Eric J.M.M. Arets

Eric J.M.M. Arets
Wageningen University & Research | WUR · Wageningen Enviromental Research

PhD

About

159
Publications
105,227
Reads
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8,672
Citations
Additional affiliations
Wageningen University & Research
Position
  • Researcher
July 2005 - January 2006
Tropenbos International
Position
  • Assistant Programme Coordinator
January 2005 - June 2005
Utrecht University
Position
  • Researcher

Publications

Publications (159)
Article
Full-text available
Aim Tropical forests store 25% of global carbon and harbour 96% of the world's tree species, but it is not clear whether this high biodiversity matters for carbon storage. Few studies have teased apart the relative importance of forest attributes and environmental drivers for ecosystem functioning, and no such study exists for the tropics. Locatio...
Article
Atmospheric carbon dioxide records indicate that the land surface has acted as a strong global carbon sink over recent decades1, 2, with a substantial fraction of this sink probably located in the tropics3, particularly in the Amazon4. Nevertheless, it is unclear how the terrestrial carbon sink will evolve as climate and atmospheric composition con...
Technical Report
Full-text available
This study is part of the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) study of trade chains, and assessed the impact of harvesting tropical timber on ecosystem services and the costs and benefits of more sustainable production. The costs of implementation and the benefits from increased ecosystem services levels were assessed for two altern...
Book
Full-text available
This technical report explores the governance options available to the Dutch government to promote the sustainable use and maintenance of ecosystem services in tropical commodity value chains with Dutch links. It examines how ecosystem services can be given a more explicit role in public and market mechanisms, using the cocoa, soy, palm oil and tim...
Article
Full-text available
While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few 'hyperdominant' species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding how the traits of lineages are related to diversification is key for elucidating the origin of variation in species richness. Here, we test whether traits are related to species richness among lineages of trees from all major biogeographical settings of the lowland wet tropics. We explore whether variation in mortality rate, breeding...
Article
Tree growth and longevity trade-offs fundamentally shape the terrestrial carbon balance. Yet, we lack a unified understanding of how such trade-offs vary across the world’s forests. By mapping life history traits for a wide range of species across the Americas, we reveal considerable variation in life expectancies from 10 centimeters in diameter (r...
Article
Full-text available
The tropical forest carbon sink is known to be drought sensitive, but it is unclear which forests are the most vulnerable to extreme events. Forests with hotter and drier baseline conditions may be protected by prior adaptation, or more vulnerable because they operate closer to physiological limits. Here we report that forests in drier South Americ...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Aanleiding en doelstelling van de Klimaat- en Energieverkenning (KEV) De Klimaatwet (2019) schrijft voor dat er jaarlijks door het PBL een Klimaat­ en Energieverkenning (KEV) wordt uitgebracht. In de KEV schetst het PBL de ontwikkelingen van de broeikasgasemissies en het energiesysteem in Nederland in het verleden, het heden en de toekomst. Daarbij...
Article
Aim Water availability is the major driver of tropical forest structure and dynamics. Most research has focused on the impacts of climatic water availability, whereas remarkably little is known about the influence of water table depth and excess soil water on forest processes. Nevertheless, given that plants take up water from the soil, the impacts...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Forests are being cut and degraded at an alarming rate, with the expansion of agricultural land as a main driver. The EU plays a significant role in global deforestation and forest degradation through the consumption of certain commodities. This report recommends the implementation of a mandatory due diligence system ensuring that commodities and d...
Article
Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of...
Article
Full-text available
O objetivo foi abordar um mosaico de vegetação de savana (áreas marginais-MS e disjuntas-DS) no Cerrado Setentrional Brasileiro para investigar o papel desempenhado por fatores ambientais como determinantes da organização comunitária em escala espacial, a fim de compreender os padrões divergentes ao longo de uma gradiente ambiental. Analisamos pred...
Article
Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of...
Article
Full-text available
Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of...
Article
Full-text available
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20537-x
Article
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Mede naar aanleiding van eerdere commotie over de afname van het bosare- aal in Nederland heeft het ministerie van LNV de bossenstrategie opgesteld, waarin gestreefd wordt naar 10% meer bos in 2030. Is daar al iets van te zien in de cijfers? In dit artikel bespreken we de stand van het bosareaal vanuit de nationale klimaatmonitoring van de secto...
Article
Full-text available
Aim Tree crowns determine light interception, carbon and water exchange. Thus, understanding the factors causing tree crown allometry to vary at the tree and stand level matters greatly for the development of future vegetation modelling and for the calibration of remote sensing products. Nevertheless, we know little about large‐scale variation and...
Article
Full-text available
Aim: Tree crowns determine light interception, carbon and water exchange. Thus, understanding the factors causing tree crown allometry to vary at the tree and stand level matters greatly for the development of future vegetation modelling and for the calibration of remote sensing products. Nevertheless, we know little about large‐scale variation and...
Article
Full-text available
The carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality. However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term RAINFOR forest plots. While tree mortality...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Samenvatting In het kader van de Klimaat- en Energieverkenning 2020 (KEV2020) zijn met het National Emission Model for Agriculture (NEMA) referentieramingen gemaakt voor emissies van methaan, lachgas, koolstofdioxide, ammoniak, fijnstof, stikstofoxide en niet-methaan vluchtige organische stoffen voor de zichtjaren 2020, 2025 en 2030 met een doorkij...
Article
Full-text available
The carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality. However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term RAINFOR forest plots. While tree mortality...
Article
Full-text available
The carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality. However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term RAINFOR forest plots. While tree mortality...
Article
Full-text available
The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate contro...
Article
The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate contro...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands 1990–2018 Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Netherlands in 2018 decreased by approximately 2.7 percent, in comparison with 2017 emissions. This decrease was mainly the result of decreased coal combustion for energy and heat production. In 2018, total GHG emissions (including indirect CO2 emi...
Article
Full-text available
Higher levels of taxonomic and evolutionary diversity are expected to maximize ecosystem function, yet their relative importance in driving variation in ecosystem function at large scales in diverse forests is unknown. Using 90 inventory plots across intact, lowland, terra firme, Amazonian forests and a new phylogeny including 526 angiosperm genera...
Article
Full-text available
Higher levels of taxonomic and evolutionary diversity are expected to maximize ecosystem function, yet their relative importance in driving variation in ecosystem function at large scales in diverse forests is unknown. Using 90 inventory plots across intact, lowland, terra firme, Amazonian forests and a new phylogeny including 526 angiosperm genera...
Technical Report
Full-text available
A clear majority of smallholder farmers in commodity value chains such as cocoa, tea, coffee and oil palm are struggling to earn a living income. This despite numerous interventions in the past two decades, aiming to lift them out of poverty. Interventions have ranged from training, to voluntary sustainability certification and the provision of fre...
Article
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Large changes in biodiversity are expected to occur if climate change continues at its current pace. Adverse effects include changes in species habitats and compositions, and consequently changes in ecosystem functioning. We assessed the magnitude of expected changes of biodiversity by performing a meta-analysis of the responses of species distribu...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Synopsis Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands 1990–2017 Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Netherlands in 2017 decreased by approximately 1.1%, compared with 2016 emissions. This decrease was mainly the result of decreased coal combustion for energy and heat production. In 2017, total GHG emissions (including indirect CO2 emiss...
Article
Full-text available
Most of the planet's diversity is concentrated in the tropics, which includes many regions undergoing rapid climate change. Yet, while climate-induced biodiversity changes are widely documented elsewhere, few studies have addressed this issue for lowland tropical ecosystems. Here we investigate whether the floristic and functional composition of in...
Technical Report
Full-text available
The aim of this study is to help build a knowledge base for the review of the EU Forest Strategy that was adopted by the European Commission in 2013. The EU Forest Strategy addresses 8 priority areas that were identified as being particularly relevant for forests and the forest-based sector until 2020. These priority areas address: (i) support of r...
Article
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Ecosystem service (ES) models can only inform policy design adequately if they incorporate ecological processes. We used the Lund-Potsdam-Jena managed Land (LPJmL) model, to address following questions for Mexico, Bolivia and Brazilian Amazon: (i) How different are C stocks and C sequestration quantifications under standard (when soil and litter C...
Article
Full-text available
Most of the planet's diversity is concentrated in the tropics, which includes many regions undergoing rapid climate change. Yet, while climate‐induced biodiversity changes are widely documented elsewhere, few studies have addressed this issue for lowland tropical ecosystems. Here we investigate whether the floristic and functional composition of in...
Article
Full-text available
Background In June 2018, the European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopted a legislative regulation for incorporating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (EU-LULUCF) under its 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. The LULUCF regulation aim to incentivise EU Member States to decrease greenho...
Article
Full-text available
Dutch policies have advocated sustainable commodity value chains, which have implications for the landscapes from which these commodities originate. This study examines governance and policy options for sustainability in terms of how ecosystem services are addressed in cocoa, soy, tropical timber and palm oil value chains with Dutch links. A range...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands 1990–2016 Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Netherlands in 2016 increased by approximately 0.2%, compared with 2015 emissions. This increase was mainly the result of increased natural gasconsumption for space heating. On the other hand, the emission of electricity production has declined. In 201...
Article
