Degradation in carbon stocks near tropical forest edges

Chaplin‐Kramer, Rebecca; Ramler, Ivan; Sharp, Richard; Haddad, Nick M.; Gerber, James; West, Paul; Mandle, Lisa; Engstrom, Peder; Baccini, Alessandro; Sim, Sarah; Mueller, Carina; King, Henry

doi:10.1038/ncomms10158

Cited by 180 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…We posit that global patterns in the response of forest growth and biomass to edge effects are generally driven by a combination of increased vulnerability to disturbance (i.e., wind, drought, and fire) and an increase in light availability. Recently, an edge-related 10% decline in biomass was reported for the world's tropical forest (13), which assuming proportional declines in C uptake, would reduce the tropical forest C sink by 0.27 Pg C y −1 (1). By contrast, applying our estimated 13% edge enhancement on forest growth in southern New England to the world's temperate forest suggests that temperate forest edge effects could potentially offset 37% [0.10 Pg C y −1 (1)] of edge-related declines in the tropical forest C sink and ∼10% of global emissions from land use and land cover change (32).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, the effects of deforestation on the terrestrial C cycle extend into adjacent forest fragments (10)(11)(12), with a growing body of research from tropical rainforests (10), temperate rainforests (11), and boreal forests (12) showing widespread increases in tree mortality and reductions in biomass near the forest's edge. Edges were recently associated with a 10% reduction in tropical forest C density (13), which highlights the importance of considering landscape fragmentation when quantifying regional C balance (14). Furthermore, the potential for forest edge effects to exacerbate forest response to climate extremes (15) confounds conventional understanding of feedbacks between the terrestrial C cycle and climate.…”

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Edge effects enhance carbon uptake and its vulnerability to climate change in temperate broadleaf forests

Reinmann

Hutyra

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

109

103

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Forest fragmentation is a ubiquitous, ongoing global phenomenon with profound impacts on the growing conditions of the world's remaining forest. The temperate broadleaf forest makes a large contribution to the global terrestrial carbon sink but is also the most heavily fragmented forest biome in the world. We use field measurements and geospatial analyses to characterize carbon dynamics in temperate broadleaf forest fragments. We show that forest growth and biomass increase by 89 ± 17% and 64 ± 12%, respectively, from the forest interior to edge, but ecosystem edge enhancements are not currently captured by models or approaches to quantifying regional C balance. To the extent that the findings from our research represent the forest of southern New England in the United States, we provide a preliminary estimate that edge growth enhancement could increase estimates of the region's carbon uptake and storage by 13 ± 3% and 10 ± 1%, respectively. However, we also find that forest growth near the edge declines three times faster than that in the interior in response to heat stress during the growing season. Using climate projections, we show that future heat stress could reduce the forest edge growth enhancement by one-third by the end of the century. These findings contrast studies of edge effects in the world's other major forest biomes and indicate that the strength of the temperate broadleaf forest carbon sink and its capacity to mitigate anthropogenic carbon emissions may be stronger, but also more sensitive to climate change than previous estimates suggest.climate change | forest fragmentation | land cover change | terrestrial carbon cycle | tree growth D espite advances in measurement and remote sensing methods for carbon (C) accounting, considerable uncertainty remains in estimates of the global forest C sink and the C implications of deforestation (1-4). Expansion of agricultural and developed land has reduced global forest cover by one-third (5) and led to emissions of up to 146 Pg C to the atmosphere since 1850 (3). These changes in land cover and land use have also resulted in widespread landscape fragmentation, with 20% of the world's remaining forest within 100 m of a forest's edge (6). Compared with the forest interior, forest edges often experience altered growing conditions because of novel microenvironment conditions that typically include higher temperatures, vapor pressure deficit, wind, and availability of resources, such as light and nutrients (7-10). Consequently, the effects of deforestation on the terrestrial C cycle extend into adjacent forest fragments (10-12), with a growing body of research from tropical rainforests (10), temperate rainforests (11), and boreal forests (12) showing widespread increases in tree mortality and reductions in biomass near the forest's edge. Edges were recently associated with a 10% reduction in tropical forest C density (13), which highlights the importance of considering landscape fragmentation when quantifying regional C balance (14). Furthermore, the potentia...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Edge effects enhance carbon uptake and its vulnerability to climate change in temperate broadleaf forests

