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

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

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Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance. / Espirito-Santo, Fernando D. B.; Gloor, Manuel; Keller, Michael; Malhi, Yadvinder; Saatchi, Sassan; Nelson, Bruce; Oliveira Junior, Raimundo C.; Pereira, Cleuton; Lloyd, Jon; Frolking, Steve; Palace, Michael; Shimabukuro, Yosio E.; Duarte, Valdete; Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Baker, Tim R.; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Brienen, Roel J. W.; Asner, Gregory P.; Boyd, Doreen S.; Phillips, Oliver L.

In: Nature Communications, Vol. 5, 3434, 18.03.2014.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Espirito-Santo, FDB, Gloor, M, Keller, M, Malhi, Y, Saatchi, S, Nelson, B, Oliveira Junior, RC, Pereira, C, Lloyd, J, Frolking, S, Palace, M, Shimabukuro, YE, Duarte, V, Mendoza, AM, Lopez-Gonzalez, G, Baker, TR, Feldpausch, TR, Brienen, RJW, Asner, GP, Boyd, DS & Phillips, OL 2014, 'Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance', Nature Communications, vol. 5, 3434. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4434

APA

Espirito-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., Mendoza, A. M., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Baker, T. R., Feldpausch, T. R., Brienen, R. J. W., Asner, G. P., ... Phillips, O. L. (2014). Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance. Nature Communications, 5, [3434]. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4434

Vancouver

Espirito-Santo FDB, Gloor M, Keller M, Malhi Y, Saatchi S, Nelson B et al. Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance. Nature Communications. 2014 Mar 18;5. 3434. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4434

Author

Espirito-Santo, Fernando D. B. ; Gloor, Manuel ; Keller, Michael ; Malhi, Yadvinder ; Saatchi, Sassan ; Nelson, Bruce ; Oliveira Junior, Raimundo C. ; Pereira, Cleuton ; Lloyd, Jon ; Frolking, Steve ; Palace, Michael ; Shimabukuro, Yosio E. ; Duarte, Valdete ; Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo ; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela ; Baker, Tim R. ; Feldpausch, Ted R. ; Brienen, Roel J. W. ; Asner, Gregory P. ; Boyd, Doreen S. ; Phillips, Oliver L. / Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance. In: Nature Communications. 2014 ; Vol. 5.

Bibtex

@article{34c6f8db6d154160bc3e008101150774,
title = "Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance",
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 similar to 1.7 Pg Cy-1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of similar to 0.2 Pg Cy-1, and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of similar to 0.004 Pg Cy-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.",
keywords = "ABOVEGROUND LIVE BIOMASS, TROPICAL FORESTS, BRAZILIAN AMAZON, RAIN-FOREST, LARGE BLOWDOWNS, PLOTS, DYNAMICS, BASIN, STATE",
author = "Espirito-Santo, {Fernando D. B.} and Manuel Gloor and Michael Keller and Yadvinder Malhi and Sassan Saatchi and Bruce Nelson and {Oliveira Junior}, {Raimundo C.} and Cleuton Pereira and Jon Lloyd and Steve Frolking and Michael Palace and Shimabukuro, {Yosio E.} and Valdete Duarte and Mendoza, {Abel Monteagudo} and Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez and Baker, {Tim R.} and Feldpausch, {Ted R.} and Brienen, {Roel J. W.} and Asner, {Gregory P.} and Boyd, {Doreen S.} and Phillips, {Oliver L.}",
year = "2014",
month = mar,
day = "18",
doi = "10.1038/ncomms4434",
language = "English",
volume = "5",
journal = "Nature Communications",
issn = "2041-1723",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance

AU - Espirito-Santo, Fernando D. B.

AU - Gloor, Manuel

AU - Keller, Michael

AU - Malhi, Yadvinder

AU - Saatchi, Sassan

AU - Nelson, Bruce

AU - Oliveira Junior, Raimundo C.

AU - Pereira, Cleuton

AU - Lloyd, Jon

AU - Frolking, Steve

AU - Palace, Michael

AU - Shimabukuro, Yosio E.

AU - Duarte, Valdete

AU - Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo

AU - Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela

AU - Baker, Tim R.

AU - Feldpausch, Ted R.

AU - Brienen, Roel J. W.

AU - Asner, Gregory P.

AU - Boyd, Doreen S.

AU - Phillips, Oliver L.

PY - 2014/3/18

Y1 - 2014/3/18

N2 - 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 similar to 1.7 Pg Cy-1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of similar to 0.2 Pg Cy-1, and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of similar to 0.004 Pg Cy-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.

AB - 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 similar to 1.7 Pg Cy-1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of similar to 0.2 Pg Cy-1, and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of similar to 0.004 Pg Cy-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.

KW - ABOVEGROUND LIVE BIOMASS

KW - TROPICAL FORESTS

KW - BRAZILIAN AMAZON

KW - RAIN-FOREST

KW - LARGE BLOWDOWNS

KW - PLOTS

KW - DYNAMICS

KW - BASIN

KW - STATE

U2 - 10.1038/ncomms4434

DO - 10.1038/ncomms4434

M3 - Journal article

VL - 5

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

M1 - 3434

ER -