EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CENTRAL AMAZONIAN FORESTS: A TWO DECADES SYNTHESIS OF MONITORING TROPICAL BIODIVERSITY

Abstract

Central Amazon has been subjected to a higher frequency of extreme climatic events, such as very dry or very wet years, in the last decades. Here, we report a 20-year monitoring of 6 biological groups over 100 km 2 of typical terra-firme forest at Ducke Forest Reserve, Manaus. Most assemblages had a decrease in abundance (9 – 35 %) and richness (8 – 25 %) along time, with some taxonomic and functional reorganization. Taxonomic and functional composition changes along time were more extensive in the valleys for trees and ants, and in first-order streams for fish; while bird and small trees had different patterns of composition change in valleys and plateaus. Although the signal of change was not congruent across all assemblages, patterns indicate that the forest and streams are becoming more dynamic as the hydrological cycle intensifies due to climate changes, and these new environments are already filtering species, at least in some well monitored taxonomic groups. Our data, in combination with other studies, suggest that riparian areas in the valleys are hydrological refuges during droughts, although also susceptible to disturbances induced by excessive precipitation and windstorms. In face of the importance of valleys as refuge, its sensibility and the unknown effects of potential migrations from higher topographic areas due to climate change, the conservation of large and extensive riparian areas seems to be of surmount importance to the future of Amazonian biodiversity.