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

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.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	ESPÍRITO-SANTO, F. D. B., GLOOR, M., KELLER, M., MALHI, Y., SAATCHI, S., NELSON, B., OLIVEIRA JUNIOR, R. C., PEREIRA, C., LLOYD, J., FROLKING, S., PALACE, M., SHIMABUKURO, Y. E., DUARTE, V., MONTEAGUDO MENDOZA, A., LÓPEZ-GONZÁLEZ, G., BAKER, T. R., FELDPAUSCH, T. R., BRIENEN, R. J. W., ASNER, G. P., BOYD, D. S., PHILLIPS, O. L.
Other Authors:	FERNANDO D. B. ESPÍRITO-SANTO, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; MANUEL GLOOR, School of Geography, University of Leeds; MICHAEL KELLER, USDA Forest Service / University of New Hampshire / CNPM; YADVINDER MALHI, University of Oxford; SASSAN SAATCHI, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; BRUCE NELSON, INPA; RAIMUNDO COSME DE OLIVEIRA JUNIOR, CPATU; CLEUTON PEREIRA; JON LLOYD, University of Leeds / James Cook University; STEVE FROLKING, University of New Hampshire; MICHAEL PALACE, University of New Hampshire; YOSIO E. SHIMABUKURO, INPE; VALDETE DUARTE, INPE; ABEL MONTEAGUDO MENDOZA, Jardin Botanico de Missouri; GABRIELA LÓPEZ-GONZÁLEZ, University of Leeds; TIM R. BAKER, University of Leeds; TED R. FELDPAUSCH, University of Leeds; ROEL J. W. BRIENEN, University of Leeds; GREGORY P. ASNER, Carnegie Institution for Science; DOREEN S. BOYD, University of Nottingham, University Park; OLIVER L. PHILLIPS, University of Leeds.
Format:	Artigo de periódico biblioteca
Language:	Ingles English
Published:	2014-03-18
Subjects:	Ciência da Terra, Carbono, Clima, Floresta, Amazonia,
Online Access:	http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/982675
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