CANBERRA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change, sparking concerns about their long-term survival, the University of Adelaide said in a news release on Thursday.

Sami Rifai, a lecturer from the University of Adelaide, warned that by 2100, temperatures could rise up to 4 degrees Celsius and rainfall could drop 20 percent, pushing forests further out of balance and making them more vulnerable to extreme climate events.

An international study involving more than 100 scientists and local partners, provides key insights for conservationists working to protect tropical rainforests, which are vital for global climate regulation and biodiversity. However, their ability to adapt to climate change remains limited.

"Due to how rapidly climate change is altering temperature and precipitation patterns, tree communities are responding too slowly to remain in equilibrium with their environment," Rifai said.

Despite decades of climate change, the study found that tree communities have shifted less than 8 percent of what is needed to keep pace with changing environmental conditions, he said, adding this slow adaptation threatens biodiversity and a critical role rainforests play in climate regulation.

The research team analyzed over 250,000 trees from 415 permanent forest plots spanning Mexico to southern Brazil, assessing how different species are responding to rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns, according to the study published recently in Science.

By identifying which tree species are struggling or thriving under these changes, scientists hoped to inform conservation actions and the allocation of funding, said Jesus Aguirre-Gutierrez from the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, who led the research. Enditem