Variation in wood density across South American tropical forests

Sullivan, Martin J. P. and Phillips, Oliver L. and Galbraith, David and Almeida, Everton and de Oliveira, Edmar Almeida and Almeida, Jarcilene and Dávila, Esteban Álvarez and Alves, Luciana F. and Andrade, Ana and Aragão, Luiz and Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro and Arets, Eric and Arroyo, Luzmila and Cruz, Omar Aurelio Melo and Baccaro, Fabrício and Baker, Timothy R. and Banki, Olaf and Baraloto, Christopher and Barlow, Jos and Barroso, Jorcely and Berenguer, Erika and Blanc, Lilian and Blundo, Cecilia and Bonal, Damien and Bongers, Frans and Bordin, Kauane Maiara and Brienen, Roel J. W. and Broggio, Igor S. and Burban, Benoit and Cabral, George and Camargo, José Luís and Cardoso, Domingos and Carniello, Maria Antonia and Castro, Wendeson and de Lima, Haroldo Cavalcante and Cavalheiro, Larissa and Ribeiro, Sabina Cerruto and Ramos, Sonia Cesarina Palacios and Moscoso, Victor Chama and Chave, Jerôme and Coelho, Fernanda and Comiskey, James A. and Valverde, Fernando Cornejo and Costa, Flávia and Coutinho, Italo Antônio Cotta and da Costa, Antonio Carlos Lola and de Medeiros, Marcelo Brilhante and del Aguila Pasquel, Jhon and Derroire, Géraldine and Dexter, Kyle G. and Disney, Mat and do Espírito Santo, Mário M. and Domingues, Tomas F. and Dourdain, Aurélie and Duque, Alvaro and Rangel, Cristabel Durán and Elias, Fernando and Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane and Farfan-Rios, William and Fauset, Sophie and Feldpausch, Ted and Fernandes, G. Wilson and Ferreira, Joice and Nunes, Yule Roberta Ferreira and Figueiredo, João Carlos Gomes and Cabreara, Karina Garcia and Gonzalez, Roy and Hernández, Lionel and Herrera, Rafael and Honorio Coronado, Eurídice N. and Huasco, Walter Huaraca and Iguatemy, Mariana and Joly, Carlos A. and Kalamandeen, Michelle and Killeen, Timothy and Klipel, Joice and Klitgaard, Bente and Laurance, Susan G. and Laurance, William F. and Levesley, Aurora and Lewis, Simon L. and Lima Dan, Maurício and Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela and Magnusson, William and Malhi, Yadvinder and Malizia, Lucio and Malizia, Augustina and Manzatto, Angelo Gilberto and Peña, Jose Luis Marcelo and Marimon, Beatriz S. and Marimon Junior, Ben Hur and Martínez-Villa, Johanna Andrea and Reis, Simone Matias and Metzker, Thiago and Milliken, William and Monteagudo-Mendoza, Abel and Moonlight, Peter and Morandi, Paulo S. and Moser, Pamela and Müller, Sandra C. and Nascimento, Marcelo and Negreiros, Daniel and Lima, Adriano Nogueira and Vargas, Percy Núñez and Oliveira, Washington L. and Palacios, Walter and Pallqui Camacho, Nadir C. and Gutierrez, Alexander Parada and Pardo Molina, Guido and Pedra de Abreu, Karla Maria and Peña-Claros, Marielos and Pena Rodrigues, Pablo José Francisco and Pennington, R. Toby and Pickavance, Georgia C. and Pipoly, John and Pitman, Nigel C. A. and Playfair, Maureen and Pontes-Lopes, Aline and Poorter, Lourens and Prestes, Nayane Cristina Candida dos Santos and Ramírez-Angulo, Hirma and Réjou-Méchain, Maxime and Reynel Rodriguez, Carlos and Rivas-Torres, Gonzalo and Rodrigues, Priscyla M. S. and de Jesus Rodrigues, Domingos and de Sousa, Thaiane Rodrigues and Rodrigues Pinto, José Roberto and Rodriguez M., Gina M. and Roucoux, Katherine and Ruokolainen, Kalle and Ryan, Casey M. and Revilla, Norma Salinas and Salomão, Rafael and Santos, Rubens M. and Sarkinen, Tiina and Scabin, Andressa and Bergamin, Rodrigo Scarton and Schietti, Juliana and de Meira Junior, Milton Serpa and Serrano, Julio and Silman, Miles and Silva, Richarlly C. and Silva, Camila V. J. and Silva, Jhonathan Oliveria and Silveira, Marcos and Simon, Marcelo F. and Soto-Shareva, Yahn Carlos and Souza, Priscila and Souza, Rodolfo and Sposito, Tereza and Talbot, Joey and ter Steege, Hans and Terborgh, John and Thomas, Raquel and Toledo, Marisol and Torres-Lezama, Armando and Trujillo, William and van der Hout, Peter and Veloso, Maria das Dores Magalhães and Vieira, Simone A. and Vilanova, Emilio and Villalobos Cayo, Jeanneth M. and Villela, Dora M. and Viscarra, Laura Jessica and Vos, Vincent A. and Wortel, Verginia and Ishida, Francoise Yoko and Zuidema, Pieter A. and Zwerts, Joeri A. (2025) Variation in wood density across South American tropical forests. Nature Communications, 16 (1): 2351. ISSN 2041-1723

Abstract

Wood density is a critical control on tree biomass, so poor understanding of its spatial variation can lead to large and systematic errors in forest biomass estimates and carbon maps. The need to understand how and why wood density varies is especially critical in tropical America where forests have exceptional species diversity and spatial turnover in composition. As tree identity and forest composition are challenging to estimate remotely, ground surveys are essential to know the wood density of trees, whether measured directly or inferred from their identity. Here, we assemble an extensive dataset of variation in wood density across the most forested and tree-diverse continent, examine how it relates to spatial and environmental variables, and use these relationships to predict spatial variation in wood density over tropical and sub-tropical South America. Our analysis refines previously identified east-west Amazon gradients in wood density, improves them by revealing fine-scale variation, and extends predictions into Andean, dry, and Atlantic forests. The results halve biomass prediction errors compared to a naïve scenario with no knowledge of spatial variation in wood density. Our findings will help improve remote sensing-based estimates of aboveground biomass carbon stocks across tropical South America.