Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance

• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4434
• Publication Date: 2014-03-18T10:52:13Z
• Authors: Fernando D.B. Esp...; Manuel Gloor; Michael Keller; Yadvinder Malhi; Sassan Saatchi; Bruce Nelson; Raimundo C. Olive...; Cleuton Pereira; Jon Lloyd; Steve Frolking; Michael Palace; Yosio E. Shimabukuro; Valdete Duarte; Abel Monteagudo M...; Gabriela López-Go...; Tim R. Baker; Ted R. Feldpausch; Roel J.W. Brienen; Gregory P. Asner; Doreen S. Boyd; Oliver L. Phillips
• Keywords: Carbon sink; Sink (geography); Forest Inventory; Carbon fibers

Abstract Forest inventory studies in the Amazon indicate a large terrestrial carbon sink. However, field plots may fail to represent forest mortality processes at landscape-scales of tropical forests. Here we characterize frequency distribution disturbance events natural forests from 0.01 ha 2,651 size throughout Amazonia using novel combination inventory, airborne lidar and satellite remote sensing data. We find that small-scale are responsible for aboveground biomass losses ~1.28 Pg C y −1 over entire region. also intermediate-scale disturbances account ~0.01 , largest-scale as result blow-downs only ~0.003 . Simulation growth indicates even when all intermediate large-scale considered, these outweighed by net accumulation tree growth, supporting inference an