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 ?
Std deviation of dry season (months)
Seasonal and interannual variability in Neotropical forests
2
1.8
Tapajos
1.6
1.4
Manaus
Caxiuana
1.2
1
Jaru
0.8
Sinop
La Selva,
Costa Rica
0.6
0.4
Tower Sites
0.2
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Length of dry season (months)
Data are means for 1960-1998, from University of East Anglia observational database
20
19
Mean Solar Radiation (MJ m
-2
month-1)
Solar radiation and dry season length in Neotropical forests
18
La Selva,
Costa Rica
17
Jaru
16
Caxiuana
15
Sinop
Tapajos
Tower sites
Manaus
14
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Length of dry season (months)
8
9
10
20
19
Mean Solar Radiation (MJ m
-2
month-1)
Solar radiation and dry season length in Neotropical forests
18
La Selva,
Costa Rica
17
Jaru
16
?
15
Caxiuana
Sinop
Tapajos
Tower sites
Manaus
14
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Length of dry season (months)
8
9
10
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)
AIM
To establish if Amzonian
forests are changing over time
(in structure, biomass, composition,
and dynamics)
Focus on previously established
sample plots
IQUITOS, PERU, JAN 2001
RAINFOR ACTIVITIES
2. SOIL AND LEAF NUTRIENT SAMPLING
AIM
Develop a standardised
pan-Amazonian
dataset of soil physics
and nutrient status
based on common
sampling protocols
and lab analyses
IQUITOS, PERU, JAN 2001
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
RAINFOR Field Activities 2001-2002
JATUN SACHA
BRAGANCA
YASUNI
TAPAJOS
MANAUS/BDFFP
IQUITOS
CAXIUANA
ACRE
(planned 2003)
SINOP
JARU
TAMBOPATA
LA CHONTA
SOUTH TRANSECT
NOEL KEMPFF
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
750
2
Mean tree size (basal area per tree, cm )
Variation in mean tree size (basal area per tree)
650
Manaus
550
N Peru
350
Jau
Tapajos
S Peru
Acre
450
Caxiuana
Ecuador
N Bolivia
250
150
0
1
2
3
4
5
Length of dry season (months)
6
7
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
50
48
Ecuador
46
44
North Peru
42
Manaus
40
T apajos
South Peru
38
Caxiuana
36
y = -2.1383x + 46.614
2
R = 0.895
34
32
North Bolivia
30
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Length of dry season (months < 100 mm rain)
B. Vinceti, PhD Thesis, in prep
7
Forest Dynamics
Poor correlation between biomass turnover and climate
120
Caxiuana
Biomass turnover time (years)
100
South
Venezuela
(w hite sand)
80
Manaus
(BDFFP)
French
Guyana
Manaus
(Bionte)
Other forest
Terra firme
Tapajos
60
Belem
North
Bolivia
North
Peru
40
South Peru
Ecuador
20
Liana
Forest
Flooded
forest
Flooded
forest
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
Length of dry season (months)
6
7
If climate cannot explain the spatial variation in forest
dynamics, what can ?
Spatial trends in biomass turnover time
120
Caxiuana
Biomass turnover time (years)
100
80
(BDFFP)
Manaus
(Bionte)
North
Bolivia
60
South Peru
40
French
ManausGuyana
South
Venezuela
(w hite sand)
Ecuador
20
Belem
Tapajos
Other forest
Terra firme
North
Peru
Flooded
forest
Liana
Forest
Flooded
forest
0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Distance from Andes (km)
2500
3000
Spatial trends in above-ground forest wood productivity
Flooded
forest
(Iquitos)
5
-1
-1
(t C ha year )
Above-ground wood carbon production
6
4
Other forest
South Peru
Ecuador
2
Terra firme
North
Peru
3
Tapajos
North
Bolivia
Manaus
(Bionte)
Flooded
forest
(Bolivia)
Manaus
(BDFFP)
South
Venezuela
(w hite sand)
1
Belem
Caxiuana
French
Guyana
0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Distance from Andes (km)
2500
3000
Why would forest productivity and dynamics correlate
with distance from the Andes ?
Spatial Trends in Soil Fertility
8
7.5
7
Soil pH
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Distance from Andes (km)
Interpolated from Soil and Terrain DataBase, (SOTER), FAO 1998
Production
Mortality
S Peru
Bolivia
N Peru
Manaus
Plot
increasing distance from Andes
E Para
Net Change
Guyana
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
Tapajos
2
Change in Basal Area (m /year)
The Balance between Production and Mortality in Terra Firme Forests
A Carbon Sink in Amazon Forest Biomass
W Amazonia
10
E Amazonia
8
6
4
2
Biomass carbon uptake (t C ha-1 year-1 )
carbon source
carbon sink
4.8
4.4
4
3.6
3.2
2.8
2.4
2
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4
0
-0.4
-0.8
-1.2
-1.6
0
-2
No. of Forest Plots
12
A Carbon Sink in Amazon Forest Biomass
16
W Amazonia
E Amazonia
All Amazonia
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
Biomass carbon uptake (t C ha-1 year-1)
carbon source
carbon sink
4.8
4.4
4
3.6
3.2
2.8
2.4
2
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4
0
-0.4
-0.8
-1.2
-1.6
0
-2
No. of Forest Plots
18
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