Spatial Patterns in the Carbon Uptake and Dynamics of Amazonian - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Spatial Patterns in the Carbon Uptake and Dynamics of Amazonian Forests

Yadvinder Malhi, Oliver Phillips, Tim Baker, Jon Lloyd with Sandra Patino, Beto Quesada, Lina Mercado, Jens Schmerler, Luzmila Arroyo, Mario Saldias, Tim Killeen, Natalino Silva, David Neill, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza, Niro Higuchi, Samuel Almeida, Rodolfo Vásquez, Patrick Meir, Martínez, Marcos Silveira.

How does climate vary across the Amazonian forest ?

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Length of dry season (months) Std deviation of dry season (months)

Tower Sites

La Selva, Costa Rica Sinop Caxiuana Manaus Tapajos Jaru

Data are means for 1960-1998, from University of East Anglia observational database

Seasonal and interannual variability in Neotropical forests

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Length of dry season (months) Mean Solar Radiation (MJ m -2 month-1)

Tower sites

La Selva, Costa Rica Sinop Caxiuana Manaus Tapajos Jaru

Solar radiation and dry season length in Neotropical forests

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Length of dry season (months) Mean Solar Radiation (MJ m -2 month-1)

Tower sites

La Selva, Costa Rica Sinop Caxiuana Manaus Tapajos Jaru

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Solar radiation and dry season length in Neotropical forests

The RAINFOR project: Red Amazonica de Inventarios Forestales (Spanish) Rede Amazonica de Inventarios Florestais (Portuguese) Amazonian Forest Inventory Network A component of Carboncycle-LBA

Currently funded by European Union Max Planck Institute, Germany Royal Society, UK

Collaborating institutes in RAINFOR: Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff, Santa Cruz, Bolivia Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belem, Pará, Brazil Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Manaus, Brasil. BOLFOR, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Conservation International, Washington D.C., U.S.A. CIFOR, EMBRAPA, Belém, Brazil. EMBRAPA, Belém, Brazil Fundación Jatun Sacha, Quito, Ecuador Missouri Botanical Garden, USA Herbario Vargas, Universidad San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Cusco, Peru Instituto National de Pesquisas de Amazonia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Bogotá, Colombia Proyecto Flora del Peru, Jardín Botánico de Missouri, Jaen, Peru Universidad Católica, Quito, Ecuador Universidade de Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil University of Edinburgh UK University of Leeds, UK Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Germany

Journal of Vegetation Science, in press IGBP Special Issue on transect studies

RAINFOR ACTIVITIES

• 1. FOREST

INVENTORIES (BOTANICAL AND STRUCTURAL) IQUITOS, PERU, JAN 2001

AIM To establish if Amzonian forests are changing over time (in structure, biomass, composition, and dynamics) Focus on previously established sample plots

RAINFOR ACTIVITIES

• 2. SOIL AND LEAF NUTRIENT SAMPLING

IQUITOS, PERU, JAN 2001 AIM Develop a standardised pan-Amazonian dataset of soil physics and nutrient status based on common sampling protocols and lab analyses

Installation of Automatic Weather Stations in Data-Poor Areas NOEL KEMPFF NATIONAL PARK, BOLIVIA, JUNE 2001

Installation of Tree Growth Bands and Litter Traps NOEL KEMPFF NATIONAL PARK, BOLIVIA, JUNE 2001

Measurement of Forest Structure (Allometry, Leaf Area) NOEL KEMPFF NATIONAL PARK, BOLIVIA, JUNE 2001

NOEL KEMPFF TAMBOPATA YASUNI IQUITOS MANAUS/BDFFP CAXIUANA BRAGANCA TAPAJOS JATUN SACHA

RAINFOR Field Activities 2001-2002

LA CHONTA JARU ACRE (planned 2003) SINOP SOUTH TRANSECT

Some Results

NOEL KEMPFF NATIONAL PARK, BOLIVIA, JUNE 2001

Single census plots Multiple census plots

Changes in the Biomass of Tropical Forests: Evaluating Potential Biases

O.L. Phillips1, Y. Malhi2, B. Vinceti2, T. Baker1, S.L. Lewis1, 2, N. Higuchi3, W.F. Laurance4,5, P. Núñez Vargas6, R. Vásquez Martinez7, S. Laurance4, L.V. Ferreira4, M. Stern8, S. Brown9, J Grace2

Ecological Applications, 2002

Forest Structure

150 250 350 450 550 650 750 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Length of dry season (months) Mean tree size (basal area per tree, cm2)

Ecuador Manaus N Peru S Peru Tapajos Caxiuana N Bolivia Jau Acre

Variation in mean tree size (basal area per tree)

Mean tree size is correlated with climate Why is the average tree smaller in wetter forests ? Mortality rates are higher in wet forests and these trees are younger on average ? Is large tree size advantageous in seasonally dry forests ?

