Nature Search

Effect of climate on traits of dominant and rare tree species in the world’s forests

Species’ traits and environmental conditions determine the abundance of tree species across the globe. Here, the authors find that dominant tree species are taller and have softer wood compared to rare species and that these trait differences are more strongly associated with temperature than water availability.

Iris Hordijk
Lourens Poorter
Thomas W. Crowther
ResearchOpen Access22 May 2025
Nature Communications

Volume: 16, P: 1-15
Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a ___location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

Camille S. Delavaux
Thomas W. Crowther
Daniel S. Maynard
ResearchOpen Access23 Aug 2023
Nature

Volume: 621, P: 773-781
The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks

Wood density is an important plant trait. Data from 1.1 million forest inventory plots and 10,703 tree species show a latitudinal gradient in wood density, with temperature and soil moisture explaining variation at the global scale and disturbance also having a role at the local level.

Lidong Mo
Thomas W. Crowther
Constantin M. Zohner
ResearchOpen Access15 Oct 2024
Nature Ecology & Evolution

Volume: 8, P: 2195-2212
Integrated global assessment of the natural forest carbon potential

Analysis of ground-sourced and satellite-derived models reveals a global forest carbon potential of 226 Gt outside agricultural and urban lands, with a difference of only 12% across these modelling approaches.

Lidong Mo
Constantin M. Zohner
Thomas W. Crowther
ResearchOpen Access13 Nov 2023
Nature

Volume: 624, P: 92-101
Co-limitation towards lower latitudes shapes global forest diversity gradients

Examining drivers of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient in a global database of local tree species richness, the authors show that co-limitation by multiple environmental and anthropogenic factors causes steeper increases in richness with latitude in tropical versus temperate and boreal zones.

Jingjing Liang
Javier G. P. Gamarra
Cang Hui
Research08 Aug 2022
Nature Ecology & Evolution

Volume: 6, P: 1423-1437
Climate reverses directionality in the richness–abundance relationship across the World’s main forest biomes

Correlations between tree species diversity and tree abundance are well established, but the direction of the relationship is unresolved. Here the authors use path models to estimate plausible causal pathways in the diversity-abundance relationship across 23 global forests regions, finding a lack of general support for a positive diversity-abundance relationship, which is prevalent in the most productive lands on Earth only

Jaime Madrigal-González
Joaquín Calatayud
Markus Stoffel
ResearchOpen Access06 Nov 2020
Nature Communications

Volume: 11, P: 1-7
The global biogeography of tree leaf form and habit

Integrating inventory data with machine learning models reveals the global composition of tree types—needle-leaved evergreen individuals dominate, followed by broadleaved evergreen and deciduous trees—and climate change risks.

Haozhi Ma
Thomas W. Crowther
Constantin M. Zohner
ResearchOpen Access23 Oct 2023
Nature Plants

Volume: 9, P: 1795-1809
Positive feedbacks and alternative stable states in forest leaf types

Alternative stable states in forests have implications for the biosphere. Here, the authors combine forest biodiversity observations and simulations revealing that leaf types across temperate regions of the NH follow a bimodal distribution suggesting signatures of alternative forest states.

Yibiao Zou
Constantin M. Zohner
Thomas W. Crowther
ResearchOpen Access31 May 2024
Nature Communications

Volume: 15, P: 1-15
A dataset of 40’000 trees with section-wise measured stem diameter and branch volume from across Switzerland

Markus Didion
Anne Herold
Jonas Glatthorn
ResearchOpen Access09 May 2024
Scientific Data

Volume: 11, P: 1-12
Author Correction: Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions

Camille S. Delavaux
Thomas W. Crowther
Daniel S. Maynard
Amendments and CorrectionsOpen Access26 Sept 2023
Nature

Volume: 622, P: E2
Global patterns of tree density are contingent upon local determinants in the world’s natural forests

Global tree abundance is demonstrated to correlate with latitudinal variables, with tree size and self-thinning strategies impacting current estimates of tree count.

Jaime Madrigal-González
Joaquín Calatayud
Markus Stoffel
ResearchOpen Access13 Jan 2023
Communications Biology

Volume: 6, P: 1-6
Climatic controls of decomposition drive the global biogeography of forest-tree symbioses

A spatially explicit global map of tree symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi reveals that climate variables are the primary drivers of the distribution of different types of symbiosis.

B. S. Steidinger
T. W. Crowther
Irie Casimir Zo-Bi
Research15 May 2019
Nature

Volume: 569, P: 404-408
Author Correction: Climatic controls of decomposition drive the global biogeography of forest-tree symbioses

B. S. Steidinger
T. W. Crowther
Irie Casimir Zo-Bi
Amendments and Corrections28 Jun 2019
Nature

Volume: 571, P: E8

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