Carbon sequestration potential of second-growth forest regeneration in the Latin American tropics

• Autor(a) principal: Chazdon, Robin L.
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Broadbent, Eben N., Rozendaal, Danaë M.A., Bongers, Frans, Zambrano, Angélica María Almeyda, Aide, T. Mitchell, Balvanera, Patricia, Becknell, Justin M., Boukili, Vanessa K.S., Brancalion, Pedro Henrique Santin, Craven, Dylan, Almeida-Cortez, J. S., Cabral, George A.L., Jong, Ben H.J. de, Denslow, Julie Sloan, Dent, Daisy H., DeWalt, Saara J., Dupuy, Juan Manuel, Durán, Sandra Milena, Espírito-Santo, Mário M., Fandiño, María C., César, Ricardo Gomes, Hall, Jefferson Scott, Hernández-Stefanoni, José Luis, Jakovac, Catarina Conte, Junqueira, André Braga, Kennard, Deborah K., Letcher, Susan G., Lohbeck, Madelon, Martínez-Ramos, Miguel, Massoca, Paulo E.S., Meave, Jorge A., Mesquita, Rita de Cássia Guimarães, Mora, Francisco, Muñoz, Rodrigo, Muscarella, Robert A., Nunes, Yule Roberta Ferreira, Ochoa-Gaona, Susana, Orihuela-Belmonte, Edith, Pena-Claros, Marielos, Pérez-García, Eduardo A., Piotto, Daniel, Powers, Jennifer Sarah, Rodríguez-Velázquez, Jorge Enrique, Romero-Pérez, Isabel Eunice, Ruíz, Jorge, Saldarriaga, Juan Guillermo, Sanchez-Azofeifa, A., Schwartz, Naomi B., Steininger, Marc K., Swenson, Nathan G., Uríarte, Ma?ia, Van Breugel, Michiel, van der Wal, Hans, Veloso, Maria das Dores Magalhães, Vester, Henricus Franciscus Maria, Guimarães Vieira, Ima Cèlia, Bentos, Tony Vizcarra, Williamson, G. Bruce, Poorter, L.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional do INPA
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/15819
• topic: Agriculture; Biodiversity; Carbon Dioxide; Deforestation; Ecology; Ecosystems; Fossil Fuels; Industrial Emissions; Land Use; Reforestation; Tropics; Aboveground Biomass; Anthropogenic Sources; Carbon Mitigation Policies; Carbon Sequestration Potential; Latin America And The Caribbean; Natural Regeneration; Second-growth Forests; Tropical Secondary Forests; Forestry; Agricultural Land; Biodiversity; Biomass; Carbon Cycle; Carbon Sequestration; Ecosystem; Environmental Protection; Forest; Geography; South And Central America; Tropic Climate; Biodiversity; Biomass; Carbon Cycle; Carbon Sequestration; Conservation Of Natural Resources; Ecosystem; Farms; Forests; Geography; Latin America; Tropical Climate

Regrowth of tropical secondary forests following complete or nearly complete removal of forest vegetation actively stores carbon in aboveground biomass, partially counterbalancing carbon emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, burning of fossil fuels, and other anthropogenic sources. We estimate the age and spatial extent of lowland second-growth forests in the Latin American tropics and model their potential aboveground carbon accumulation over four decades. Our model shows that, in 2008, second-growth forests (1 to 60 years old) covered 2.4 million km2 of land (28.1%of the total study area).Over 40 years, these lands can potentially accumulate a total aboveground carbon stock of 8.48 Pg C (petagrams of carbon) in aboveground biomass via low-cost natural regeneration or assisted regeneration, corresponding to a total CO2 sequestration of 31.09 Pg CO2. This total is equivalent to carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and industrial processes in all of Latin America and the Caribbean from1993 to 2014. Ten countries account for 95% of this carbon storage potential, led by Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. We model future land-use scenarios to guide national carbon mitigation policies. Permitting natural regeneration on 40% of lowland pastures potentially stores an additional 2.0 Pg C over 40 years. Our study provides information and maps to guide national-level forest-based carbon mitigation plans on the basis of estimated rates of natural regeneration and pasture abandonment. Coupled with avoided deforestation and sustainable forestmanagement, natural regeneration of second-growth forests provides a low-costmechanism that yields a high carbon sequestration potential with multiple benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services. © 2016 The Authors.