Mature Andean forests as globally important carbon sinks and future carbon refuges

Alvaro Duque; Miguel A. Peña; Francisco Cuesta; Sebastián González-Caro; Peter Kennedy; Oliver L. Phillips; Marco Calderón-Loor; Cecilia Blundo; Julieta Carilla; Leslie Cayola; William Farfán-Ríos; Alfredo Fuentes; Ricardo Grau; Jürgen Homeier; María I. Loza-Rivera; Yadvinder Malhi; Agustina Malizia; Lucio Malizia; Johanna A. Martínez-Villa; Jonathan A. Myers; Oriana Osinaga-Acosta; Manuel Peralvo; Esteban Pinto; Sassan Saatchi; Miles Silman; J. Sebastián Tello; Andrea Terán-Valdez; Kenneth J. Feeley

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22459-8

Mature Andean forests as globally important carbon sinks and future carbon refuges

Alvaro Duque, Miguel A. Peña, Francisco Cuesta, Sebastián González-Caro, Peter Kennedy, Oliver L. Phillips, Marco Calderón-Loor, Cecilia Blundo, Julieta Carilla, Leslie Cayola, William Farfán-Ríos, Alfredo Fuentes, Ricardo Grau, Jürgen Homeier, María I. Loza-Rivera, Yadvinder Malhi, Agustina Malizia, Lucio Malizia, Johanna A. Martínez-Villa, Jonathan A. MyersOriana Osinaga-Acosta, Manuel Peralvo, Esteban Pinto, Sassan Saatchi, Miles Silman, J. Sebastián Tello, Andrea Terán-Valdez, Kenneth J. Feeley

Plant and Microbial Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

It is largely unknown how South America’s Andean forests affect the global carbon cycle, and thus regulate climate change. Here, we measure aboveground carbon dynamics over the past two decades in 119 monitoring plots spanning a range of >3000 m elevation across the subtropical and tropical Andes. Our results show that Andean forests act as strong sinks for aboveground carbon (0.67 ± 0.08 Mg C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) and have a high potential to serve as future carbon refuges. Aboveground carbon dynamics of Andean forests are driven by abiotic and biotic factors, such as climate and size-dependent mortality of trees. The increasing aboveground carbon stocks offset the estimated C emissions due to deforestation between 2003 and 2014, resulting in a net total uptake of 0.027 Pg C y⁻¹. Reducing deforestation will increase Andean aboveground carbon stocks, facilitate upward species migrations, and allow for recovery of biomass losses due to climate change.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	2138
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22459-8
State	Published - Dec 1 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
A.D. received funding from the Dirección de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín (DIME). F.C. was funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Grant/Award Number: PA0042-C011-0031 and by Universidad de las Américas Research Grant: FGE.FCC.19.15. S.G.C. was funded by COLCIENCIAS (Convocatoria 767). The Madidi Project has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (DEB-0101775, DEB-0743457 and DEB-1836353), the National Geographic Society (NGS 7754-04 and NGS 8047-06), The Living Earth Collaborative and various other organizations and individuals. K.J.F. was funded by an award by the US National Science Foundation (DEB LTREB 1754664). O.L.P. was supported by an ERC Advanced Grant 291585 (“T-FORCES”). P.K. was funded by the US National Science Foundation (DEB 1753621) and an Institute of International Education Fulbright Fellowship. We acknowledge the support provided by the Swiss Cooperation through the Programa Bosques Andinos conducted by CONDESAN who supported the workshop where the idea of this study was conceived as part of the core activities promoted by the Red de Bosques Andinos (RBA).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

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Duque, A., Peña, M. A., Cuesta, F., González-Caro, S., Kennedy, P., Phillips, O. L., Calderón-Loor, M., Blundo, C., Carilla, J., Cayola, L., Farfán-Ríos, W., Fuentes, A., Grau, R., Homeier, J., Loza-Rivera, M. I., Malhi, Y., Malizia, A., Malizia, L., Martínez-Villa, J. A., ... Feeley, K. J. (2021). Mature Andean forests as globally important carbon sinks and future carbon refuges. Nature communications, 12(1), [2138]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22459-8

Duque, A, Peña, MA, Cuesta, F, González-Caro, S, Kennedy, P, Phillips, OL, Calderón-Loor, M, Blundo, C, Carilla, J, Cayola, L, Farfán-Ríos, W, Fuentes, A, Grau, R, Homeier, J, Loza-Rivera, MI, Malhi, Y, Malizia, A, Malizia, L, Martínez-Villa, JA, Myers, JA, Osinaga-Acosta, O, Peralvo, M, Pinto, E, Saatchi, S, Silman, M, Tello, JS, Terán-Valdez, A & Feeley, KJ 2021, 'Mature Andean forests as globally important carbon sinks and future carbon refuges', Nature communications, vol. 12, no. 1, 2138. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22459-8

