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BIOMASS

And the results after various testing methods.
 
 


 

A key conclusion is that biomass in these forests is very high, averaging nearly 400 Mg ha-1.

Collectively, these studies illustrate the high capacity of intact Amazonian forests for carbon storage. Assuming that 50% of biomass is carbon, aboveground carbon storage in our study area is nearly 200 Mg ha-1, with perhaps another 35¯40 Mg ha-1 as belowground biomass and roughly 300 Mg ha-1 as soil organic matter. Forest conversion is unlikely to have major effects on deep soil organic matter, but it can dramatically reduce carbon storage aboveground and in the roots and upper soil layers.

Amazon forests contain a very large stock of terrestrial carbon (Fearnside and Houghton) and are probably an important carbon sink ( Grace; Phillips; Malhi and Chambers). Thus, understanding the spatial distribution of biomass in these forests is an urgent priority. Carbon storage in undisturbed forests is very high, suggesting that forest conversion is likely to be an even larger source of greenhouse gas emissions than previously anticipated. This is important because plans are well underway to expand networks of highways, railroads, gas lines, and other major infrastructure projects in the Brazilian Amazon. By opening large expanses of the basin's remote interior to exploitative activities, these projects are predicted to sharply accelerate the pace of forest conversion and degradation ( Carvalho and Laurance). Agricultural practices in the Amazon are limited by very low soil fertility ( Kauffman and Fearnside), and the economic value of intact forests for carbon storage, biodiversity conservation, and other natural ecosystem services may ultimately be far greater than that provided by forest conversion.

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References:
Fearnside, P.M., 1985. Brazil's Amazon forest and the global carbon problem. Interciencia 10, pp. 179¯186.
Fearnside, P.M., 1986. Brazil's Amazon forest and the global carbon problem: reply to Lugo and Brown. Interciencia 11, pp. 58¯64.
Fearnside, P.M., 1992. Forest biomass in Brazilian Amazonia: comments on the estimate by Brown and Lugo. Interciencia 17, pp. 19¯27.
Fearnside, P.M., 1997. Wood density for estimating forest biomass in Brazilian Amazonia. Forest Ecol. Mgmt. 90, pp. 59¯87. Abstract | PDF (1489 K)
Fearnside, P.M., 2000. Global warming and tropical land-use change: greenhouse gas emissions from biomass burning, decomposition and soils in forest conversion, shifting cultivation and secondary vegetation. Climatic Change 46, pp. 115¯158. Abstract-GEOBASE | Abstract-Elsevier BIOBASE | Abstract-BIOTECHNOBASE   | Full Text via CrossRef
Fearnside, P.M. and Barbosa, R.I., 1998. Soil carbon changes from conversion of forest to pasture in Brazilian Amazonia. Forest Ecol. Mgmt. 108, pp. 147¯166. SummaryPlus | Full Text + Links | PDF (198 K)
Houghton, R.A., Lawrence, K.T., Hackler, J.L., Brown, S., in press. The spatial distribution of forest biomass in the Brazilian Amazon: a comparison of estimates. Glob. Change Biol.
Kauffman, J.B., Sanford, R.L., Cummings, D.L., Salcedo, I.H. and Sampaio, E.V.S.B., 1994. Biomass and nutrient dynamics associated with slash fires in neotropical dry forests. Ecology 74, pp. 140¯151.
Kauffman, J.B., Cummings, D.L., Ward, D.E. and Babbit, R., 1995. Fire in the Brazilian Amazon. I. Biomass, nutrient pools, and losses in slashed primary forests. Oecologia 104, pp. 397¯408. Abstract-Elsevier BIOBASE | Abstract-GEOBASE
Carvalho, G., Barros, A.C., Moutinho, P. and Nepstad, D.C., 2001. Sensitive development could protect the Amazon instead of destroying it. Nature 409, p. 131. Abstract-EMBASE | Abstract-Elsevier BIOBASE | Abstract-MEDLINE   | Full Text via CrossRef
Grace, J., Lloyd, J., McIntyre, J., Miranda, A., Meir, P., Miranda, H., Nobre, C., Moncrieff, J., Massheder, J., Malhi, Y., Wright, I. and Gash, J., 1995. Carbon dioxide uptake by an undisturbed tropical rain forest in southwest Amazonia, 1992 to 1993. Science 270, pp. 778¯780. Abstract-Elsevier BIOBASE | Abstract-GEOBASE | Abstract-EMBASE

          

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