Title:	Size and frequency of natural forest disturbances and the Amazon forest carbon balance.
Authors:	ESPÍRITO-SANTO, F. D. B. GLOOR, M. KELLER, M. MALHI, Y. SAATCHI, S. NELSON, B. OLIVEIRA JUNIOR, R. C. PEREIRA, C. LLOYD, J. FROLKING, S. PALACE, M. SHIMABUKURO, Y. E. DUARTE, V. MONTEAGUDO MENDOZA, A. LÓPEZ-GONZÁLEZ, G. BAKER, T. R. FELDPAUSCH, T. R. BRIENEN, R. J. W. ASNER, G. P. BOYD, D. S. PHILLIPS, O. L.
Affiliation:	FERNANDO D. B. ESPÍRITO-SANTO, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; MANUEL GLOOR, School of Geography, University of Leeds; MICHAEL KELLER, USDA Forest Service / University of New Hampshire / CNPM; YADVINDER MALHI, University of Oxford; SASSAN SAATCHI, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; BRUCE NELSON, INPA; RAIMUNDO COSME DE OLIVEIRA JUNIOR, CPATU; CLEUTON PEREIRA; JON LLOYD, University of Leeds / James Cook University; STEVE FROLKING, University of New Hampshire; MICHAEL PALACE, University of New Hampshire; YOSIO E. SHIMABUKURO, INPE; VALDETE DUARTE, INPE; ABEL MONTEAGUDO MENDOZA, Jardin Botanico de Missouri; GABRIELA LÓPEZ-GONZÁLEZ, University of Leeds; TIM R. BAKER, University of Leeds; TED R. FELDPAUSCH, University of Leeds; ROEL J. W. BRIENEN, University of Leeds; GREGORY P. ASNER, Carnegie Institution for Science; DOREEN S. BOYD, University of Nottingham, University Park; OLIVER L. PHILLIPS, University of Leeds.
Date Issued:	2014
Citation:	Nature Communications, v. 5, art. n. 3434, 18 Mar. 2014.
Description:	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 the frequency distribution of disturbance events in natural forests from 0.01ha to 2,651ha size throughout Amazonia using a novel combination of forest inventory, airborne lidar and satellite remote sensing data. We find that small-scale mortality events are responsible for aboveground biomass losses of ~1.7PgCy;1 over the entire Amazon region. We also find that intermediate-scale disturbances account for losses of ~0.2PgCy1, and that the largest-scale disturbances as a result of blow-downs only account for losses of ~0.004PgCy1. Simulation of growth and mortality indicates that even when all carbon losses from intermediate and large-scale disturbances are considered, these are outweighed by the net biomass accumulation by tree growth, supporting the inference of an Amazon carbon sink.
Thesagro:	Carbono Clima Floresta
NAL Thesaurus:	Amazonia
Keywords:	Ciência da Terra
DOI:	10.1038/ncomms4434
Type of Material:	Artigo de periódico
Access:	openAccess
Appears in Collections:	Artigo em periódico indexado (CPATU)