Tropical hydrology and resilience in vegetation under extremes

The challenge

There are critical knowledge gaps concerning tree water-use strategies and ecosystem resilience to climate-induced droughts in the topics. This project will improve understanding and representation of tree physiological responses to water stress and their impacts on regional hydrological processes. 

What we're doing

To tackle the knowledge gap, we will establish a new eco‑hydrological monitoring network across three contrasting South‑American forest types (and their mean annual precipitation): Amazon rainforest (2,100 mm), the Atlantic rainforest (1,500 mm), and the dry Caatinga forest (750 mm).

At each site, we will deploy autonomous sensors that record soil moisture, air temperature and changes in tree stem width every 15 minutes. These continuous readings will reveal how different tree species consume water and assimilate carbon and how droughts affect these dynamics.

We will combine the measurements with vegetation surveys and analyse them with ecosystem models, including AI tools that can identify short and long-term ecohydrological patterns. 

How it helps

The results will provide the first high‑resolution assessment of tree water use and net productivity across contrasting forests in the tropics. Our findings will improve predictions of carbon storage and resilience under climate change, and will support the development of climate‑adaptation policies in the tropics. 

Investigators

• Dr Rodolfo Bezerra Nobrega, School of Geographical Sciences 
• Dr Tommaso Jucker, School of Biological Sciences 
• Professor Martin De Kauwe, School of Biological Sciences