Estimating aboveground net biomass change for tropical and subtropical forests: refinement of IPCC default rates using forest plot data

Requena Suarez, D, Rozendaal, DMA, De Sy, V, Phillips, OL, Alvarez-Dávila, E, Anderson-Teixeira, K, Araujo-Murakami, A, Arroyo, L, Baker, TR, Bongers, F, Brienen, RJW, Carter, S, Cook-Patton, SC, Feldpausch, TR, Griscom, BW, Harris, N, Hérault, B, Honorio Coronado, EN, Leavitt, SM, Lewis, SL, Marimon, BS, Monteagudo Mendoza, A, Kassi N'dja, J, N'Guessan, AE, Poorter, L, Qie, L, Rutishauser, E, Sist, P, Sonké, B, Sullivan, MJP ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5955-0483, Vilanova, E, Wang, MMH, Martius, C and 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, 25 (11). pp. 3609-3624. ISSN 1354-1013

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Abstract

© 2019 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 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.