Dr Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert investigates the demise of our rainforests' biggest characters.
A giant has fallen.
In the depths of the Amazon, a centuries-old tree has crashed to the earth. While its impact and absence are seismic for nearby species, the death is soon absorbed by the immensity of the rainforest. The tree’s precious ecological information and cause of death are on the brink of being lost forever.
Until the Gigante project steps in. Its aerial drones survey 1,500 rainforest hectares each month. By comparing photos over time, the Gigante team detects dead giants from new gaps in the canopy. Ground teams can then head to the site and investigate the giant’s cause of death: lightning or long dry spells, parasites or pestilence.
Determining how and why giant tropical trees die is vital in coping with climate change. The biggest 1% of trees are responsible for storing 50% of the forest’s carbon. Yet, because of their rarity and remoteness, our knowledge of the biggest trees is patchy.
The Gigante project is led by Dr Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, incoming Associate Professor of Ecology at the Department of Plant Sciences. She specialises in tropical plant ecology, and has decades of experience in tracking forest health.
From Cambridge, Esquivel-Muelbert can co-ordinate and analyse Gigante’s surveying of tropical forests. Her expert teams are stationed in Malaysia, Cameroon, Panama and the Amazon. She’s bringing them all to Cambridge in March 2026, to run workshops and collate what they’ve learned so far.
“This analysis can also deepen our understanding of ecology at a larger scale,” Esquivel-Muelbert says. “We can use AI to identify species from above, and build up a picture of whole-forest health.”
Esquivel-Muelbert’s work is part of a massive scientific effort to create frequent and reliable assessments of Earth’s forests.
By knowing our forests better, scientists can determine just how resilient their species are. They can project into the future, and allocate resources to regions that are likely to suffer more. And they can sketch out forests’ shifting character as they adapt to the many-fronted assault of climate change.
Read the full interview with Dr Esquivel-Muelbert
Image: Dr Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert. Photo by Liam Morgan.
Text by Liam Morgan. First published on the University of Cambridge central website.