scholarly journals Degradation and forgone removals increase the carbon impact of intact forest loss by 626%

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. eaax2546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean L. Maxwell ◽  
Tom Evans ◽  
James E. M. Watson ◽  
Alexandra Morel ◽  
Hedley Grantham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Carbon Equivalent ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
International Climate Policy ◽  
Global Land ◽  
International Climate

Intact tropical forests, free from substantial anthropogenic influence, store and sequester large amounts of atmospheric carbon but are currently neglected in international climate policy. We show that between 2000 and 2013, direct clearance of intact tropical forest areas accounted for 3.2% of gross carbon emissions from all deforestation across the pantropics. However, full carbon accounting requires the consideration of forgone carbon sequestration, selective logging, edge effects, and defaunation. When these factors were considered, the net carbon impact resulting from intact tropical forest loss between 2000 and 2013 increased by a factor of 6 (626%), from 0.34 (0.37 to 0.21) to 2.12 (2.85 to 1.00) petagrams of carbon (equivalent to approximately 2 years of global land use change emissions). The climate mitigation value of conserving the 549 million ha of tropical forest that remains intact is therefore significant but will soon dwindle if their rate of loss continues to accelerate.

scholarly journals Tropical forest logging—primates and can they co-exist?

Oryx ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Johns
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Forest Logging

The destruction of tropical forests is perhaps one of the most widely discussed conservation problems of our time. But still scientists know relatively little about the ecosystem as a whole and, more specifically, little about the effects of, for example, selective logging on other forest species. The author, investigating the response of primates to logging in West Malaysia, discovered that, although logging initially causes mortality, the populations of the species he studied all recovered rapidly if the forest was left to regenerate.

scholarly journals Carbon Dynamics in a Human-Modified Tropical Forest: A Case Study Using Multi-Temporal LiDAR Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yhasmin Mendes de Moura ◽  
Heiko Balzter ◽  
Lênio S. Galvão ◽  
Ricardo Dalagnol ◽  
Fernando Espírito-Santo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Forest Carbon ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Lidar Data ◽  
Multi Temporal ◽  
The Tropics

Tropical forests hold significant amounts of carbon and play a critical role on Earth´s climate system. To date, carbon dynamics over tropical forests have been poorly assessed, especially over vast areas of the tropics that have been affected by some type of disturbance (e.g., selective logging, understory fires, and fragmentation). Understanding the multi-temporal dynamics of carbon stocks over human-modified tropical forests (HMTF) is crucial to close the carbon cycle balance in the tropics. Here, we used multi-temporal and high-spatial resolution airborne LiDAR data to quantify rates of carbon dynamics over a large patch of HMTF in eastern Amazon, Brazil. We described a robust approach to monitor changes in aboveground forest carbon stocks between 2012 and 2018. Our results showed that this particular HMTF lost 0.57 m·yr−1 in mean forest canopy height and 1.38 Mg·C·ha−1·yr−1 of forest carbon between 2012 and 2018. LiDAR-based estimates of Aboveground Carbon Density (ACD) showed progressive loss through the years, from 77.9 Mg·C·ha−1 in 2012 to 53.1 Mg·C·ha−1 in 2018, thus a decrease of 31.8%. Rates of carbon stock changes were negative for all time intervals analyzed, yielding average annual carbon loss rates of −1.34 Mg·C·ha−1·yr−1. This suggests that this HMTF is acting more as a source of carbon than a sink, having great negative implications for carbon emission scenarios in tropical forests. Although more studies of forest dynamics in HMTFs are necessary to reduce the current remaining uncertainties in the carbon cycle, our results highlight the persistent effects of carbon losses for the study area. HMTFs are likely to expand across the Amazon in the near future. The resultant carbon source conditions, directly associated with disturbances, may be essential when considering climate projections and carbon accounting methods.

Ecosystem process models at multiple scales for mapping tropical forest productivity

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Nightingale ◽  
S. R. Phinn ◽  
A. A. Held
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Spatial Extent ◽  
Ecosystem Process ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Forest Models

Quantifying mass and energy exchanges within tropical forests is essential for understanding their role in the global carbon budget and how they will respond to perturbations in climate. This study reviews ecosystem process models designed to predict the growth and productivity of temperate and tropical forest ecosystems. Temperate forest models were included because of the minimal number of tropical forest models. The review provides a multiscale assessment enabling potential users to select a model suited to the scale and type of information they require in tropical forests. Process models are reviewed in relation to their input and output parameters, minimum spatial and temporal units of operation, maximum spatial extent and time period of application for each organization level of modelling. Organizational levels included leaf-tree, plot-stand, regional and ecosystem levels, with model complexity decreasing as the time-step and spatial extent of model operation increases. All ecosystem models are simplified versions of reality and are typically aspatial. Remotely sensed data sets and derived products may be used to initialize, drive and validate ecosystem process models. At the simplest level, remotely sensed data are used to delimit location, extent and changes over time of vegetation communities. At a more advanced level, remotely sensed data products have been used to estimate key structural and biophysical properties associated with ecosystem processes in tropical and temperate forests. Combining ecological models and image data enables the development of carbon accounting systems that will contribute to understanding greenhouse gas budgets at biome and global scales.