Spatial Trends in Forest Diversity

Variation of Tree Family Diversity in Amazonian Terra Firme Forests

y = -2.1383x + 46.614 R

2 = 0.895

30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Length of dry season (months < 100 mm rain)

Ecuador Caxiuana Manaus South Peru Tapajos North Bolivia North Peru

• B. Vinceti, PhD Thesis, in prep

Forest Dynamics

20 40 60 80 100 120 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Length of dry season (months) Biomass turnover time (years)

Other forest Terra firme South Peru North Peru Ecuador Flooded forest North Bolivia Flooded forest South Venezuela (white sand) Manaus (Bionte) Manaus (BDFFP) Tapajos Caxiuana Belem Liana Forest French Guyana

Poor correlation between biomass turnover and climate

If climate cannot explain the spatial variation in forest dynamics, what can ?

Spatial trends in biomass turnover time

20 40 60 80 100 120 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Distance from Andes (km) Biomass turnover time (years)

Other forest Terra firme South Peru North Peru Ecuador Flooded forest North Bolivia Flooded forest South Venezuela (white sand) Manaus (Bionte) Manaus (BDFFP) Tapajos Caxiuana Belem Liana Forest French Guyana

Spatial trends in above-ground forest wood productivity

1 2 3 4 5 6 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

Distance from Andes (km) Above-ground wood carbon production (t C ha-1 year-1)

Other forest Terra firme

South Peru North Peru Ecuador Flooded forest (Bolivia) North Bolivia Flooded forest (Iquitos) South Venezuela (white sand) Manaus (Bionte) Manaus (BDFFP) Tapajos Caxiuana Belem French Guyana

Why would forest productivity and dynamics correlate with distance from the Andes ?

3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Distance from Andes (km) Soil pH

Interpolated from Soil and Terrain DataBase, (SOTER), FAO 1998

Spatial Trends in Soil Fertility

• 1
• 0.8
• 0.6
• 0.4
• 0.2

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Plot

Change in Basal Area (m2/year)

Production Mortality Net Change S Peru Bolivia N Peru Manaus Guyana E Para Tapajos

The Balance between Production and Mortality in Terra Firme Forests

increasing distance from Andes

carbon sink carbon source

2 4 6 8 10 12

• 2
• 1.6
• 1.2
• 0.8
• 0.4

0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2 2.4 2.8 3.2 3.6 4 4.4 4.8

Biomass carbon uptake (t C ha-1 year-1)

• No. of Forest Plots

W Amazonia E Amazonia

A Carbon Sink in Amazon Forest Biomass

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

• 2
• 1.6
• 1.2
• 0.8
• 0.4

0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2 2.4 2.8 3.2 3.6 4 4.4 4.8

Biomass carbon uptake (t C ha-1 year-1)

• No. of Forest Plots

W Amazonia E Amazonia All Amazonia

A Carbon Sink in Amazon Forest Biomass carbon sink carbon source

A Carbon Sink in Amazon Forest Biomass Estimated carbon sink West Amazonia: 1.05 ± 0.32 t C ha-1 year-1 (n = 41) East Amazonia: 0.47 ± 0.35 t C ha-1 year-1 (n = 27) All Amazonia: 0.82 ± 0.25 t C ha-1 year-1 (n = 68) * Uncertainty estimates are 95% confidence limits. * Estimates corrected for spatial variations in wood density, but not yet for variations in tree allometry. * Estimates not yet weighted spatially * Estimates do not include soil carbon sink, which may be of similar magnitude

Conclusions

• 1. Forest structure and diversity across Amazonia correlate

with length of dry season, but forest dynamics do not.

• 2. Most Amazonian forests appear to be increasing in biomass,

turnover rate and stem density, resulting in a biomass carbon sink of 0.82 ± 0.25 t C ha-1 year-1

• 3. Western Amazonian forests have higher productivity and

turn over carbon at twice the rate as eastern forests, and appear to be a larger carbon sink.

• 4. These differences are most likely explained by soil fertility.
• 5. Hence, the carbon sink in eastern Amazonia is probably

limited by low soil fertility