by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
Between 2023 and 2024, driven by El Ni\u00f1o<\/strong>\u2014the periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific that occurs at irregular intervals during the Northern Hemisphere winter\u2014the Amazon rainforest<\/strong> experienced, as previously reported<\/a>, the most severe drought in its recorded history. It was during this unprecedented event that the world’s largest rainforest activated an unexpected chemical defense mechanism<\/strong>. These finding emerges from a study<\/a> published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment<\/em>.<\/p>\n The study was conducted by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry<\/strong> in Mainz as part of the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO<\/strong>), an international research initiative launched in 2009 through a collaboration between Germany and Brazil. International researchers investigated the mechanisms by which vegetation responds to extreme climate events. The project also involved the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA<\/strong>) and the Amazonas State University (UEA<\/strong>). Air samples were collected above the forest canopy and subsequently analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.<\/p>\n