Journal
SCIENCE ADVANCES
Volume 2, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501639
Keywords
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Categories
Funding
- Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Forests, Trees, and Agroforestry (FTA) Program
- Center for International Forestry Research
- Colciencias [1243-13-16640]
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (SEP-CONACYT) [2009-129740, 2015-255544, CB-2005-01-51043]
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) [33851-B]
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (SEMARNAT-CONACYT) [2002 C01-0597]
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (PAPIIT-DGAPA) [IN213714, IND211114]
- PAPIIT-UNAM [IN221503-3]
- CONACYT [CB-2009-01-128136]
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico [CNPq 563304/2010-3, 562955/2010-0, PQ 307422/2012-7]
- Instituto Tamandua
- FOMIX-Yucatan [YUC-2008-C06-108863]
- ForestGEO
- Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa de Minas Gerais [FAPEMIG CRA APQ-0001-11]
- Fundacion Ecologica de Cuixmala
- Heising-Simons Foundation
- HSBC
- ICETEX
- Amazonia-Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia
- Inter-American Institute for Global Change [Tropi-dry network CRN3-025]
- Motta Family Foundation
- NSF(NSF-DEB) [0639114, 0639393, 1147429, 0129104, 1050957, 1147434]
- NSF (CAREER GRANT) [DEB-1053237]
- NSF (NSF) [BCS-1349952]
- NSF (NSF-CNH-RCN) [1313788]
- NUFFIC
- USAID (BOLFOR)
- INCT Biodiversidade e Uso da Terra na Amazonia [CNPq 574008/2008-0]
- Silicon Valley Foundation
- Stichting Het Kronendak
- Tropenbos Foundation
- Wageningen University (INREF Terra Preta programme)
- Wageningen University (FOREFRONT programme)
- European Union [283093]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1053237] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1313788, 1546686] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Emerging Frontiers [1137364] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- ICER [1128040] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1401312] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Regrowth of tropical secondary forests following complete or nearly complete removal of forest vegetation actively stores carbon in aboveground biomass, partially counterbalancing carbon emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, burning of fossil fuels, and other anthropogenic sources. We estimate the age and spatial extent of lowland second-growth forests in the Latin American tropics and model their potential aboveground carbon accumulation over four decades. Our model shows that, in 2008, second-growth forests (1 to 60 years old) covered 2.4 million km(2) of land (28.1% of the total study area). Over 40 years, these lands can potentially accumulate a total aboveground carbon stock of 8.48 Pg C (petagrams of carbon) in aboveground biomass via low-cost natural regeneration or assisted regeneration, corresponding to a total CO2 sequestration of 31.09 Pg CO2. This total is equivalent to carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and industrial processes in all of Latin America and the Caribbean from 1993 to 2014. Ten countries account for 95% of this carbon storage potential, led by Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. We model future land-use scenarios to guide national carbon mitigation policies. Permitting natural regeneration on 40% of lowland pastures potentially stores an additional 2.0 Pg C over 40 years. Our study provides information and maps to guide national-level forest-based carbon mitigation plans on the basis of estimated rates of natural regeneration and pasture abandonment. Coupled with avoided deforestation and sustainable forest management, natural regeneration of second-growth forests provides a low-cost mechanism that yields a high carbon sequestration potential with multiple benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
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