GERMANY-BRAZIL: Forests and carbon storage: size matters

University World News
13 December 2009
Issue: 105

New research from Brazil and Germany indicates environmental concerns are best met by conserving large and entire tracts of forest. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig and the University of São Paulo found the collective biomass of many small forests was less than that of a single large forest even when the small forests covered the same total area as the larger one.

The conclusion has implications for efforts to reduce carbon emissions, because forest biomass is one way of storing carbon dioxide. The researchers investigated a large number of small forest fragments left over after clearing of most of the Atlantic Forest near São Paulo in Brazil, and found their biomass could be as much as 40% less than in a single large forest.

They said the lower biomass was due to a higher death rate among trees at the edges of forests, particularly large, old trees that had large amounts of biomass. The higher death rate was caused by changes in wind and light conditions at the edge of the forest.

Read the full story