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abstract = "It is largely unknown how South America{\textquoteright}s Andean forests affect the global carbon cycle, and thus regulate climate change. Here, we measure aboveground carbon dynamics over the past two decades in 119 monitoring plots spanning a range of >3000 m elevation across the subtropical and tropical Andes. Our results show that Andean forests act as strong sinks for aboveground carbon (0.67 ± 0.08 Mg C ha−1 y−1) and have a high potential to serve as future carbon refuges. Aboveground carbon dynamics of Andean forests are driven by abiotic and biotic factors, such as climate and size-dependent mortality of trees. The increasing aboveground carbon stocks offset the estimated C emissions due to deforestation between 2003 and 2014, resulting in a net total uptake of 0.027 Pg C y−1. Reducing deforestation will increase Andean aboveground carbon stocks, facilitate upward species migrations, and allow for recovery of biomass losses due to climate change.",

author = "Alvaro Duque and Pe{\~n}a, {Miguel A.} and Francisco Cuesta and Sebasti{\'a}n Gonz{\'a}lez-Caro and Peter Kennedy and Phillips, {Oliver L.} and Marco Calder{\'o}n-Loor and Cecilia Blundo and Julieta Carilla and Leslie Cayola and William Farf{\'a}n-R{\'i}os and Alfredo Fuentes and Ricardo Grau and J{\"u}rgen Homeier and Loza-Rivera, {Mar{\'i}a I.} and Yadvinder Malhi and Agustina Malizia and Lucio Malizia and Mart{\'i}nez-Villa, {Johanna A.} and Myers, {Jonathan A.} and Oriana Osinaga-Acosta and Manuel Peralvo and Esteban Pinto and Sassan Saatchi and Miles Silman and Tello, {J. Sebasti{\'a}n} and Andrea Ter{\'a}n-Valdez and Feeley, {Kenneth J.}",

note = "Funding Information: A.D. received funding from the Direcci{\'o}n de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medell{\'i}n (DIME). F.C. was funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Grant/Award Number: PA0042-C011-0031 and by Universidad de las Am{\'e}ricas Research Grant: FGE.FCC.19.15. S.G.C. was funded by COLCIENCIAS (Convocatoria 767). The Madidi Project has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (DEB-0101775, DEB-0743457 and DEB-1836353), the National Geographic Society (NGS 7754-04 and NGS 8047-06), The Living Earth Collaborative and various other organizations and individuals. K.J.F. was funded by an award by the US National Science Foundation (DEB LTREB 1754664). O.L.P. was supported by an ERC Advanced Grant 291585 (“T-FORCES”). P.K. was funded by the US National Science Foundation (DEB 1753621) and an Institute of International Education Fulbright Fellowship. We acknowledge the support provided by the Swiss Cooperation through the Programa Bosques Andinos conducted by CONDESAN who supported the workshop where the idea of this study was conceived as part of the core activities promoted by the Red de Bosques Andinos (RBA). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",

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AU - Peña, Miguel A.

AU - Cuesta, Francisco

AU - González-Caro, Sebastián

AU - Kennedy, Peter

AU - Phillips, Oliver L.

AU - Calderón-Loor, Marco

AU - Blundo, Cecilia

AU - Carilla, Julieta

AU - Cayola, Leslie

AU - Farfán-Ríos, William

AU - Fuentes, Alfredo

AU - Grau, Ricardo

AU - Homeier, Jürgen

AU - Loza-Rivera, María I.

AU - Malhi, Yadvinder

AU - Malizia, Agustina

AU - Malizia, Lucio

AU - Martínez-Villa, Johanna A.

AU - Myers, Jonathan A.

AU - Osinaga-Acosta, Oriana

AU - Peralvo, Manuel

AU - Pinto, Esteban

AU - Saatchi, Sassan

AU - Silman, Miles

AU - Tello, J. Sebastián

AU - Terán-Valdez, Andrea

AU - Feeley, Kenneth J.

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N2 - It is largely unknown how South America’s Andean forests affect the global carbon cycle, and thus regulate climate change. Here, we measure aboveground carbon dynamics over the past two decades in 119 monitoring plots spanning a range of >3000 m elevation across the subtropical and tropical Andes. Our results show that Andean forests act as strong sinks for aboveground carbon (0.67 ± 0.08 Mg C ha−1 y−1) and have a high potential to serve as future carbon refuges. Aboveground carbon dynamics of Andean forests are driven by abiotic and biotic factors, such as climate and size-dependent mortality of trees. The increasing aboveground carbon stocks offset the estimated C emissions due to deforestation between 2003 and 2014, resulting in a net total uptake of 0.027 Pg C y−1. Reducing deforestation will increase Andean aboveground carbon stocks, facilitate upward species migrations, and allow for recovery of biomass losses due to climate change.

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Mature Andean forests as globally important carbon sinks and future carbon refuges

Abstract

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