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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

The Calibration and Use of Capacitance Sensors to Monitor Stem Water Content in Trees

The Calibration and Use of Capacitance Sensors to Monitor Stem Water Content in Trees

Published on: December 27, 2017

Deforestation-induced drying lowers Amazon climate threshold.

Nico Wunderling^1,2,3, Boris Sakschewski⁴, Johan Rockström^4,5,6

¹Center for Critical Computational Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. wunderling@c3s.uni-frankfurt.de.

|May 6, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Global warming and deforestation pose significant threats to the Amazon forest. Even moderate warming (1.5-1.9°C) combined with deforestation could trigger widespread ecosystem collapse.

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Last Updated: May 8, 2026

The Calibration and Use of Capacitance Sensors to Monitor Stem Water Content in Trees

The Calibration and Use of Capacitance Sensors to Monitor Stem Water Content in Trees

Published on: December 27, 2017

Area of Science:

Ecology
Climate Science
Dynamical Systems Modeling

Background:

The Amazon forest faces unprecedented pressure from global warming and land-use changes.
These pressures may induce self-reinforcing transitions, leading to system-wide ecosystem shifts.

Purpose of the Study:

To assess transition risks to degraded ecosystems in the Amazon biome.
To evaluate risks under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways using a dynamical systems model.

Main Methods:

Applied a dynamical systems model to assess Amazon forest transition risks.
Utilized an atmospheric moisture-tracking model to simulate moisture transport under various emission scenarios.
Analyzed risks with and without considering deforestation.

Main Results:

A critical global warming threshold of 3.7-4.0°C risks Amazon forest stability without deforestation.
With 22-28% deforestation, a 1.5-1.9°C warming threshold could trigger a 62-77% system-wide transition.
Transitions are driven by cascading effects of increased drought intensity over large distances.

Conclusions:

Urgent need to limit global warming below 1.5°C and halt deforestation.
Ecological restoration of degraded forests is crucial to mitigate high transition risks.
The Amazon biome is highly sensitive to combined climate and land-use change pressures.