Abstract ID: 88

Permanent Plots and Amazon Forest Carbon Dynamics

Over the past decade it has been claimed, using permanent plots located across Amazonia, that mature Amazon forests have been increasing in biomass, and that they have been growing faster and dying faster. These results have been interpreted as suggesting that increased productivity has been driving a substantial carbon sink. An alternative hypothesis is that the net biomass gains in plots are simply a result of inadequate sampling of disturbance-recovery processes. We use the expanded coverage of the current RAINFOR plot network to describe recent patterns of change across Amazon plots and to test the predictions of the two explanatory frameworks.

Session:  Carbon - Forest dynamics, natural disturbance, and recovery. (A)

Presentation Type:  Oral