Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance.

Enter multiple e-mails separated by comma.

imagem

Summary: Forest inventory studies in the Amazon indicate a large terrestrial carbon sink. However, field plots may fail to represent forest mortality processes at landscape-scales of tropical forests. Here we characterize the frequency distribution of disturbance events in natural forests from 0.01ha to 2,651ha size throughout Amazonia using a novel combination of forest inventory, airborne lidar and satellite remote sensing data. We find that small-scale mortality events are responsible for aboveground biomass losses of ~1.7PgCy;1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of ~0.2PgCy1, and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of ~0.004PgCy1. Simulation of growth and mortality indicates that even when all carbon losses from intermediate and large-scale disturbances are considered, these are outweighed by the net biomass accumulation by tree growth, supporting the inference of an Amazon carbon sink.

Publication year: 2014

Types of publication: Journal article

Observation

Some of Embrapa's publications are published as ePub files. To read them, use or download one of the following free software options to your computer or mobile device. Android: Google Play Books; IOS: iBooks; Windows and Linux: Calibre.

 


Access other publications

Access the Agricultural Research Database (BDPA) to consult Embrapa's full library collection and records.
Visit Embrapa Bookstore to purchase books and other publications sold by Embrapa.