Edson Vidal, Eleneide Doff Sotta, Celso Paulo de Azevedo, Mabiane França, Lucas Mazzei, Cintia Rodrigues de Souza, Camille Piponiot, Nataly Ascarrunz, Marcus Vn d'Oliveira, Thales A.P. West, Kátia Emídio da Silva, Plinio Sist, Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado, Ademir Roberto Ruschel, Marcelino Carneiro Guedes, Alexander Shenkin, Christopher Baraloto, Bruno Hérault, Marielos Peña-Claros, Ervan Rutishauser, Francis E. Putz, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Université des Antilles (UA)-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-AgroParisTech-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre [Wageningen] (WUR), Department of Biology, Northern Arizona University [Flagstaff], Carbon For Expert, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford [Oxford], Instituto Boliviano de Investigacion Forestal (IBIF), Embrapa Amapa, Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Embrapa Acre, Departamento de Ciencias Florestais, University of São Paulo, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen] (WUR), Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP), Camille Piponiot, Université de la Guyane, Plinio Sist, CIRAD, LUCAS JOSE MAZZEI DE FREITAS, CPATU, Marielos Peña-Claros, Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Francis E. Putz, University of Florida, Ervan Rutishauser, CarboForExpert, Alexander Shenkin, University of Oxford, Nataly Ascarrunz, IBIF, CELSO PAULO DE AZEVEDO, CPAA, Christopher Baraloto, International Center for Tropical Botany, Mabiane França, BOLSISTA CPAA, MARCELINO CARNEIRO GUEDES, CPAF-AP, Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado, Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana, MARCUS VINICIO NEVES D OLIVEIRA, CPAF-Acre, ADEMIR ROBERTO RUSCHEL, CPATU, KATIA EMIDIO DA SILVA, CPAA, ELENEIDE DOFF SOTTA, CPAF-AP, CINTIA RODRIGUES DE SOUZA, CPAA, Edson Vidal, ESALQ, Thales A. P. West, University of Florida, and Bruno Herault, CIRAD.
When 2 Mha of Amazonian forests are disturbed by selective logging each year, more than 90 Tg of carbon (C) is emitted to the atmosphere. Emissions are then counterbalanced by forest regrowth. With an original modelling approach, calibrated on a network of 133 permanent forest plots (175 ha total) across Amazonia, we link regional differences in climate, soil and initial biomass with survivors’ and recruits’ C fluxes to provide Amazon-wide predictions of post-logging C recovery. We show that net aboveground C recovery over 10 years is higher in the Guiana Shield and in the west (21 ±3 Mg C ha-1) than in the south (12 ±3 Mg C ha-1) where environmental stress is high (low rainfall, high seasonality). We highlight the key role of survivors in the forest regrowth and elaborate a comprehensive map of post-disturbance C recovery potential in Amazonia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21394.001, eLife digest The Amazon rainforest in South America is the largest tropical forest in the world. Along with being home to a huge variety of plants and wildlife, rainforests also play an important role in storing an element called carbon, which is a core component of all life on Earth. Certain forms of carbon, such as the gas carbon dioxide, contribute to climate change so researchers want to understand what factors affect how much carbon is stored in rainforests. Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and then incorporate the carbon into carbohydrates and other biological molecules. The Amazon rainforest alone holds around 30% of the total carbon stored in land-based ecosystems. Humans selectively harvest certain species of tree that produce wood with commercial value from the Amazon rainforest. This “selective logging” results in the loss of stored carbon from the rainforest, but the loss can be compensated for in the medium to long term if the forest is left to regrow. New trees and trees that survived the logging grow to fill the gaps left by the felled trees. However, it is not clear how differences in the forest (for example, forest maturity), environmental factors (such as climate or soil) and the degree of the disturbance caused by the logging affect the ability of the forest ecosystem to recover the lost carbon. Piponiot et al. used computer modeling to analyze data from over a hundred different forest plots across the Amazon rainforest. The models show that the forest’s ability to recover carbon after selective logging greatly differs between regions. For example, the overall amount of carbon recovered in the first ten years is predicted to be higher in a region in the north known as the Guiana Shield than in the south of the Amazonian basin where the climate is less favorable. The findings of Piponiot et al. highlight the key role the trees that survive selective logging play in carbon recovery. The next step would be to couple this model to historical maps of logging to estimate how the areas of the rainforest that are managed by selective logging shape the overall carbon balance of the Amazon rainforest. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21394.002