Mapping giant-tree density in the Amazon

Tall trees are pivotal in maintaining tropical forests biodiversity and regulating biogeochemical cycles, mainly through their influence on carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and habitat structuring. Despite their ecological importance, the drivers behind their spatial distribution and the environmental factors driving the density of these emergent trees remain unexplained. Here we analyzed tall-tree density data derived from airborne LiDAR across 900 randomly distributed transects throughout the Brazilian Amazon. We paired each transect location with climatic, topographic, atmospheric, and soil metrics to investigate regional-level environmental drivers of large tree density using spatial modeling. Water availability and stable climatic conditions (low incidence of storms and of lightning) were the main drivers of tall-tree density at the regional level. The occurrence of tall trees is aggregated along the Amazon, with 14% occurring within 1.3% of the Amazon and 50% concentrated in 11.2% of the area. These patterns suggest that tall trees dominate localized regions of the biome and that high densities of tall trees are primarily dependent on mechanical rather than physiological drivers. Understanding the dynamics of 55.5 million emergent trees is imperative for advancing research in biogeochemistry, ecology, and climate resilience. Our results are especially relevant in the context of conserving nature and carbon stocks under increasing anthropogenic and environmental pressures.