Hurricane Impacts on Tropical Forest Ecosystems
Summary
Tropical forests lie at the interface of climate regulation, biodiversity conservation and human well‐being. Hurricanes impose acute disturbances through high winds, intense rainfall and salt spray, causing tree uprooting, stem breakage and canopy defoliation. The immediate loss of biomass converts forests from carbon sinks to sources, while altered light regimes and soil compaction affect regeneration trajectories. Species‐specific traits such as wood density and root architecture, together with local topography, modulate damage severity. Over subsequent years, shifts in species composition often favour pioneer taxa, altering habitat structure and ecosystem services. With climate change driving more intense storms, understanding these processes is vital for predicting carbon cycling, maintaining biodiversity and informing restoration and management strategies across tropical regions.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Comparative analyses of three major storms in a single forest location revealed that the strongest event inflicted two to three times more stem breaks and doubled mortality rates relative to earlier hurricanes. Denser‐wood species with robust root systems showed resistance to uprooting but were still vulnerable to breakage under extreme wind loads. A wind‐exposure model linked meteorological intensity directly to damage patterns, disentangling storm strength from forest characteristics. These insights pinpoint species‐level risk factors and improve forecasts of forest response under scenarios of increasing cyclone intensity.
Hurricane Impacts on Tropical Forest Ecosystems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in hurricane impacts on tropical forest ecosystems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Maximum sustained wind speed (MSW): The highest mean wind velocity maintained over a one‐minute interval, used to classify storm intensity.
Topographical exposure: The degree to which terrain amplifies or shelters a site from prevailing wind, influencing damage severity.
Wood density: Mass per unit volume of wood, a proxy for mechanical strength and resistance to wind‐induced snapping or uprooting.
Stem breakage vs uprooting: Two primary modes of wind damage; breakage severs the trunk, whereas uprooting removes the entire root–soil‐tree unit.
References
- Damage to tropical forests caused by cyclones is driven by wind speed but mediated by topographical exposure and tree characteristics. Global Change Biology (2024).
- Hurricane María tripled stem breaks and doubled tree mortality relative to other major storms. Nature Communications (2019).
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