New research by the University of Montana and its partner institutions gives insight into how forests globally will respond to long-term climate change.
Cory Cleveland, a UM professor of terrestrial ecosystem ecology, said that previous research in the wet tropics – where much of global forest productivity occurs – indicates that the increased rainfall that may occur with climate change would cause declines in plant growth.
New research by the University of Montana and its partner institutions gives insight into how forests globally will respond to long-term climate change.
Cory Cleveland, a UM professor of terrestrial ecosystem ecology, said that previous research in the wet tropics – where much of global forest productivity occurs – indicates that the increased rainfall that may occur with climate change would cause declines in plant growth.
However, their new work suggests that climate-change driven increases in rainfall in warm, wet forests are likely to cause increased plant growth. Plant-growth declines are still expected in cooler forests with increased precipitation.
The research was published April 17 in Ecology Letters. The article, “Temperature and rainfall interact to control carbon cycling in tropical forests,” is online at http://bit.ly/2pmv2Hm.
Continue reading at The University of Montana
Image: Wet tropical forests, like this one on the Osa Peninsula in southwestern Costa Rica, are among the most productive ecosystems on earth, and new research points to the importance of both temperature and rainfall on future plant growth as the climate changes.
Credit: Courtesy of Cory Cleveland
