Authors
Lourens Poorter, Frans Bongers, T Mitchell Aide, Angélica M Almeyda Zambrano, Patricia Balvanera, Justin M Becknell, Vanessa Boukili, Pedro HS Brancalion, Eben N Broadbent, Robin L Chazdon, Dylan Craven, Jarcilene S de Almeida-Cortez, George AL Cabral, Ben HJ De Jong, Julie S Denslow, Daisy H Dent, Saara J DeWalt, Juan M Dupuy, Sandra M Durán, Mario M Espírito-Santo, María C Fandino, Ricardo G César, Jefferson S Hall, José Luis Hernandez-Stefanoni, Catarina C Jakovac, André B Junqueira, Deborah Kennard, Susan G Letcher, Juan-Carlos Licona, Madelon Lohbeck, Erika Marín-Spiotta, Miguel Martínez-Ramos, Paulo Massoca, Jorge A Meave, Rita Mesquita, Francisco Mora, Rodrigo Muñoz, Robert Muscarella, Yule RF Nunes, Susana Ochoa-Gaona, Alexandre A De Oliveira, Edith Orihuela-Belmonte, Marielos Peña-Claros, Eduardo A Pérez-García, Daniel Piotto, Jennifer S Powers, Jorge Rodríguez-Velázquez, I Eunice Romero-Pérez, Jorge Ruíz, Juan G Saldarriaga, Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa, Naomi B Schwartz, Marc K Steininger, Nathan G Swenson, Marisol Toledo, Maria Uriarte, Michiel Van Breugel, Hans Van Der Wal, Maria DM Veloso, Hans FM Vester, Alberto Vicentini, Ima CG Vieira, Tony Vizcarra Bentos, G Bruce Williamson, Danaë MA Rozendaal
Publication date
2016/2/11
Journal
Nature
Volume
530
Issue
7589
Pages
211-214
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK
Description
Land-use change occurs nowhere more rapidly than in the tropics, where the imbalance between deforestation and forest regrowth has large consequences for the global carbon cycle. However, considerable uncertainty remains about the rate of biomass recovery in secondary forests, and how these rates are influenced by climate, landscape, and prior land use,,. Here we analyse aboveground biomass recovery during secondary succession in 45 forest sites and about 1,500 forest plots covering the major environmental gradients in the Neotropics. The studied secondary forests are highly productive and resilient. Aboveground biomass recovery after 20 years was on average 122 megagrams per hectare (Mg ha−1), corresponding to a net carbon uptake of 3.05 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, 11 times the uptake rate of old-growth forests. Aboveground biomass stocks took a median time of 66 years to recover to 90% of …
Scholar articles
L Poorter, F Bongers, TM Aide, AM Almeyda Zambrano… - Nature, 2016