Key messageWe review the recent findings on the influence of drought on tree mortality, growth or ecosystem functioning in tropical rainforests. Drought plays a major role in shaping tropical rainforests and the response mechanisms are highly diverse and complex. The numerous gaps identified here require the international scientific community to combine efforts in order to conduct comprehensive studies in tropical rainforests on the three continents. These results are essential to simulate the future of these ecosystems under diverse climate scenarios and to predict the future of the global earth carbon balance.ContextTropical rainforest ecosystems are characterized by high annual rainfall. Nevertheless, rainfall regularly fluctuates during the year and seasonal soil droughts do occur. Over the past decades, a number of extreme droughts have hit tropical rainforests, not only in Amazonia but also in Asia and Africa. The influence of drought events on tree mortality and growth or on ecosystem functioning (carbon and water fluxes) in tropical rainforest ecosystems has been studied intensively, but the response mechanisms are complex.AimsHerein, we review the recent findings related to the response of tropical forest ecosystems to seasonal and extreme droughts and the current knowledge about the future of these ecosystems.ResultsThis review emphasizes the progress made over recent years and the importance of the studies conducted under extreme drought conditions or in through-fall exclusion experiments in understanding the response of these ecosystems. It also points to the great diversity and complexity of the response of tropical rainforest ecosystems to drought.ConclusionThe numerous gaps identified here require the international scientific community to combine efforts in order to conduct comprehensive studies in tropical forest regions. These results are essential to simulate the future of these ecosystems under diverse climate scenarios and to predict the future of the global earth carbon balance.

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热带雨林对干旱的反应——近期研究的教训和未来展望

关键信息我们回顾了最近关于干旱对热带雨林树木死亡率、生长或生态系统功能影响的研究结果。干旱在塑造热带雨林方面发挥着重要作用，其响应机制高度多样化和复杂。这里确定的众多差距需要国际科学界共同努力，以便对三大洲的热带雨林进行全面研究。这些结果对于模拟不同气候情景下这些生态系统的未来以及预测全球地球碳平衡的未来至关重要。 背景热带雨林生态系统的特点是年降雨量高。然而，全年降雨量经常波动，并且确实会发生季节性土壤干旱。在过去的几十年里，许多极端干旱袭击了热带雨林，不仅在亚马逊地区，而且在亚洲和非洲。干旱事件对热带雨林生态系统中树木死亡率和生长或生态系统功能（碳和水通量）的影响已被深入研究，但响应机制复杂。目的在此，我们回顾了与热带雨林响应有关的最新发现生态系统对季节性和极端干旱的影响以及关于这些生态系统未来的当前知识。结果本综述强调了近年来取得的进展以及在极端干旱条件下或在整个秋季排除实验中进行的研究对于理解这些响应的重要性生态系统。它还指出热带雨林生态系统对干旱响应的巨大多样性和复杂性。结论这里确定的众多差距需要国际科学界共同努力，以便对热带森林地区进行全面研究。这些结果对于模拟不同气候情景下这些生态系统的未来以及预测全球地球碳平衡的未来至关重要。