Carbon stocks and biodiversity diverge between seasonally flooded and semi-evergreen tropical forests in the Yucatan Peninsula: implications for conservation in a threatened dry landscape

Research in the Calakmul region reveals that seasonally flooded lowland forests (SFLF) store significantly less carbon but exhibit higher biodiversity compared to semi-evergreen tropical forests (SETF). While SETFs showed greater basal area, canopy height, and carbon stocks (118.9 t C ha⁻¹ vs. 63.6 t C ha⁻¹), SFLFs demonstrated greater species diversity due to reduced competitive dominance from periodic flooding. Floristic composition differed entirely between the two forest types, with no overlap in species distribution. The study highlights the ecological importance of SFLFs and warns that projected drought trends could lead to landscape-scale carbon losses, which low-resolution global models may overlook. These findings underscore the need for nuanced conservation strategies that account for the unique ecological roles of seasonally flooded forests.

López-Martínez, J. O., Macario-Mendoza, P. A., Gómez-Rodríguez, G. A., Munguía-Rosas, M. A., Charbonnier, F., & Siordia, O. S. (2026). Carbon stocks and biodiversity diverge between seasonally flooded and semi-evergreen tropical forests in the Yucatan Peninsula: implications for conservation in a threatened dry landscape. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2026.1862978