Biomass dynamics in amazonian forest fragments

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation affects aboveground biomass in Amazonian forests, with potentially important implications for carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions. We assessed the dynamics of aboveground-biomass stocks by combining long-term (10-19 yr) data on mortality, damage, growth, and recruitment of large (≥10 cm diameter at breast height [dbh]) trees with measurements of nearly all other live and dead plant material (seedlings, saplings, small trees, palms, lianas, downed wood debris, snags, litter) in 50 1-ha plots in fragmented and continuous Amazonian forests. The key process altering biomass dynamics in fragmented forests is the chronically elevated mortality of large trees, which apparently results from microclimatic changes and increased wind turbulence near forest edges. This, in turn, accelerates the production of necromass and leads to significantly increased wood debris and litter on the forest floor. Near forest edges, frequent canopy disturbance increases the amount of light in the understory, resulting in accelerated tree recruitment, significantly higher biomass of small (5-10 cm dbh) trees, and higher liana densities. Surprisingly, the estimated annual turnover of wood debris increases significantly near forest edges, suggesting that decomposition is occurring more rapidly in fragmented than continuous forests. These results reveal that habitat fragmentation fundamentally alters the distribution and dynamics of aboveground biomass in Amazonian forests. The rate of carbon cycling probably increases sharply, both because long-lived canopy and emergent trees decline in favor of shorter-lived successional trees and lianas, and because necromass production and turnover both appear to increase. Carbon storage in live vegetation also declines because small successional trees and lianas (which typically have low wood density) store substantially less carbon than do large, old-growth trees. Finally, the decline and rapid decay of live biomass in forest fragments may produce substantial atmospheric carbon emissions, above and beyond that resulting from deforestation per se.