Aboveground biomass variability across intact and degraded forests in the Brazilian Amazon

Longo, M; Keller, M; dos-Santos, MN; Leitold, V; Pinagé, ER; Baccini, A; Saatchi, S; Nogueira, EM; Batistella, M; Morton, DC

Aboveground biomass variability across intact and degraded forests in the Brazilian Amazon

Longo, M Keller, M dos-Santos, MN Leitold, V Pinagé, ER

Baccini, A Saatchi, S Nogueira, EM Batistella, M Morton, DC

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2016, 30 (11), pp. 1639 - 1660
Issue Date:: 2016-11-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Longo, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Keller, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	dos-Santos, MN	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Leitold, V	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pinagé, ER https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3714-8175	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Baccini, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Saatchi, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Nogueira, EM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Batistella, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Morton, DC	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-11-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2016, 30 (11), pp. 1639 - 1660	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0886-6236	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/85294
dc.description.abstract	©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Deforestation rates have declined in the Brazilian Amazon since 2005, yet degradation from logging, fire, and fragmentation has continued in frontier forests. In this study we quantified the aboveground carbon density (ACD) in intact and degraded forests using the largest data set of integrated forest inventory plots (n = 359) and airborne lidar data (18,000 ha) assembled to date for the Brazilian Amazon. We developed statistical models relating inventory ACD estimates to lidar metrics that explained 70% of the variance across forest types. Airborne lidar-ACD estimates for intact forests ranged between 5.0 ± 2.5 and 31.9 ± 10.8 kg C m−2. Degradation carbon losses were large and persistent. Sites that burned multiple times within a decade lost up to 15.0 ± 0.7 kg C m−2 (94%) of ACD. Forests that burned nearly 15 years ago had between 4.1 ± 0.5 and 6.8 ± 0.3 kg C m−2 (22–40%) less ACD than intact forests. Even for low-impact logging disturbances, ACD was between 0.7 ± 0.3 and 4.4 ± 0.4 kg C m−2 (4–21%) lower than unlogged forests. Comparing biomass estimates from airborne lidar to existing biomass maps, we found that regional and pantropical products consistently overestimated ACD in degraded forests, underestimated ACD in intact forests, and showed little sensitivity to fires and logging. Fine-scale heterogeneity in ACD across intact and degraded forests highlights the benefits of airborne lidar for carbon mapping. Differences between airborne lidar and regional biomass maps underscore the need to improve and update biomass estimates for dynamic land use frontiers, to better characterize deforestation and degradation carbon emissions for regional carbon budgets and Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Global Biogeochemical Cycles	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1002/2016GB005465	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	en_US
dc.title	Aboveground biomass variability across intact and degraded forests in the Brazilian Amazon	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	11	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	30	en_US
utslib.for	070502 Forestry Biomass and Bioproducts	en_US
utslib.for	0401 Atmospheric Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	0402 Geochemistry	en_US
utslib.for	0405 Oceanography	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Students
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	11	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	30	en_US

Abstract:

©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Deforestation rates have declined in the Brazilian Amazon since 2005, yet degradation from logging, fire, and fragmentation has continued in frontier forests. In this study we quantified the aboveground carbon density (ACD) in intact and degraded forests using the largest data set of integrated forest inventory plots (n = 359) and airborne lidar data (18,000 ha) assembled to date for the Brazilian Amazon. We developed statistical models relating inventory ACD estimates to lidar metrics that explained 70% of the variance across forest types. Airborne lidar-ACD estimates for intact forests ranged between 5.0 ± 2.5 and 31.9 ± 10.8 kg C m−2. Degradation carbon losses were large and persistent. Sites that burned multiple times within a decade lost up to 15.0 ± 0.7 kg C m−2 (94%) of ACD. Forests that burned nearly 15 years ago had between 4.1 ± 0.5 and 6.8 ± 0.3 kg C m−2 (22–40%) less ACD than intact forests. Even for low-impact logging disturbances, ACD was between 0.7 ± 0.3 and 4.4 ± 0.4 kg C m−2 (4–21%) lower than unlogged forests. Comparing biomass estimates from airborne lidar to existing biomass maps, we found that regional and pantropical products consistently overestimated ACD in degraded forests, underestimated ACD in intact forests, and showed little sensitivity to fires and logging. Fine-scale heterogeneity in ACD across intact and degraded forests highlights the benefits of airborne lidar for carbon mapping. Differences between airborne lidar and regional biomass maps underscore the need to improve and update biomass estimates for dynamic land use frontiers, to better characterize deforestation and degradation carbon emissions for regional carbon budgets and Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).

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