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Long-term carbon sink in Borneo's forests halted by drought and vulnerable to edge effects.

Authors :
Qie L
Lewis SL
Sullivan MJP
Lopez-Gonzalez G
Pickavance GC
Sunderland T
Ashton P
Hubau W
Abu Salim K
Aiba SI
Banin LF
Berry N
Brearley FQ
Burslem DFRP
Dančák M
Davies SJ
Fredriksson G
Hamer KC
Hédl R
Kho LK
Kitayama K
Krisnawati H
Lhota S
Malhi Y
Maycock C
Metali F
Mirmanto E
Nagy L
Nilus R
Ong R
Pendry CA
Poulsen AD
Primack RB
Rutishauser E
Samsoedin I
Saragih B
Sist P
Slik JWF
Sukri RS
Svátek M
Tan S
Tjoa A
van Nieuwstadt M
Vernimmen RRE
Yassir I
Kidd PS
Fitriadi M
Ideris NKH
Serudin RM
Abdullah Lim LS
Saparudin MS
Phillips OL
Source :
Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2017 Dec 19; Vol. 8 (1), pp. 1966. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Dec 19.
Publication Year :
2017

Abstract

Less than half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere. While carbon balance models imply large carbon uptake in tropical forests, direct on-the-ground observations are still lacking in Southeast Asia. Here, using long-term plot monitoring records of up to half a century, we find that intact forests in Borneo gained 0.43 Mg C ha <superscript>-1</superscript> per year (95% CI 0.14-0.72, mean period 1988-2010) above-ground live biomass. These results closely match those from African and Amazonian plot networks, suggesting that the world's remaining intact tropical forests are now en masse out-of-equilibrium. Although both pan-tropical and long-term, the sink in remaining intact forests appears vulnerable to climate and land use changes. Across Borneo the 1997-1998 El Niño drought temporarily halted the carbon sink by increasing tree mortality, while fragmentation persistently offset the sink and turned many edge-affected forests into a carbon source to the atmosphere.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2041-1723
Volume :
8
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Nature communications
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
29259276
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01997-0