Reinmann

Hutyra

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

109

103

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“…Many small forest remnants are scattered throughout human-modified landscapes, exposing them to edge effects and chronic human-mediated disturbances that lead to reduced biomass (Chaplin-Kramer et al, 2015) and proliferation of ruderal plant species (Tabarelli et al, 2012). Ruderal plant species are more resilient to disturbances typical of small degraded forest remnants and grow rapidly when light is not a limiting factor -as in forest gaps, edges, or disturbed sectors (Tabarelli and Lopes, 2008;Schnitzer and Carson, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating climber cutting as a strategy to restore degraded tropical forests

César

Holl

Girão

et al. 2016

Biological Conservation

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A substantial share of the remaining tropical forest cover is represented by historically degraded fragments exposed to severe edge effects, where ruderal plants proliferate vigorously and may arrest succession. We tested climber plant cutting as strategy to restore a semideciduous tropical forest remnant that is dominated by ruderal climbers. We compared control (unmanaged) plots with plots subjected to climber cutting at 1-m height with recutting one (after 8 months) or three times (8, 24 and 36 months). We monitored: 1) tree and shrub biomass gain and canopy openness for three years; 2) tree and shrub growth and recruitment of regenerating seedlings for one year; and 3) planted seedling survival for two years. Climber cutting increased biomass gain by~51% for smaller trees and shrubs (1.58 ≤ dbh b 5 cm) only, regardless of the number of re-cuts. Canopy openness increased following climber cutting, but recovered after ten months due to rapid growth of the tree canopies. Growth of regenerating seedlings, but not abundance, was favored by climber cutting. Initial cutting of climbers enhanced survival of enrichment plantings, but this benefit declined with canopy re-occupation by tree foliage. Although longer-term research is needed, cutting ruderal climbers in degraded forest remnants was shown to be a promising approach to enhance forest regeneration and carbon sequestration, justifying its consideration in the restoration agenda as a complementary activity to increasing forest cover in former agricultural lands.

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“…Fire, wind and desiccation can penetrate up to kilometres into the forest151920, altering microclimate within 100–300 m of the forest edge13212223. Field studies have estimated relative carbon losses in forest edges ( e ) averaging 11% (ref.…”

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High resolution analysis of tropical forest fragmentation and its impact on the global carbon cycle

et al. 2017

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Deforestation in the tropics is not only responsible for direct carbon emissions but also extends the forest edge wherein trees suffer increased mortality. Here we combine high-resolution (30 m) satellite maps of forest cover with estimates of the edge effect and show that 19% of the remaining area of tropical forests lies within 100 m of a forest edge. The tropics house around 50 million forest fragments and the length of the world's tropical forest edges sums to nearly 50 million km. Edge effects in tropical forests have caused an additional 10.3 Gt (2.1–14.4 Gt) of carbon emissions, which translates into 0.34 Gt per year and represents 31% of the currently estimated annual carbon releases due to tropical deforestation. Fragmentation substantially augments carbon emissions from tropical forests and must be taken into account when analysing the role of vegetation in the global carbon cycle.

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Degradation in carbon stocks near tropical forest edges

Cited by 180 publications

References 33 publications

Edge effects enhance carbon uptake and its vulnerability to climate change in temperate broadleaf forests

Edge effects enhance carbon uptake and its vulnerability to climate change in temperate broadleaf forests

Evaluating climber cutting as a strategy to restore degraded tropical forests

High resolution analysis of tropical forest fragmentation and its impact on the global carbon cycle

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