Title |
Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance
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Published in |
Nature Communications, March 2014
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DOI | 10.1038/ncomms4434 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Fernando D.B. Espírito-Santo, Manuel Gloor, Michael Keller, Yadvinder Malhi, Sassan Saatchi, Bruce Nelson, Raimundo C. Oliveira Junior, Cleuton Pereira, Jon Lloyd, Steve Frolking, Michael Palace, Yosio E. Shimabukuro, Valdete Duarte, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza, Gabriela López-González, Tim R. Baker, Ted R. Feldpausch, Roel J.W. Brienen, Gregory P. Asner, Doreen S. Boyd, Oliver L. Phillips |
Abstract |
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 0.01 ha to 2,651 ha 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 ~1.7 Pg C y(-1) over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of ~0.2 Pg C y(-1), and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of ~0.004 Pg C y(-1). 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. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 6 | 21% |
United Kingdom | 3 | 11% |
Belgium | 1 | 4% |
Uruguay | 1 | 4% |
Puerto Rico | 1 | 4% |
Brazil | 1 | 4% |
Peru | 1 | 4% |
Unknown | 14 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 20 | 71% |
Scientists | 6 | 21% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | 7% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Brazil | 10 | 2% |
United States | 8 | 2% |
Germany | 2 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
France | 1 | <1% |
Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
Colombia | 1 | <1% |
Peru | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
Other | 2 | <1% |
Unknown | 445 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 94 | 20% |
Researcher | 86 | 18% |
Student > Master | 68 | 14% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 33 | 7% |
Student > Bachelor | 33 | 7% |
Other | 86 | 18% |
Unknown | 74 | 16% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Environmental Science | 158 | 33% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 114 | 24% |
Earth and Planetary Sciences | 64 | 14% |
Engineering | 13 | 3% |
Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 5 | 1% |
Other | 23 | 5% |
Unknown | 97 | 20% |