Drought resistance increases from the individual to the ecosystem level in highly diverse Neotropical rainforest: a meta-analysis of leaf, tree and ecosystem responses to drought

Abstract

Abstract. The effects of future warming and drying on tropical forest functioning remain largely unresolved. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis of observed drought responses in Neotropical humid forests, focusing on carbon and water exchange. Measures of leaf-, tree- and ecosystem-scale performance were retrieved from 145 published studies conducted across 232 sites in Neotropical forests. Differentiating between seasonal and episodic drought, we find that (1) during seasonal drought the increase in atmospheric evaporative demand and a decrease in soil matric potential result in a decline in leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, leaf photosynthesis and stem diameter growth while leaf litterfall and leaf flushing increase. (2) During episodic drought, we observe a further decline in stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, stem growth and, in contrast to seasonal drought, a decline also in daily tree transpiration. Responses of ecosystem-scale processes, productivity and evapotranspiration are of a smaller magnitude and often not significant. Furthermore, we find that the magnitude and direction of a drought-induced change in photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration reported in a study is correlated to study-averaged wood density. Although wood density is often not functionally related to plant hydraulic properties, we find that it is a good proxy for hydraulic behaviour and can be used to predict leaf- and tree-scale responses to drought. We present new insights into the functioning of tropical forest in response to drought and present novel relationships between wood density and tropical-tree responses to drought.