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Forest degradation accounts for ~70% of total carbon losses from tropical forests. Substantial emissions are from selective logging, a land-use activity that decreases forest carbon density. To maintain carbon values in selectively logged forests, climate change mitigation policies and government agencies promote the adoption of reduced-impact logg...
Technical Report
Full-text available
his report provides a complete methodological description and background information of the Dutch National System for Greenhouse gas reporting of the LULUCF sector. It provides detailed description of the methodologies, activity data and emission factors that were used. Each of the reporting categories Forest Land, Cropland, Grassland, Wetlands, Se...
Article
Full-text available
1.Tropical forests store and sequester large amounts of carbon in above- and below-ground plant biomass and soil organic matter (SOM), but how these are driven by abiotic and biotic factors remains poorly understood. 2.Here, we test the effects of abiotic factors (light variation, caused by logging disturbance, and soil fertility) and biotic factor...
Article
Full-text available
Quantifying the relationship between tree diameter and height is a key component of efforts to estimate biomass and carbon stocks in tropical forests. Although substantial site‐to‐site variation in height–diameter allometries has been documented, the time consuming nature of measuring all tree heights in an inventory plot means that most studies do...
Article
p>Background: In June 2018, the European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopted a legislative regulation for incorporating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (EU-LULUCF) under its 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. The LULUCF regulation aim to incentivise EU Member States to decrease gree...
Article
Full-text available
Aim Tropical forests account for a quarter of the global carbon storage and a third of the terrestrial productivity. Few studies have teased apart the relative importance of environmental factors and forest attributes for ecosystem functioning, especially for the tropics. This study aims to relate aboveground biomass (AGB) and biomass dynamics (i.e...
Article
Full-text available
Impacts of climate change require that society urgently develops ways to reduce amounts of carbon in the atmosphere. Tropical forests present an important opportunity, as they take up and store large amounts of carbon. It is often suggested that forests with high biodiversity have large stocks and high rates of carbon uptake. Evidence is, however,...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands 1990–2015 Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Netherlands in 2015 increased by approximately 4%, compared with 2014 emissions. This increase was mainly the result of the increased electricity production in coal fired plants compared to 2014. Furthermore fuel combustion in all sectors was increa...
Article
Full-text available
br/>1. Tropical fores ts play an important role in the global carbon cycle, but the drivers of net forest biomass change (i.e. net carbon sequestration) are poorly understood. Here, we evaluate how abiotic factors (soil co nditions and disturbance) and biotic factors (forest structure, diversity and community trait composition) shape three importan...
Article
Full-text available
Door natuurontwikkeling, verstedelijking en het verdwijnen van tijdelijke bossen is het bosareaal in Nederland de laatste jaren met 5.400 ha afgenomen. Ontbossing speelt daarmee een belangrijke rol in de landelijke CO2-balans van bossen.
Article
Livestock production has positive and negative impacts and externalities that have an effect on the socio-economic systems as well as the ecosystem, from both the global and national perspective. This study assessed the scale, range and degree of both positive and negative impacts of livestock production systems on ecosystems, human health and live...
Article
Full-text available
Lineages tend to retain ecological characteristics of their ancestors through time. However, for some traits, selection during evolutionary history may have also played a role in determining trait values. To address the relative importance of these processes requires large-scale quantification of traits and evolutionary relationships among species....
Data
Comparison between published values of phylogenetic signal and values found in the present study
Technical Report
Full-text available
conservation of natural capital and ecosystem services Over the past decade in the Netherlands, a great deal of progress has been made towards making international supply chains of resources more sustainable, such as those of soya, palm oil, cacao and tropical wood. These resources are increasingly produced according to international market standar...
Article
Full-text available
Tropical forests have long been thought to be in stable state, but recent insights indicate that global change is leading to shifts in forest dynamics and species composition. These shifts may be driven by environmental changes such as increased resource availability, increased drought stress, and/or recovery from past disturbances. The relative im...
Article
Understanding the processes that determine above-ground biomass (AGB) in Amazonian forests is important for predicting the sensitivity of these ecosystems to environmental change and for designing and evaluating dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). AGB is determined by inputs from woody productivity [woody net primary productivity (NPP)] and t...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding the processes that determine aboveground biomass (AGB) in Amazonian forests is important for predicting the sensitivity of these ecosystems to environmental change and for designing and evaluating dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). AGB is determined by inputs from woody productivity (woody NPP) and the rate at which carbon is l...
Article
Understanding the processes that determine aboveground biomass (AGB) in Amazonian forests is important for predicting the sensitivity of these ecosystems to environmental change and for designing and evaluating dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). AGB is determined by inputs from woody productivity (woody NPP) and the rate at which carbon is l...