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| Titel |
The carbon balance of South America: a review of the status, decadal trends and main determinants |
| VerfasserIn |
M. Gloor, L. Gatti, R. Brienen, T. R. Feldpausch, O. L. Phillips, J. Miller, J. P. Ometto, H. Rocha, T. Baker, B. Jong, R. A. Houghton, Y. Malhi, L. E. O. C. Aragão, J.-L. Guyot, K. Zhao, R. Jackson, P. Peylin, S. Sitch, B. Poulter, M. Lomas, S. Zaehle, C. Huntingford, P. Levy, J. Lloyd |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1726-4170
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Biogeosciences ; 9, no. 12 ; Nr. 9, no. 12 (2012-12-21), S.5407-5430 |
| Datensatznummer |
250007478
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/bg-9-5407-2012.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
We summarise the contemporary carbon budget of South America and relate it
to its dominant controls: population and economic growth, changes in land
use practices and a changing atmospheric environment and climate. Component
flux estimate methods we consider sufficiently reliable for this purpose
encompass fossil fuel emission inventories, biometric analysis of old-growth
rainforests, estimation of carbon release associated with deforestation
based on remote sensing and inventories, and agricultural export data.
Alternative methods for the estimation of the continental-scale net land to atmosphere CO2 flux, such as atmospheric transport inverse modelling
and terrestrial biosphere model predictions, are, we find, hampered by the data
paucity, and improved parameterisation and validation exercises are required
before reliable estimates can be obtained. From our analysis of available
data, we suggest that South America was a net source to the atmosphere during
the 1980s (~ 0.3–0.4 Pg C a−1) and close to neutral
(~ 0.1 Pg C a−1) in the 1990s. During the latter period,
carbon uptake in old-growth forests nearly compensated for the carbon
release associated with fossil fuel burning and deforestation.
Annual mean precipitation over tropical South America as inferred from
Amazon River discharge shows a long-term upward trend. Although, over the
last decade dry seasons have tended to be drier, with the years 2005 and
2010 in particular experiencing strong droughts. On the other hand,
precipitation during the wet seasons also shows an increasing trend. Air
temperatures have also increased slightly. Also with increases in
atmospheric CO2 concentrations, it is currently unclear what effect
these climate changes are having on the forest carbon balance of the region.
Current indications are that the forests of the Amazon Basin have acted as a
substantial long-term carbon sink, but with the most recent measurements
suggesting that this sink may be weakening. Economic development of the
tropical regions of the continent is advancing steadily, with exports of
agricultural products being an important driver and witnessing a strong
upturn over the last decade. |
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