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This data package contains data from: Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink.

This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-SA 4.).

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When using this data, please cite the original article:

R.J.W. Brienen, O.L. Phillips, T.R. Feldpausch, E. Gloor, T.R. Baker, J. Lloyd, G. Lopez-Gonzalez, A. Monteagudo-Mendoza, Y. Malhi, S.L. Lewis, R. Vásquez Martinez, M. Alexiades, E. Álvarez Dávila, P. Alvarez-Loayza, A. Andrade, L.E.O.C. Aragão, A. Araujo-Murakami, E.J.M.M. Arets, L. Arroyo, G.A. Aymard C., C. Baraloto, J. Barroso, D. Bonal, R.G.A. Boot, J.L. Camargo, C.V. Castilho, V. Chama, K.J. Chao, J. Chave, J.A. Comiskey, F. Cornejo Valverde, L. da Costa, E.A. Oliveira, A. Di Fiore, T.L. Erwin, S. Fauset, M. Forsthofer, D.R.Galbraith, E.S. Grahame, N. Groot, B. Hérault, N. Higuchi, E.N. Honorio Coronado, H. Keeling, T.J. Killeen, W.F. Laurance, S. Laurance, J. Licona, W.E. Magnusson, B.S. Marimon, B.H. Marimon-Junior, C. Mendoza, D.A. Neill, E.M. Nogueira, P. Núñez, N.C. Pallaqui Camacho, A. Parada, G. Pardo, J. Peacock, M. Peña-Claros, G.C. Pickavance, N.C.A. Pitman, L. Poorter, A. Prieto, C.A. Quesada, F. Ramírez, H. Ramírez-Angulo, Z. Restrepo, A. Roopsind, A. Rudas, R.P. Salomão, M. Schwarz, N. Silva, J.E. Silva-Espejo, M. Silveira, J. Stropp, J Talbot, H. ter Steege, J. Teran-Aguilar, J. Terborgh, R. Thomas-Caesar, M. Toledo, M. Torello-Raventos, R.K. Umetsu, G.M.F. van der Heijden, P. van der Hout, I.C. Guimarães Vieira, S.A.Vieira, E. Vilanova, V. Vos, R.J. Zagt. Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink. Nature 519, 344-348 (2015). doi: 10.1038/nature14283


Additionally, please cite the data package:

R.J.W. Brienen*, O.L. Phillips*, T.R. Feldpausch, E. Gloor, T.R. Baker, J. Lloyd, G. Lopez-Gonzalez, A. Monteagudo-Mendoza, Y. Malhi, S.L. Lewis, R. Vásquez Martinez, M. Alexiades, E. Álvarez Dávila, P. Alvarez-Loayza, A. Andrade, L.E.O.C. Aragão, A. Araujo-Murakami, E.J.M.M. Arets, L. Arroyo, G.A. Aymard C., C. Baraloto, J. Barroso, D. Bonal, R.G.A. Boot, J.L. Camargo, C.V. Castilho, V. Chama, K.J. Chao, J. Chave, J.A. Comiskey, F. Cornejo Valverde, L. da Costa, E.A. Oliveira, A. Di Fiore, T.L. Erwin, S. Fauset, M. Forsthofer, E.S. Grahame, N. Groot, B. Hérault, N. Higuchi, E. Honorio C., H. Keeling, T.J. Killeen, W.F. Laurance, S. Laurance, J. Licona, W.E. Magnusson, B.S. Marimon, B.H. Marimon-Junior, C. Mendoza, D.A. Neill, E.M. Nogueira, P. Núñez, N.C. Pallaqui Camacho, A. Parada, G. Pardo, J. Peacock, M. Peña-Claros, G.C. Pickavance, N.C.A. Pitman, L. Poorter, A. Prieto, C.A. Quesada, F. Ramírez, H. Ramírez-Angulo, Z. Restrepo, A. Roopsind, A. Rudas, R.P. Salomão, M. Schwarz, N. Silva, J.E. Silva-Espejo, M. Silveira, J. Stropp, J Talbot, H. ter Steege, J. Teran-Aguilar, J. Terborgh, R. Thomas-Caesar, M. Toledo, M. Torello-Raventos, R.K. Umetsu, G.M.F. van der Heijden, P. van der Hout, I.C. Guimarães Vieira, S.A.Vieira, E. Vilanova, V. Vos, R.J. Zagt. Plot Data from: Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink. 2014.
ForestPlots.NET DOI: 10.5521/ForestPlots.net/2014_4

 

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Abstract

Atmospheric CO2 records indicate that the land surface has acted as a strong global carbon sink over recent decades, with a substantial fraction of this sink likely located in the tropics, particularly in the Amazon. Nevertheless, it is unclear how the terrestrial carbon sink will evolve as climate and atmospheric composition continue to change. Here we analyse the historic evolution of the biomass dynamics of the Amazon rainforest over three decades using a distributed network of 321 plots. While this analysis confirms that the Amazon has acted as a long-term net biomass sink, we find a long-term decreasing trend of carbon accumulation. Rates of net increase in above ground biomass declined by a third during the last decade compared to the 1990s. This is a consequence of growth rate increases levelling off recently, while reduction in biomass due to tree mortality persistently increased throughout, leading to a shortening of carbon residence times. Potential drivers for the mortality increase include a greater climate variability, and feedbacks of faster growth on mortality, resulting in shortened tree longevity. The observed decline of the Amazon sink diverges markedly from the recent increase in terrestrial carbon uptake at the global scale, and is contrary to expectations based on models.