Carbon storage increases by major forest ecosystems in tropical South America since the Last Glacial Maximum and the early Holocene

Abstract

To study the carbon storage increase of major forest ecosystems in tropical South America, such as Amazon rain forest, Atlantic rain forest, semideciduous forest, and Araucaria forest, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the early Holocene vegetation cover were reconstructed by pollen records. Marked forest expansion points to a significant total carbon storage increase by tropical forests in South America since the LGM and the early Holocene. The Amazon rain forest expansion, about 39% in area, had 28.3×10 9 tC (+20%), the highest carbon storage increase since the LGM. The expansion of the other much smaller forest areas also had a significant carbon storage increase since the LGM, the Atlantic rain forest with 4.9×10 9 tC (+55%), the semideciduous forest of eastern Brazil with 6.3×10 9 tC (+46%), the Araucaria forest with 3.4×10 9 tC (+108%). The estimated carbon storage increase of the four forest biomes since the early Holocene is also remarkable. The extensive deforestation in the last century strongly affected the carbon storage by tropical forests.