Articles | Volume 23, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2545-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2545-2026
Research article
 | 
15 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 15 Apr 2026

Higher tree diversity reduces the likelihood of Amazon tipping points

Johanna Van Passel, Koenraad Van Meerbeek, Paulo Negri Bernardino, Wanda De Keersmaecker, Stef Lhermitte, Bianca Fazio Rius, and Ben Somers

Data sets

Critical slowing down of the Amazon forest after increased drought occurrence J. Van Passel et al. https://doi.org/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.24220537.V2

Model code and software

R scripts for 'Higher tree diversity reduces the likelihood of Amazon tipping points' J. Van Passel https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.27323250.v1

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Short summary
The Amazon forest is important for carbon storage, but climate change might push parts of it towards a tipping point into a degraded state. By studying satellite trends and tree diversity across different spatial scales, we found a larger tipping risk at smaller spatial scales than for the whole region. We also found that higher tree diversity makes the forest more stable and thus less likely to tip, although the effect is relatively weak, highlighting the importance of protecting biodiversity.
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