Drought Sensitivity of the Amazon Rainforest

Drought Sensitivity of the Amazon Rainforest. Phillips, O. L., Aragao, L. E. O. C., Lewis, S. L., Fisher, J. B., Lloyd, J., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Malhi, Y., Monteagudo, A., Peacock, J., Quesada, C. A., van der Heijden, G., Almeida, S., Amaral, I., Arroyo, L., Aymard, G., Baker, T. R., Banki, O., Blanc, L., Bonal, D., Brando, P., Chave, J., de Oliveira, A. C. A., Cardozo, N. D., Czimczik, C. I., Feldpausch, T. R., Freitas, M. A., Gloor, E., Higuchi, N., Jimenez, E., Lloyd, G., Meir, P., Mendoza, C., Morel, A., Neill, D. A., Nepstad, D., Patino, S., Penuela, M. C., Prieto, A., Ramirez, F., Schwarz, M., Silva, J., Silveira, M., Thomas, A. S., Steege, Stropp, J., Vasquez, R., Zelazowski, P., Davila, E. A., Andelman, S., Andrade, A., Chao, K. J., Erwin, T., Di Fiore, A., C., E. H., Keeling, H., Killeen, T. J., Laurance, W. F., Cruz, A. P., Pitman, N. C. A., Vargas, P. N., Ramirez-Angulo, H., Rudas, A., Salamao, R., Silva, N., Terborgh, J., & Torres-Lezama, A. 323(5919):1344–1347.

Paper doi abstract bibtex

Amazon forests are a key but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. If, as anticipated, they dry this century, they might accelerate climate change through carbon losses and changed surface energy balances. We used records from multiple long-term monitoring plots across Amazonia to assess forest responses to the intense 2005 drought, a possible analog of future events. Affected forest lost biomass, reversing a large long-term carbon sink, with the greatest impacts observed where the dry season was unusually intense. Relative to pre-2005 conditions, forest subjected to a 100-millimeter increase in water deficit lost 5.3 megagrams of aboveground biomass of carbon per hectare. The drought had a total biomass carbon impact of 1.2 to 1.6 petagrams (1.2 × 1015 to 1.6 × 1015 grams). Amazon forests therefore appear vulnerable to increasing moisture stress, with the potential for large carbon losses to exert feedback on climate change.

@article{phillipsDroughtSensitivityAmazon2009,
  title = {Drought Sensitivity of the {{Amazon}} Rainforest},
  author = {Phillips, O. L. and Aragao, L. E. O. C. and Lewis, S. L. and Fisher, J. B. and Lloyd, J. and Lopez-Gonzalez, G. and Malhi, Y. and Monteagudo, A. and Peacock, J. and Quesada, C. A. and van der Heijden, G. and Almeida, S. and Amaral, I. and Arroyo, L. and Aymard, G. and Baker, T. R. and Banki, O. and Blanc, L. and Bonal, D. and Brando, P. and Chave, J. and de Oliveira, A. C. A. and Cardozo, N. D. and Czimczik, C. I. and Feldpausch, T. R. and Freitas, M. A. and Gloor, E. and Higuchi, N. and Jimenez, E. and Lloyd, G. and Meir, P. and Mendoza, C. and Morel, A. and Neill, D. A. and Nepstad, D. and Patino, S. and Penuela, M. C. and Prieto, A. and Ramirez, F. and Schwarz, M. and Silva, J. and Silveira, M. and Thomas, A. S. and {Steege} and Stropp, J. and Vasquez, R. and Zelazowski, P. and Davila, E. A. and Andelman, S. and Andrade, A. and Chao, K. J. and Erwin, T. and Di Fiore, A. and {C., E. H.} and Keeling, H. and Killeen, T. J. and Laurance, W. F. and Cruz, A. P. and Pitman, N. C. A. and Vargas, P. N. and Ramirez-Angulo, H. and Rudas, A. and Salamao, R. and Silva, N. and Terborgh, J. and Torres-Lezama, A.},
  date = {2009-03},
  journaltitle = {Science},
  volume = {323},
  pages = {1344--1347},
  issn = {0036-8075},
  doi = {10.1126/science.1164033},
  url = {http://mfkp.org/INRMM/article/6664284},
  abstract = {Amazon forests are a key but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. If, as anticipated, they dry this century, they might accelerate climate change through carbon losses and changed surface energy balances. We used records from multiple long-term monitoring plots across Amazonia to assess forest responses to the intense 2005 drought, a possible analog of future events. Affected forest lost biomass, reversing a large long-term carbon sink, with the greatest impacts observed where the dry season was unusually intense. Relative to pre-2005 conditions, forest subjected to a 100-millimeter increase in water deficit lost 5.3 megagrams of aboveground biomass of carbon per hectare. The drought had a total biomass carbon impact of 1.2 to 1.6 petagrams (1.2 × 1015 to 1.6 × 1015 grams). Amazon forests therefore appear vulnerable to increasing moisture stress, with the potential for large carbon losses to exert feedback on climate change.},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-6664284,~to-add-doi-URL,amazonia,biomass,carbon-cycle,climate-change,climate-extremes,droughts,extreme-events,forest-biomass,forest-resources,global-scale,organic-carbon,tropical-forests},
  number = {5919},
  options = {useprefix=true}
}

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