The future of tropical forests depends on their ability to resist and recover from multiple disturbances. Here, we evaluated how edge effects, experimental fires, extreme droughts, and blowdowns reshaped forest structure, composition, and functional traits over two...
Aragão and Shimabukuro (Reports, 4 June 2010, p. 1275) reported that fires increase in agricultural frontiers even as deforestation decreases and concluded that these fires lead to unaccounted carbon emissions under the United Nations climate treaty's tropical...
Several Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) projects are currently being planned and implemented in the Brazilian Amazon forest. Representatives of Brazilian Indigenous peoples and local communities recognize potential benefits of...
Correspondence: We find your conclusion premature that there is no longer a direct correlation between food production in Brazil and deforestation in the Amazon.
Deep root water uptake in tropical Amazonian forests has been a major discovery during the last 15 yr. However, the effects of extended droughts, which may increase with climate change, on deep soil moisture utilization remain uncertain. The current study utilized a 1999–2005 record of volumetric water content (VWC) under a throughfall exclusion experiment to calibrate a one-dimensional model of the hydrologic system to estimate VWC, and to quantify the rate of root uptake through 11.5 m of soil.
Drought exerts a strong influence on tropical forest metabolism, carbon stocks, and ultimately the flux of carbon to the atmosphere. Satellite-based studies have suggested that Amazon forests green up during droughts because of increased sunlight, whereas field...
Amazon social movements arose, like many others globally, in conflicts with political and economic elites over land use and resource extraction. Amazon social movements have moved beyond protest to protagonize large-scale forest protection. The article examines the...