Amazon Forests and the Terrestrial Carbon Sink

Synthesis studies from old-growth tropical forest plot networks indicate a net pantropical carbon sink of more than 1 Pg C/yr, or ~15% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions.  However a number of confounding factors limit our ability to attribute this observed sink to direct CO2 fertilization of tree growth and forest productivity.  One source of uncertainty centers on determining to what extent forest inventory plots adequately sample natural disturbance and recovery gradients, and the larger landscape successional mosaic.  In addition, forest biomass dynamics, which includes tree growth, recruitment and mortality, can interact in complex ways with changes in forest productivity, tree diversity, and functional traits.   Much can also be gained from studying how tropical forest trees currently metabolize carbon in response to changes in resource supply.  This talk will address these carbon cycle topics in an integrative way, covering more than 20 years of research in Amazon forests.

Speaker: Jeff Chambers, UC Berkeley