scholarly journals Swidden agriculture in transition and its roles in tropical forest loss and plantations expansion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Li ◽  
Chiwei Xiao ◽  
Zhiming Feng
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Shifting Cultivation ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Swidden Agriculture ◽  
International Debate ◽  
The Tropics

Tropical forest and swidden agriculture are declining, while commercial plantation is continuously expanding. However, little is known about the mechanisms, processes and trends of the tropical forest-swidden-plantation (FSP) nexus. Global ongoing initiatives including the UN-REDD Programme, not only have repeatedly emphasized the significance of conserving forests, reforestation and afforestation, but re-pushed swidden agriculture to the forefront of a long-standing international debate of climate changes and biodiversity. Many facets limit our understanding of swidden agriculture. The lack of geographic and demographic data and their dynamics across the tropics undoubtedly further aggravate this situation since the first appeal of eradication of shifting cultivation by the FAO. Although recent studies have enriched significantly our knowledge of forest loss and plantation expansion, previous research has proceeded separately and has yet to be integrated under the umbrella of sustainable swidden agriculture. Efforts are needed to investigate the dynamics of the FSP nexus for sake of a synergetic goal of climate mitigation and poverty alleviation.

scholarly journals Long-Term Nitrogen Addition Decreases Soil Carbon Mineralization in an N-Rich Primary Tropical Forest

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 734
Author(s):  
Xiankai Lu ◽  
Qinggong Mao ◽  
Zhuohang Wang ◽  
Taiki Mori ◽  
Jiangming Mo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Carbon Mineralization ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Soil Carbon Mineralization ◽  
N Additions

Anthropogenic elevated nitrogen (N) deposition has an accelerated terrestrial N cycle, shaping soil carbon dynamics and storage through altering soil organic carbon mineralization processes. However, it remains unclear how long-term high N deposition affects soil carbon mineralization in tropical forests. To address this question, we established a long-term N deposition experiment in an N-rich lowland tropical forest of Southern China with N additions such as NH4NO3 of 0 (Control), 50 (Low-N), 100 (Medium-N) and 150 (High-N) kg N ha−1 yr−1, and laboratory incubation experiment, used to explore the response of soil carbon mineralization to the N additions therein. The results showed that 15 years of N additions significantly decreased soil carbon mineralization rates. During the incubation period from the 14th day to 56th day, the average decreases in soil CO2 emission rates were 18%, 33% and 47% in the low-N, medium-N and high-N treatments, respectively, compared with the Control. These negative effects were primarily aroused by the reduced soil microbial biomass and modified microbial functions (e.g., a decrease in bacteria relative abundance), which could be attributed to N-addition-induced soil acidification and potential phosphorus limitation in this forest. We further found that N additions greatly increased soil-dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and there were significantly negative relationships between microbial biomass and soil DOC, indicating that microbial consumption on soil-soluble carbon pool may decrease. These results suggests that long-term N deposition can increase soil carbon stability and benefit carbon sequestration through decreased carbon mineralization in N-rich tropical forests. This study can help us understand how microbes control soil carbon cycling and carbon sink in the tropics under both elevated N deposition and carbon dioxide in the future.

scholarly journals How Fairness Principles in the Climate Debate Relate to Theories of Distributive Justice

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7302
Author(s):  
Marc David Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Historical Responsibility ◽  
International Climate Policy ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Fairness Principles ◽  
Bridge Building

A central question in international climate policy making is how to distribute the burdens of keeping global average temperature increase to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. In particular, there are four distributional issues: how to allocate the total amount of greenhouse gases that can still be emitted, who should bear the costs of mitigation, who should bear the costs of adaptation to unavoidable climate change, and who should bear the costs of residual climate damage. Regarding these distributional issues the academic literature offers a plethora of fairness principles, such as ‘polluter pays’, ‘beneficiary pays’, ‘equal per capita rights’, ‘grandfathering’, ‘ability to pay’, ‘historical responsibility’ and ‘cost effectiveness’. Remarkably, there is a theoretical gap between these principles and the central theories of distributive justice in moral and political philosophy. As a consequence, it is unclear how these principles are related, whether they can be combined or are mutually exclusive, and what the fundamental underlying values are. This paper aims to elucidate that debate. Understanding the different underlying values may facilitate bridge-building and movement in negotiation positions.

Evaluating nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and conservation requires comprehensive carbon accounting

2021 ◽  
Vol 769 ◽  
pp. 144341
Author(s):  
Heather Keith ◽  
Michael Vardon ◽  
Carl Obst ◽  
Virginia Young ◽  
Richard A. Houghton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Climate Mitigation
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