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

Published in Science Advances, v. 2(5):e1501639+ 
Authors

Chazdon, R.L., Broadbent, E.N., Rozendaal, D.M.A., Bongers, F., Ameyda-Zambrano, A.M., Aide, T.M., Balvanera, P., Becknell, J.M., Boukili, V., Brancalion, P.H.S., Craven, D., Almeida-Cortez, J.S., Cabral, G.A.L., de-Jong, B., Denslow, J.S., Dent, D.H., DeWalt, S.J., Dupuy, J.M., Durán, S.M., Espírito-Santo, M.M., Fandino, M.C., César, R.G., Hall, J.S., Hernández-Stefanoni, J.L., Jakovac, C.C., Junqueira, A.B., Kennard, D., Letcher, S.G., Lohbeck, W., Martínez-Ramos, M., Massoca, P., Meave, J.A., Mesquita, R., Mora, F., Mu ñoz, R., Muscarella, R., Nunes, Y.R.F., Ochoa-Gaona, S., Orihuela-Belmonte, E., Peña-Claros, M., Pérez-García, E.A., Piotto, D., Powers, J.S., Rodríguez-Velazquez, J., Romero-Pérez, I.E., Ruíz, J., Saldarriaga, J.G., Sánchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Schwartz, N.B., Steininger, M.K., Swenson, N.G., Uriarte, M., van Breugel, M., van der Wal, H., Veloso, M.D.M., Vester, H., Vieira, I.C.G., Bentos, T.V., Williamson, G.B. and Poorter, L.
Publication year 2016
DOI https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501639
Affiliations
  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269&ndash3043, USA,
  • International Institute for Sustainability, Estrada Dona Castorina 124, Rio de Janeiro, CEP 22460-320, Brazil
  • Spatial Ecology and Conservation Lab, Department of Geography, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
  • Department of Biology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
  • Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, Netherlands
  • Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 23360, San Juan, PR 00931-3360, Puerto Rico
  • Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CP 58089, Morelia, Michoacán, México
  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA 
  • Department of Forest Sciences, "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Av. Pádua Dias, 11, 13418-900 Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
  • SI ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenue, 401 Balboa, Ancon, Panama
  • German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-JenaLeipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
  • Institute for Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
  • Departamento de Botânica-CCB, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, CEP 50670-901, Brazil
  • Department of Sustainability Science, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Av. Rancho Polígono 2-A, Ciudad Industrial, Lerma 24500, Campeche, Mexico
  • Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA 
  • Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosevelt Avenue, 401 Balboa, Ancon, Panama
  • Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK 
  • Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, 132 Long Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
  • Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán A.C. Unidad de Recursos Naturales, Calle 43 # 130, Colonia Chuburná de Hidalgo, C.P. 97200, Mérida, Yucatán, México 
  • Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2EG, Canada
  • Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros, Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, CEP 39401-089, Brazil
  • Fondo Patrimonio Natural para la Biodiversidad y Areas Protegidas, Calle 72 No. 12-65 piso 6, 110231 Bogota, Colombia
  • Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Environmental Dynamics Research Coordination, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Amazonas, CEP 69067-375, Brazil
  • Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, Netherlands
  • Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW Wageningen, Netherlands
  • Coordenação de Tecnologia e Inovação, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo 2936, Aleixo, 69060-001 Manaus, Brazil
  • Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, Colorado Mesa University, 1100 North Avenue, Grand Junction, CO 81501, USA
  • Department of Environmental Studies, Purchase College (SUNY), 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY 10577, USA 
  • World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, C.P. 04510, México
  • Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
  • Section of Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
  • Centro de Formação em Ciências Agroflorestais, Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia, Itabuna-BA, 45613-204, Brazil
  • Departments of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior and Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
  • School of Social Sciences, Geography Area, Universidad Pedagogica y Tecnologica de Colombia, 150003 Tunja, Colombia
  • Department of Geography, 4841 Ellison Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA 
  • Cr 5 No 14-05, P.O. Box 412, Cota, Cundinamarca, Colombia
  • Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA, Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA 
  • Yale-NUS College, 12 College Avenue West, Singapore 138610, Singapore
  • Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore 
  • Departamento de Agricultura, Sociedad y Ambiente, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Villahermosa, 86280 Centro, Tabasco, México
  • Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1090 Amsterdam, Netherlands 
  • Bonhoeffer College, Bruggertstraat 60, 7545 AX Enschede, Netherlands
  • Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, C.P. 399, CEP 66040-170, Belém, Pará, Brazil
  • Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803&ndash1705, USA.

 
IAI Program

CRN3

 
IAI Project CRN3025
Keywords
biodiversity
biomass accumulation
carbon mitigation
ecology
forest regeneration
forest regrowth
secondary forests
tropical forests

Abstract

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 from 1993 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 forest management, natural regeneration of second-growth forests provides a low-cost mechanism that yields a high carbon sequestration potential with multiple benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services.