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C-quest in the Amazon Basin

Nature volume 396, pages 619–620 (1998)Cite this article

Whether Amazonia is a carbon-dioxide source or sink has a significant effect on estimates of the global carbon budget. On an annual basis, El Niño, and its influence on precipitation in the region, seems to be a controlling factor.

What is happening to all of the extra carbon dioxide being pumped into Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities? Seven peta (1015) grams of carbon are now being emitted annually by fossil-fuel burning, and another 1-2 Pg by forest clearance in the tropics (for crops and pastures, which contain far less carbon). Only about half of this carbon stays in the atmosphere. The oceans absorb a further quarter or so, leaving at least 2 Pg C yr−1 to be accounted for by uptake into terrestrial ecosystems1. The ‘C-quest’ for the carbon2 presumed to be sequestered on land has been on for two decades — during which time, of course, people have continued to burn fossil fuels and clear forests.

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Figure 1: Cerrado in Amazonia, where rainfall strongly limits plant growth.

PLANET EARTH

Figure 2: Two model calculations of the annual carbon balance of natural ecosystems in the Amazon Basin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, PO Box 100164, Jena, D-07701, Germany

    I. Colin Prentice & Jon Lloyd

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  1. I. Colin Prentice
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  2. Jon Lloyd
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Prentice, I., Lloyd, J. C-quest in the Amazon Basin. Nature 396, 619–620 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/25224

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