A new study by the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology details the carbon stored in the forest as well as that emitted by different land use practices. In order to calculate how much carbon was contained in the forest, satellite images along with LiDAR data was used to develop three-dimensional details on trees and other forest vegetation to show the structure of plants. Historical data on deforestation in the region was used to calculate carbon emissions. These new maps pave the way for accurate monitoring of carbon storage and emissions for the proposed United Nations initiative on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
“We found that the total regional forest carbon storage was about 395 million metric tons and emissions reached about 630,000 metric tons per year,” explained lead author Greg Asner. “But what really surprised us was how carbon storage differed among forest types and the underlying geology, all in very close proximity to one another. For instance, where the local geology is up to 60 million years old, the vegetation retains about 25% less carbon than the vegetation found on geologically younger, more fertile surfaces. We also found an important interaction between geology, land use, and emissions. These are the first such patterns to emerge from the Amazon forest.”
The study is published in the September 6, 2010, early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
