It might seem implausible, but Evan Gora and colleagues from across the USA have found that being struck by lightning might be good for you, if you’re a tree. The crucial factor is that you have to be the right kind of tree. They believe that Dipteryx oleifera, a tree found in the rain forests of Panama, may have evolved to attract lightning. Their study finds that lightning might be an overlooked element of tree competition.
Lightning is lethal. Gora and colleagues found that when lightning strikes a Dipteryx tree, an average of 9.2 neighbouring trees die, as the electricity travels along branches and vines. The result is a patch of devastation, but it’s also an opportunity. The clearing in the canopy allows other trees to reach the light. But something particularly strange happens with Dipteryx.
The team found that if a Dipteryx tree can grow more than 60cm (2 feet) in diameter, then it will be struck by lightning at least five times during its lifetime. Given lightning is so lethal, being struck once should be enough to end the ‘lifetime’ count. These extra strikes cannot be due to lucky survivals. Weirder, the Dipteryx trees grow higher than their neighbours and have wider crowns. Gora and colleagues estimate that they’re half as likely again to attract lightning compared to their neighbours.
To find out what was going on, the research team tracked 93 trees struck by lightning over a 2-6 year period, monitoring survival rates, crown and trunk conditions, vine infestations, and neighbouring tree mortality. This sample included nine Dipteryx oleifera trees hit by lightning, and compared their responses with 84 lightning-struck trees of other species. After the team detected and located a lightning strike, they would send drones and on-ground teams to examine the trees.
It turns out there are advantages to a lightning blast, if you survive. For a start, a lot of your neighbours don’t. The scientists found that a lightning strike on a non-Dipteryx tree removed a lot more leaves than on a Dipteryx. If a tree wasn’t a Dipteryx then it was more likely than not to die in the couple of years following a lightning strike. Instead of losing leaves, Dipteryx lost pests. Lightning killed almost 80% of lianas growing on a Dipteryx tree, removing their closest competitors for light and nutrients.
Scientists had previously suspected that some trees evolved to tolerate lightning, but evidence to back it up was lacking. The authors estimate that a Dipteryx gets struck by lightning once every fifty years or so, and can live up to a thousand years. On that timescale, lightning is a regular problem that you have to deal with. On a human timescale it would be like being struck by lightning every four years. Clearly being able to tolerate lightning is an important trait for a tree that wants to survive. It may yet become more important. If a changing climate makes storms more frequent, then lightning may have a big hand in shaping the diversity of forests.
Gora, E.M., Muller-Landau, H.C., Cushman, K.C., Richards, J.H., Bitzer, P.M., Burchfield, J.C., Narváez, P. & Yanoviak, S.P. 2025. How some tropical trees benefit from being struck by lightning: evidence for Dipteryx oleifera and other large-statured trees. New Phytologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70062
Cover: Technician Cesar Gutierrez climbs a tower to detect and locate lightning strikes in the study area. After detection, drones and on-the-ground teams monitor the strike’s impacts. Image: Evan Gora / Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
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