity predicting lower invasion severity. Temperature and precipitation emerge as strong predictors of invasion strategy, with non-native species invading successfully when they are similar to the native community in cold or dry extremes. Yet, despite the influence of these ecological forces in determining invasion strategy, we find evidence that these patterns can be obscured by human activity, with lower ecological signal in areas with higher proximity to shipping ports. Our global perspective of non-native tree invasion highlights that human drivers influence non-native tree presence, and that native phylogenetic and functional diversity have a critical role in the establishment and spread of subsequent invasions.
The global biogeography of tree leaf form and habit
(Nature Portfolio, 2023) Haozhi Ma; Thomas W. Crowther; Lidong Mo; Daniel S. Maynard; Susanne S. Renner; Johan van den Hoogen; Yibiao Zou; Jingjing Liang; Sergio de‐Miguel; G.J. Nabuurs
The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks
(Nature Portfolio, 2024) Lidong Mo; Thomas W. Crowther; Daniel S. Maynard; Johan van den Hoogen; Haozhi Ma; Lalasia Bialic‐Murphy; Jingjing Liang; Sergio de‐Miguel; G.J. Nabuurs; Peter B. Reich
The number of tree species on Earth
(National Academy of Sciences, 2022) Roberto Cazzolla Gatti; Peter B. Reich; Javier G. P. Gamarra; Thomas W. Crowther; Cang Hui; Albert Morera; Jean‐François Bastin; Sergio de‐Miguel; G.J. Nabuurs; Jens‐Christian Svenning
One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.