Estimating aboveground net biomass change for tropical and subtropical forests : refinement of IPCC default rates using forest plot data
Abstract
As countries advance in greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for climate change mitigation, consistent estimates of aboveground net biomass change (∆AGB) are needed. Countries with limited forest monitoring capabilities in the tropics and subtropics rely on IPCC 2006 default ∆AGB rates, which are values per ecological zone, per continent. Similarly, research into forest biomass change at a large scale also makes use of these rates. IPCC 2006 default rates come from a handful of studies, provide no uncertainty indications and do not distinguish between older secondary forests and old-growth forests. As part of the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, we incorporate ∆AGB data available from 2006 onwards, comprising 176 chronosequences in secondary forests and 536 permanent plots in old-growth and managed/logged forests located in 42 countries in Africa, North and South America and Asia. We generated ∆AGB rate estimates for younger secondary forests (≤20 years), older secondary forests ('20 years and up to 100 years) and old-growth forests, and accounted for uncertainties in our estimates. In tropical rainforests, for which data availability was the highest, our ∆AGB rate estimates ranged from 3.4 (Asia) to 7.6 (Africa) Mg ha−1 year−1 in younger secondary forests, from 2.3 (North and South America) to 3.5 (Africa) Mg ha−1 year−1 in older secondary forests, and 0.7 (Asia) to 1.3 (Africa) Mg ha−1 year−1 in old-growth forests. We provide a rigorous and traceable refinement of the IPCC 2006 default rates in tropical and subtropical ecological zones, and identify which areas require more research on ∆AGB. In this respect, this study should be considered as an important step towards quantifying the role of tropical and subtropical forests as carbon sinks with higher accuracy; our new rates can be used for large-scale GHG accounting by governmental bodies, nongovernmental organizations and in scientific research.
Citation
Requena Suarez , D , Rozendaal , D M A , De Sy , V , Phillips , O L , Alvarez-Dávila , E , Anderson-Teixeira , K , Araujo-Murakami , A , Arroyo , L , Baker , T R , Bongers , F , Brienen , R J W , Carter , S , Cook-Patton , S C , Feldpausch , T R , Griscom , B W , Harris , N , Hérault , B , Honorio Coronado , E N , Leavitt , S M , Lewis , S L , Marimon , B S , Monteagudo Mendoza , A , Kassi N'dja , J , N'Guessan , A E , Poorter , L , Qie , L , Rutishauser , E , Sist , P , Sonké , B , Sullivan , M J P , Vilanova , E , Wang , M M H , Martius , C & Herold , M 2019 , ' Estimating aboveground net biomass change for tropical and subtropical forests : refinement of IPCC default rates using forest plot data ' , Global Change Biology , vol. 25 , no. 11 , pp. 3609-3624 . https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14767
Publication
Global Change Biology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1354-1013Type
Journal item
Description
Funding Information: This research is part of CIFOR's Global Comparative Study on REDD+ (www.cifor.org/gcs). The funding partners that have supported this research include the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (CRP-FTA) with financial support from the CGIAR Fund Donors. This research has been supported by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement project VERIFY (number 776810). This study was supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Children's Investment 309 Fund Foundation, COmON Foundation and Good Energies Foundation. Support for RAINFOR, AfriTRON and ForestPlots.net plot monitoring in Amazonia, Africa and Asia has come from a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (T-FORCES, ?Tropical Forests in the Changing Earth System', 291585), Natural Environment Research Council grants (including NE/F005806/, NE/D005590/1 and NE/N012542/1) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Forest inventories in Brazil were supported by CNPq (National Council of Science and Technology, Brazil), grants #401279/2014-4 (PVE) and #441244/2016-5 (PELD).Collections
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