Biodiversity and Carbon Dynamics in Tropical Forests

Tropical forests harbour an extraordinary array of species while acting as vital carbon sinks that help regulate the global climate. The dense vegetation of these biomes sequesters carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, storing it in biomass and soils. Biodiversity contributes to this function by maintaining ecosystem resilience, enabling forests to recover from disturbances such as storms, droughts or fire. At large scales, however, the relationship between species richness and carbon storage can be weak or inconsistent, reflecting the influence of local factors such as soil fertility, climate gradients and forest age. Old-growth forests often exhibit high carbon stocks but do not necessarily coincide with hotspots of taxonomic or functional diversity. Conversely, younger or regenerating stands may support distinct assemblages of pioneer species that rapidly accumulate biomass but lack mature-forest complexity. Climate change, land-use conversion and fragmentation threaten both biodiversity and carbon sequestration by altering species composition, reducing landscape connectivity and increasing the risk of forest degradation. Effective conservation and restoration strategies therefore require a dual focus on maximising carbon capture and preserving the full complement of forest life. Integrating remote sensing with field inventories, deploying mixed-species plantings in restoration projects and aligning economic incentives with ecosystem-service goals are among the approaches gaining traction to safeguard the multifunctional values of tropical forests.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have quantified the economic risks of declining carbon sinks in Central American tropical forests, projecting that climate-driven reductions in ecosystem services could cost tens to hundreds of billions of dollars annually by the end of the century. Montane and dry forest types are disproportionally vulnerable, with habitat services declining more rapidly than carbon regulation, underscoring the need to balance biodiversity preservation alongside carbon-market incentives. Foundational work compiling pan-tropical datasets has demonstrated that broad-scale analyses reveal no simple positive correlation between tree diversity and aboveground carbon stocks, whereas weak positive effects emerge at fine spatial scales. This scale-dependency implies that carbon-centred conservation alone may overlook areas of exceptional biodiversity, and that policy frameworks must explicitly integrate both objectives when prioritising forest protection.

Biodiversity and Carbon Dynamics in Tropical Forests publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in biodiversity and carbon dynamics in tropical forests across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Carbon sink: A reservoir, such as a forest, that absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases, thereby reducing net greenhouse gas concentrations.

Aboveground biomass: The total mass of living plant material above the soil surface, typically expressed in tonnes of carbon per hectare.

Species richness: The count of distinct species present within a specified area, serving as a basic measure of biodiversity.

Functional diversity: The range of biological traits exhibited by organisms in a community, influencing ecosystem processes such as productivity and resilience.

Old-growth forest: A mature forest that has developed over long periods without significant disturbance, characterised by large trees, multi-layered canopies and high habitat complexity.

Net carbon change: The balance between carbon gains (e.g., through growth and sequestration) and losses (e.g., via respiration or disturbance) in an ecosystem over time.

References

1. High economic costs of reduced carbon sinks and declining biome stability in Central American forests. Nature Communications (2023).
2. Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome. Scientific Reports (2017).
3. No relationship between biodiversity and forest carbon sink across the subtropical Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation (2023).
4. Recovery of Carbon and Vegetation Diversity 23 Years after Fire in a Tropical Dryland Forest of Indonesia. Sustainability (2022).