Forests can become more productive while becoming less resilient
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
A 2001–2021 global remote-sensing analysis found that more than one-third of forests simultaneously gained gross primary productivity while losing resilience. Rising vapour pressure deficit was the strongest driver of resilience loss, and non-intact forests were about twice as sensitive to resilience decline as intact forests.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Carbon uptake and productivity are not reliable stand-alone proxies for forest stability. A forest can look productive in near-term flux metrics while becoming more vulnerable to drought, heat or disturbance; structural simplification appears to amplify that vulnerability.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Resilience is inferred from remote-sensing time-series behavior rather than measured as direct mortality risk. Relationships differ among forest types, and productivity–water-use coupling can reflect stomatal constraint rather than improved physiological performance.
SOURCE
Communications Earth & Environment · Original evidence
View original evidence ↗
Global remote sensing shows rising atmospheric aridity can increase or maintain productivity even as resilience erodes, especially in structurally simplified forests.
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