Canopy functional trait variation across Earth’s tropical forests

Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez (), Sami W. Rifai, Xiongjie Deng, Hans Steege, Eleanor Thomson, Jose Javier Corral-Rivas, Aretha Franklin Guimaraes, Sandra Muller, Joice Klipel, Sophie Fauset, Angelica F. Resende, Göran Wallin, Carlos A. Joly, Katharine Abernethy, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Celice Alexandre Silva, Edmar Almeida Oliveira, Danilo R. A. Almeida, Esteban Alvarez-Davila, Gregory P. Asner, Timothy R. Baker, Maíra Benchimol, Lisa Patrick Bentley, Erika Berenguer, Lilian Blanc, Damien Bonal, Kauane Bordin, Robson Borges de Lima, Sabine Both, Jaime Cabezas Duarte, Domingos Cardoso, Haroldo C. de Lima, Larissa Cavalheiro, Lucas A. Cernusak, Nayane Cristina C. Santos Prestes, Antonio Carlos Silva Zanzini, Ricardo José Silva, Robson Santos Alves da Silva, Mariana Andrade Iguatemy, Tony César Sousa Oliveira, Benjamin Dechant, Géraldine Derroire, Kyle G. Dexter, Domingos J. Rodrigues, Mário Espírito-Santo, Letícia Fernandes Silva, Tomas Ferreira Domingues, Joice Ferreira, Marcelo Fragomeni Simon, Cécile A. J. Girardin, Bruno Hérault, Kathryn J. Jeffery, Sreejith Kalpuzha Ashtamoorthy, Arunkumar Kavidapadinjattathil Sivadasan, Bente Klitgaard, William F. Laurance, Maurício Lima Dan, William E. Magnusson, Eduardo Malta Campos-Filho, Rubens Manoel dos Santos, Angelo Gilberto Manzatto, Marcos Silveira, Ben Hur Marimon-Junior, Roberta E. Martin, Daniel Luis Mascia Vieira, Thiago Metzker, William Milliken, Peter Moonlight, Marina Maria Moraes de Seixas, Paulo S. Morandi, Robert Muscarella, María Guadalupe Nava-Miranda, Brigitte Nyirambangutse, Jhonathan Oliveira Silva, Imma Oliveras Menor, Pablo José Francisco Pena Rodrigues, Cinthia Pereira de Oliveira, Lucas Pereira Zanzini, Carlos A. Peres, Vignesh Punjayil, Carlos A. Quesada, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Terhi Riutta, Gonzalo Rivas-Torres, Clarissa Rosa, Norma Salinas, Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Alexander Shenkin, Priscyla Maria Silva Rodrigues, Axa Emanuelle Simões Figueiredo, Queila Souza Garcia, Tereza Spósito, Danielle Storck-Tonon, Martin J. P. Sullivan, Martin Svátek, Wagner Tadeu Vieira Santiago, Yit Arn Teh, Prasad Theruvil Parambil Sivan, Marcelo Trindade Nascimento, Elmar Veenendaal, Irie Casimir Zo-Bi, Marie Ruth Dago, Soulemane Traoré, Marco Patacca, Vincyane Badouard, Samuel Padua Chaves e Carvalho, Lee J. T. White, Huanyuan Zhang-Zheng, Etienne Zibera, Joeri Alexander Zwerts, David F. R. P. Burslem, Miles Silman, Jérôme Chave, Brian J. Enquist, Jos Barlow, Oliver L. Phillips, David A. Coomes and Yadvinder Malhi
Additional contact information
Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez: University of Oxford
Sami W. Rifai: University of Adelaide
Xiongjie Deng: University of Oxford
Hans Steege: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Eleanor Thomson: University of Oxford
Jose Javier Corral-Rivas: Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango
Aretha Franklin Guimaraes: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Sandra Muller: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Joice Klipel: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Sophie Fauset: University of Plymouth
Angelica F. Resende: University of São Paulo (USP/ESALQ)
Göran Wallin: University of Oxford
Carlos A. Joly: Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Katharine Abernethy: University of Stirling
Stephen Adu-Bredu: CSIR–Forestry Research Institute of Ghana
Celice Alexandre Silva: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Edmar Almeida Oliveira: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Danilo R. A. Almeida: University of São Paulo (USP/ESALQ)
Esteban Alvarez-Davila: Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia
Gregory P. Asner: Arizona State University
Timothy R. Baker: University of Leeds
Maíra Benchimol: Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
Lisa Patrick Bentley: Sonoma State University
Erika Berenguer: University of Oxford
Lilian Blanc: CIRAD
Damien Bonal: UMR Silva
Kauane Bordin: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Robson Borges de Lima: Universidade do Estado do Amapá
Sabine Both: University of New England
Jaime Cabezas Duarte: Jardín Botánico de Bogotá
Domingos Cardoso: Universidade Federal da Bahia
Haroldo C. de Lima: Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro
Larissa Cavalheiro: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso
Lucas A. Cernusak: James Cook University
Nayane Cristina C. Santos Prestes: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Antonio Carlos Silva Zanzini: Universidade Federal de Lavras
Ricardo José Silva: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Robson Santos Alves da Silva: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Mariana Andrade Iguatemy: Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro
Tony César Sousa Oliveira: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Benjamin Dechant: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Géraldine Derroire: CIRAD
Kyle G. Dexter: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Domingos J. Rodrigues: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso
Mário Espírito-Santo: Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros
Letícia Fernandes Silva: Universidade Paulista
Tomas Ferreira Domingues: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto
Joice Ferreira: Embrapa Amazônia Oriental
Marcelo Fragomeni Simon: Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia
Cécile A. J. Girardin: University of Oxford
Bruno Hérault: CIRAD
Kathryn J. Jeffery: University of Stirling
Sreejith Kalpuzha Ashtamoorthy: KSCSTE–Kerala Forest Research Institute
