Forest structure and carbon dynamics in Amazonian tropical

rain forests

Simone Vieira , Plinio B. De Camargo, Diogo Selhorst, Lucy Hutyra, Roseane da Silva, Jeff Chambers, I. Foster Brown, Niro Higuchi, Joaquim

dos Santos, Steven Wofsy, Susan Trumbore, Luiz Martinelli

SantarémManaus

Rio Branco

i. Site Locations

SantarémManaus

Rio Branco

SantarémManaus

Rio Branco

i. Site Locations

Manaus = 570.84e-0.7344x

R2 = 0.9876

Rio Branco = 211.07e-0.5655x

R2 = 0.9027Santarem = 152.68e-0.4759x

R2 = 0.86490.1

1.0

10.0

100.0

1000.0

10-2020-30

30-4040-50

50-6060-70

70-8080-90

90-100

100-110> 110

DBH Class

Num

ber

of tr

ee (

tree

.ha-1

)

ManausRio BrancoSantarém

Size Class Distribution

Biomass Distribution

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

DBH Class

Abo

vegr

ound

Bio

mas

s

(Mg.

ha-1

)ManausRio BrancoSantarém

360262

280

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

DBH Class

Abo

vegr

ound

Bio

mas

s

(Mg.

ha-1

)ManausRio BrancoSantarém

360262

280

Man

aus

-4-202468

101214

Julian day 1 = January 1st 2000G

row

th r

ate

( m.d

ia-1

)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Rai

nfal

l

(mm

.day

-1)

Rainfall Growth rate

Rio

Bra

nco

0

5

10

15

20

25

Julian day 1 = january 1st

2000

Gro

wth

rat

e (m

.day

-1)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Rai

nfa

ll

(mm

.day

-1)

San

taré

m

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Julian day 1 = january 1st 2000

Gro

wth

rat

e ( m

.day

-1)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Rai

nfal

l

(mm

.day

-1)

Daily mean diameter increment in mm day-1, ± 95% confidence interval, compared with mean precipitation accumulated (reported in mm day-1) measured for the three areas.

Daily mean diameter increment in mm day-1 by diameter class (10-29.9 cm, 30-49 cm and >50 cm).

Man

aus

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Time (month)

Dai

ly g

row

th r

ate

(m

.dia

-1)

DBH 10-30 cm DBH 30-50 cm DBH > 50 cm

Rio

Bra

nco

-5

0

5

1015

20

25

30

Time (month)

Dai

ly g

row

th r

ate

( m

.dia-1

)

San

taré

m

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Time (month)

Dai

ly g

row

th r

ate

(m

.day

-1)

1

Manaus Rio Branco Santarém 2000 2001 2002 2001 2002 2000 2001 Diameter growth rate

(mm yr-1) 1.48 ± 1.83

1.78 ± 2.14

1.99 ± 2.01

3.89 ± 5.48

3.77 ± 6.44

3.63 ± 4.72

2.54 ± 4.00

Minimum individual growth rate (mm yr-1)

-0.4 -0.7 -0.3 -5.0 -14.5 -2.0 -5.9

Maximum individual growth rate (mm yr-1)

8.6 9.8 8.6 49.6 44.4 19.3 36.2

Percentage of all individuals with

negative growth rates 22.8% 19.0% 10.4% 8.9% 11.2% 12.2% 22.4%

Annual total precipitation (mm)

3545.5 2383.3 3177.5 1899.5 1909.9 2594.2 1764.85

Number of dry season months (precipitation < 100 mm month-1)

0 2* 3* 4 4 5* 6

Total precipitation in the dry season (mm)

257.6 96.2 305.2 284.9 239.6 106.5 231.9

Minimum monthly precipitation (mm)

125.5 48.0 71.8 44.05 2.45 2.5 16.7

Maximum monthly precipitation (mm)

736.4 294.4 535.9 471.9 345.25 361.5 313.6

1

* Months not consecutive 2

Mean annual diameter growth increments observed using dendrometer bands in the three permanent plots. Negative growth rates indicate a decrease in tree diameters during the period of study.

Distribution of annual carbon accumulation in living vegetation among diameter classes for the years of measurement.

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

10-2

020

-30

30-4

040

-50

50-6

060

-70

70-8

080

-90

90-1

00

100-

110

>110

DBH size

Bio

mas

s st

ored

(M

gC h

a-1 y

r-1)

Manaus 2000

Manaus 2001

Manaus 2002

Rio Branco 2001

Rio Branco 2002

Santarém 2000

Santarém 2001

Conclusion:

• marked seasonal growth • trees with diameter >50cm were more affected

by seasons. • the major accumulation C was in the smaller

trees in forests experiencing a longer dry season.

• forests experiencing a longer dry-season have larger annual diameter growth increments for individual trees.