Abstract
Tropical forests, specially the Amazon, are important ecosystems in research on the effects of climate change on biological systems and their functioning. The main relationship between the forest and the climate is the carbon fluxes and stock. Although carbon stock estimates of tropical forests are an issue and still raise many uncertainties. This study aims to present the main literature references and the huge effort to sample the forests of Central Amazon. Many attempts to estimate the carbon stock of the Amazon rainforest resulted in high uncertainties due to sampling and allometric constrains. After developing an allometric equation, based on destructive method and adapted to each different site based on dominant height, sampling over 1800 plots in primary and selectively logged non-flooded forests, across the State of Amazonas, the estimated average of total (tree’s above- and below-ground) carbon stock is 159.8 ± 9.2 Mg C ha−1.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Araújo TM, Higuchi N, Carvalho JA (1999) Comparison of formulae for biomass content determination in a tropical rain forest site in the state of Pará, Brazil. For Ecol Manage 117:43–52
Asner GP, Knapp DE, Broadbent EN, Oliveira PJC, Keller M, Silva JN (2005) Selective logging in the Brazilian Amazon. Science 310:480–482
Asner GP, Powell GVN, Mascaro J, Knapp DE, Clark JK, Jacobson J, Kennedy-Bowdoin T, Balaji A, Paez-Acosta G, Victoria E, Secada L, Valqui M, Hughes RF (2010) High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:16738–16742
Brown S (1997) Estimating biomass and biomass change of tropical forests: a primer. FAO Forestry Paper 134, Rome, p 55
Chambers JQ, Santos J, Ribeiro RJ, Higuchi N (2001) Tree damage, allometric relationships, and above-ground net primary production in a tropical forest. For Ecol Manage 152:73–84
Chave J, Condit R, Aguilar S, Hernandez A, Lao S, Perez R (2004) Error propagation and scaling for tropical forest biomass estimates. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 359:409–420
Chave J, Brown ACS, Cairns MA, Cahmbers JQ, Eamus D, Fölster H, Fromad F, Higuchi N, Kira T, Lescure JP, Nelson BW, Ogawa H, Puig H, Riéra B, Yamakura T (2005) Tree allometry and improved estimation of carbon stocks and balance in tropical forests. Oecologia 145:87–99
Chave J, Olivier J, Bongers F, Chatelet P, Forget P-M, Meer P, Norden N, Riera B, Charles-Dominique P (2008) Above-ground biomass and productivity in a rain forest of eastern South America. J Trop Ecol 24:355–366
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2007) IPCC fourth assessment report: climate change (AR4)
Deforestation Monitoring Program (PRODES) of the National Spatial Research Institute (INPE) (2014). http://www.obt.inpe.br/prodes/index.php
Eva HD, Achard F, Stibig H-J, Mayaux P (2003) Response to comment on ‘determination of deforestation rates of the world’s humid tropical forests’. Science 299:1015
Fearnside PM, Laurance WF (2003) Comment on “Determination of deforestation rates of the world’s humid tropical forests”. Science 229:1015
Higuchi N, Santos J, Ribeiro RJ, Minette L, Biot Y (1998) Biomassa da parte aérea da vegetação da floresta úmida de terra-firme da Amazônia brasileira. Acta Amazôn 28:153–166
Higuchi N, Pereira HS, Santos J, Lima AJN, Higuchi FG, Higuchi MIG, Ayres IGSS (2009) In: Higuchi N, Higuchi MIG (eds) Governos Locais Amazônicos e as Questões Climáticas Globais. Manaus
Houghton RA, Laurence KT, Hackers JL, Brown S (2001) The spatial distribution of forest biomass in Brazilian Amazon: a comparison of estimates. Glob Chang Biol 7:731–746
IPCC (2006) Annex 1: conceptual basis for uncertainty analysis. In: Penman J, Gytarsky M, Hiraishi T, Krug T, Kruger D, Pipatti R, Buendia L, Miwa K, Ngara T, Tanabe K, Wagner F (eds) Good practice guidance and uncertainty management in national greenhouse gas inventories. The institute for global environmental strategies for the IPCC, Kanagawa, p 22
IPCC (2010) Guidance note for lead authors of the IPCC fifth assessment report on consistent treatment of uncertainties. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/supporting-material/uncertainty-guidance-note.pdf
