A new study published in Science shows that the world's tallest tropical trees, dipterocarps in Borneo, have built-in plumbing adjustments that let them survive drought better than scientists assumed. Researchers climbed trees up to 230 feet tall and measured how water moves through their trunks and leaves. They found that wider vessels near the base and tougher leaves at the top compensate for the extra height, so the trees do not struggle to stay hydrated. This matters for carbon storage because the tallest 1% of trees hold more than half of a forest's above-ground carbon. Earlier climate models assumed these giants would die first in a drought, which would release large amounts of stored carbon. The new study, published in Science, shows that dipterocarps in Borneo kept growing through a recent El Nino drought with no extra slowdown compared to shorter trees. The finding suggests tropical forests may be more resilient than some models predict, though the authors caution that more intense droughts could still threaten them.
