High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon

TLDR

Efforts to mitigate climate change through REDD depend on mapping and monitoring tropical forest carbon stocks and emissions over large geographic areas. The study aims to reveal the determinants of forest carbon density and demonstrate the feasibility of mapping carbon emissions for REDD. Using an integrated approach of satellite imaging, airborne LiDAR, and field plots, the authors mapped aboveground carbon stocks and emissions at 0.1‑ha resolution across 4.3 million ha of the Peruvian Amazon, twice the size of all forests in Costa Rica. The high‑resolution mapping uncovered previously unknown variation in carbon storage driven by geology and forest type, showed that land‑use emissions accounted for 1.1 % of standing carbon, that selective logging increased regional emissions by 47 % beyond deforestation alone, that secondary regrowth offset 18 % of gross emissions, and that such fine‑scale monitoring reduces uncertainty and reveals key environmental controls on carbon dynamics.

Abstract

Efforts to mitigate climate change through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) depend on mapping and monitoring of tropical forest carbon stocks and emissions over large geographic areas. With a new integrated use of satellite imaging, airborne light detection and ranging, and field plots, we mapped aboveground carbon stocks and emissions at 0.1-ha resolution over 4.3 million ha of the Peruvian Amazon, an area twice that of all forests in Costa Rica, to reveal the determinants of forest carbon density and to demonstrate the feasibility of mapping carbon emissions for REDD. We discovered previously unknown variation in carbon storage at multiple scales based on geologic substrate and forest type. From 1999 to 2009, emissions from land use totaled 1.1% of the standing carbon throughout the region. Forest degradation, such as from selective logging, increased regional carbon emissions by 47% over deforestation alone, and secondary regrowth provided an 18% offset against total gross emissions. Very high-resolution monitoring reduces uncertainty in carbon emissions for REDD programs while uncovering fundamental environmental controls on forest carbon storage and their interactions with land-use change.