Kenzo T, Ichie T, Hattori D, Itioka T, Handa C, Ohkubo T, Kendawang JJ, Nakamura M, Sakaguchi M, Takahashi N, Okamoto M, Tanaka-Oda A, Sakurai K, Ninomiya I (2009) Development of allometric relationships for accurate estimation of above- and below-ground biomass in tropical secondary forests in Sarawak, Malaysia. J Trop Ecol 25:371–386
Kenzo T, Furutani R, Hattori D, Kendawang JJ, Tanaka S, Sakurai K, Ninomiya I (2010) Allometric equations for accurate estimation of above-ground biomass in logged-over tropical rainforests in Sarawak, Malaysia. J Forest Res 14:365–372
Lima AJN (2010) Avaliacão de um sistema de inventário florestal conti’nuo em áreas manejadas e não manejadas do estado do Amazonas (AM). Ph.D. Dissertation, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil, p 183 (in Portuguese with English abstract)
Lima AJN, Suwa R, Ribeiro GHPM, Kajimoto T, Santos J, Silva RP, Souza CAS, Barros PC, Noguchi H, Ishizuka M, Higuchi N (2012) Allometric models for estimating above- and below-ground biomass in Amazonian forests at São Gabriel da Cachoeira in the upper Rio Negro, Brazil. For Ecol Manage 277:163–172
Loetsch F, Zohrer F, Haller KE (1973) Forest inventory, vol 2. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich
Malhi Y, Wood D, Baker TR, Wright J, Phillips O (2006) Regional variation of above-ground live biomass in old-growth Amazonian forests. Glob Chang Biol 12:1–32
Melillo JM, McGuire AD, Kicklighter DW, Moor IIIB, Vorosmarty CJ, Scholoss A (1993) Global climate change and terrestrial net primary production. Nature 363:234–240
Overman JPM, Witte HJL, Saldarriaga JG (1994) Evaluation of regression models for aboveground biomass determination in Amazon rain forest. J Trop Ecol 10:207–218
Saatchi SS, Houghton RA, Dos Santos Alvará RC, Soares JV, Yu Y (2007) Distribution of aboveground live biomass in the Amazon basin. Glob Chang Biol 13:816–837
Saatchi SS, Harris NL, Brown S, Lefsky M, Mitchard ETA, Salas W, Zutta BR, Buemann W, Lewis SL, Hagen S, Petrova S, White L, Silman M, Morel A (2011) Benchmark map of forest carbon stocks in tropical regions across three continents. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108(24):9899–9904
Santos J (1996) Analize de modelos de regressao para estimar a fitomass de floresta tropical umida de terra-firme de Amazonia Brasiliera. Ph.D. Dissertation, Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, p 121 (in Portuguese with English abstract)
Sierra CA, Valle JI, Orrego SA, Moreno FH, Harmon MA, Zapata M, Colorado GJ, Herrera MA, Lara W, Restrepo DE, Berrouet LM, Loaiza LM, Benjumea JF (2007) Total carbon stocks in a tropical forest landscape of the Porce region, Colombia. For Ecol Manage 243:299–309
Silva RP (2007) Alometria, estoque e dinâmica da biomassa de florestas primárias e secundárias na regiaõ de Manaus (AM). Ph.D. Dissertation, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil, p 152 (in Portuguese with English abstract)
Acknowledgements
The authors thank all members of the Forest Management Laboratory of the National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA) for their valuable suggestions and help in the fieldwork. This study was financially supported by the Amazonas State Science Foundation (FAPEAM), the National Council for Science and Technology Development (CNPq), the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development Program of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Higuchi, N. et al. (2016). Overview of Forest Carbon Stocks Study in Amazonas State, Brazil. In: Nagy, L., Forsberg, B., Artaxo, P. (eds) Interactions Between Biosphere, Atmosphere and Human Land Use in the Amazon Basin. Ecological Studies, vol 227. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49902-3_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49902-3_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-49900-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-49902-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)