Detecting vulnerability of humid tropical forests to multiple stressors

Rainforests take hundreds of years to be formed into a diverse and complex structure that is lush but fragile. The reason for their fragility is the difficulty to recover from disturbance. Using satellite observations, we show how increasing threats from large-scale deforestation and severe climate conditions over the past four decades have substantially impacted the ecological functions of these forests regionally, pushing them toward a critical point of no recovery and a dryer and less diverse state.