Pronounced loss of Amazon rainforest resilience since the early 2000s
University of Exeter · Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research · +1 more institution
Abstract
Abstract The resilience of the Amazon rainforest to climate and land-use change is crucial for biodiversity, regional climate and the global carbon cycle. Deforestation and climate change, via increasing dry-season length and drought frequency, may already have pushed the Amazon close to a critical threshold of rainforest dieback. Here, we quantify changes of Amazon resilience by applying established indicators (for example, measuring lag-1 autocorrelation) to remotely sensed vegetation data with a focus on vegetation optical depth (1991–2016). We find that more than three-quarters of the Amazon rainforest has been losing resilience since the early 2000s, consistent with the approach to a critical transition.…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 59.55
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 57
Authors
3Topics & keywords
- Amazon rainforest
- Rainforest
- Climate change
- Deforestation (computer science)
- Geography
- Biodiversity
- Resilience (materials science)
- Vegetation (pathology)
- Climate action