September 22, 2026
Journal Article

Divergent trait controls on soluble sugars and starch underlie global strategies of tree carbohydrate storage

Abstract

Tropical carbon and water fluxes are typically assumed to be tightly coupled - defined here as exhibiting strongly positive correlations - since plants exchange water for carbon through stomatal conductance. However, our analysis of 40 years of remote sensing-based estimates of gross primary production (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) across the Amazon Basin reveals that this coupling varies spatiotemporally. We find that 64% of the Basin exhibits weakly positive (R

Published: September 22, 2026

Citation

Li W., H. Adams, A. Cabon, K. Yu, D. Peltier, and N.G. McDowell. 2026. Divergent trait controls on soluble sugars and starch underlie global strategies of tree carbohydrate storage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 123, no. 28:e2605066123. PNNL-SA-222363. doi:10.1073/pnas.2605066123

Research topics

Atmospheric Science