The global distribution and drivers of wood density across angiosperms and gymnosperms and their impact on forest carbon stocks (Data and Plots)

Abstract: The density of wood is a key indicator of trees’ carbon investment strategies, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbon stocks. Here, we analyze information from 1.1 million forest inventory plots alongside wood density data from 10,703 tree species to create a spatially-explicit understanding of the global wood density distribution and its drivers. Our findings reveal a pronounced latitudinal gradient, with wood in tropical forests being up to ~30% denser than that in boreal forests. In both angiosperms and gymnosperms, hydrothermal conditions represented by annual mean temperature and soil moisture emerged as the primary factors influencing the variation in wood density globally. This indicates similar environmental filters and evolutionary adaptations among distinct plant groups, underscoring the essential role of abiotic factors in determining wood density in forest ecosystems. Additionally, our study highlights the prominent role of disturbance, such as human modification and fire risk, in influencing wood density at more local scales. Factoring in the spatial variation of wood density notably changes the estimates of forest carbon stocks, leading to differences of up to 21% within biomes. Therefore, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of terrestrial biomass distribution and how environmental changes and disturbances impact forest ecosystems. This repository only provides the folders of 'Data' and 'Plots' that are needed for for the repository on GitHub: https://github.com/LidongMo/GlobalWoodDensityProjectAbstract: 木材密度(wood density)是树木碳投资策略的关键指标，对林木生产力与森林碳储存能力具有重要影响。尽管其重要性不言而喻，但全球范围内木材密度的变异格局及其环境调控机制仍未得到充分阐释，这制约了全球森林碳储量的精准预测。本研究整合了110万个森林调查样地的信息与10703个树种的木材密度数据，以此构建全球木材密度分布格局及其驱动因子的空间显式(spatially-explicit)认知。研究结果揭示了显著的纬度梯度特征：热带森林的木材密度较寒带森林最高可高出约30%。无论是被子植物(angiosperms)还是裸子植物(gymnosperms)，以年平均气温与土壤含水率为表征的水热条件均为全球尺度下调控木材密度变异的首要驱动因子。这表明不同植物类群面临相似的环境过滤作用与进化适应策略，凸显了非生物因子在森林生态系统木材密度决定过程中的核心作用。此外，本研究还强调了人为改造、火灾风险等干扰因子在局地尺度上对木材密度的显著调控作用。将木材密度的空间变异纳入碳储量估算模型后，森林碳储量的估算结果会发生显著改变，不同生物群区(biomes)间的估算偏差最高可达21%。因此，本研究为深化陆地生物量(terrestrial biomass)分布格局的认知，以及解析环境变化与干扰因子对森林生态系统的影响机制提供了重要支撑。 本仓库仅为对应GitHub开源仓库https://github.com/LidongMo/GlobalWoodDensityProject提供其所需的"Data"与"Plots"文件夹。