The Brazilian Amazon currently releases about 0.2 Pg-C to the atmosphere each year as a result of net deforestation. Logging and forest fire activity are poorly quantified but certainly increase this amount by more than 10%. Fires associated with land management activities generate smoke that leads to heating of the lower atmosphere, decreases in overall cloudiness, increases in cloud lifetimes, and the suppression of rainfall. There are considerable uncertainties associated with our understanding of smoke effects. Present development trends point to agricultural intensification in the Brazilian Amazon. This intensification and the associated generation of wealth present an opportunity to enhance governance on the frontier and to minimize the damaging effects of fires.
The linkages between photosynthesis, productivity, growth and biomass in lowland Amazonian forests
The linkages between photosynthesis, productivity, growth and biomass in lowland Amazonian forests
Understanding the relationship between photosynthesis, net primary productivity and growth in forest ecosystems is key to understanding how these ecosystems will respond to global anthropogenic change, yet the linkages among these components are rarely explored in...