Arunkumar Kavidapadinjattathil Sivadasan: KSCSTE–Kerala Forest Research Institute
Bente Klitgaard: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
William F. Laurance: James Cook University
Maurício Lima Dan: Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisa, Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural
William E. Magnusson: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Eduardo Malta Campos-Filho: Instituto Socioambiental
Rubens Manoel dos Santos: Universidade Federal de Lavras
Angelo Gilberto Manzatto: Universidade Federal de Rondônia
Marcos Silveira: Universidade Federal do Acre
Ben Hur Marimon-Junior: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Roberta E. Martin: Arizona State University
Daniel Luis Mascia Vieira: Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia
Thiago Metzker: IBAM—Instituto Bem Ambiental
William Milliken: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Peter Moonlight: Trinity College Dublin
Marina Maria Moraes de Seixas: Embrapa Amazônia Oriental
Paulo S. Morandi: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Robert Muscarella: Uppsala University
María Guadalupe Nava-Miranda: Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango
Brigitte Nyirambangutse: Global Green Growth Institute, Rwanda Program
Jhonathan Oliveira Silva: Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIVASF)
Imma Oliveras Menor: University of Oxford
Pablo José Francisco Pena Rodrigues: Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro
Cinthia Pereira de Oliveira: Universidade do Estado do Amapá
Lucas Pereira Zanzini: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Carlos A. Peres: University of East Anglia
Vignesh Punjayil: KSCSTE–Kerala Forest Research Institute
Carlos A. Quesada: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Maxime Réjou-Méchain: AMAP, Université de Montpellier, IRD, CNRS, CIRAD INRAE
Terhi Riutta: University of Oxford
Gonzalo Rivas-Torres: Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Clarissa Rosa: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
Norma Salinas: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin: University of Birmingham
Beatriz Schwantes Marimon: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Alexander Shenkin: Northern Arizona University
Priscyla Maria Silva Rodrigues: Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIVASF)
Axa Emanuelle Simões Figueiredo: Universidade de Brasília
Queila Souza Garcia: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Tereza Spósito: IBAM—Instituto Bem Ambiental
Danielle Storck-Tonon: Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso
Martin J. P. Sullivan: Manchester Metropolitan University
Martin Svátek: Mendel University in Brno
Wagner Tadeu Vieira Santiago: Universidade de Aveiro
Yit Arn Teh: Newcastle University
Prasad Theruvil Parambil Sivan: KSCSTE–Kerala Forest Research Institute
Marcelo Trindade Nascimento: Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro
Elmar Veenendaal: Wageningen University and Research
Irie Casimir Zo-Bi: UMRI SAPT (Sciences Agronomiques et Procédés de Transformation), Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Marie Ruth Dago: UMRI SAPT (Sciences Agronomiques et Procédés de Transformation), Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Soulemane Traoré: UMRI SAPT (Sciences Agronomiques et Procédés de Transformation), Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Marco Patacca: Wageningen University and Research
Vincyane Badouard: Campus Agronomique
Samuel Padua Chaves e Carvalho: Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro
Lee J. T. White: University of Stirling
Huanyuan Zhang-Zheng: University of Oxford
Etienne Zibera: University of Gothenburg
Joeri Alexander Zwerts: Utrecht University
David F. R. P. Burslem: University of Aberdeen
Miles Silman: Wake Forest University
Jérôme Chave: CNRS, UPS, IRD, Université de Toulouse, INPT
Brian J. Enquist: University of Arizona
Jos Barlow: Lancaster University
Oliver L. Phillips: University of Leeds
David A. Coomes: University of Cambridge
Yadvinder Malhi: University of Oxford

Nature, 2025, vol. 641, issue 8061, 129-136

Abstract: Abstract Tropical forest canopies are the biosphere’s most concentrated atmospheric interface for carbon, water and energy1,2. However, in most Earth System Models, the diverse and heterogeneous tropical forest biome is represented as a largely uniform ecosystem with either a singular or a small number of fixed canopy ecophysiological properties3. This situation arises, in part, from a lack of understanding about how and why the functional properties of tropical forest canopies vary geographically4. Here, by combining field-collected data from more than 1,800 vegetation plots and tree traits with satellite remote-sensing, terrain, climate and soil data, we predict variation across 13 morphological, structural and chemical functional traits of trees, and use this to compute and map the functional diversity of tropical forests. Our findings reveal that the tropical Americas, Africa and Asia tend to occupy different portions of the total functional trait space available across tropical forests. Tropical American forests are predicted to have 40% greater functional richness than tropical African and Asian forests. Meanwhile, African forests have the highest functional divergence—32% and 7% higher than that of tropical American and Asian forests, respectively. An uncertainty analysis highlights priority regions for further data collection, which would refine and improve these maps. Our predictions represent a ground-based and remotely enabled global analysis of how and why the functional traits of tropical forest canopies vary across space.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08663-2

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