TY - JOUR
T1 - Active restoration accelerates the carbon recovery of human modified-tropical forests
AU - Philipson, Christopher
AU - Cutler, Mark
AU - Brodrick, Phiip G.
AU - Asner, Gregory P.
AU - Boyd, Doreen S.
AU - Costa, Pedro Moura
AU - Fiddes, Joel
AU - Foody, Giles M.
AU - van der Heijden, Geertje M. F.
AU - Ledo, Alicia
AU - Lincoln, Philippa R.
AU - Margrove, James A.
AU - Martin, Roberta E.
AU - Milne, Sol
AU - Pinard, Michelle A.
AU - Reynolds, Glen
AU - Snoep, Martijn
AU - Tangki, Hamzah
AU - Wai, Yap Sau
AU - Wheeler, Charlotte E.
AU - Burslem, David F. R. P.
N1 - Field data were acquired for the EU-funded INDFORSUS project
(ER-BIC18T960102 to G.M.F.) and from projects funded by
the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (ref. 50076
to M.E.J.C. and D.F.R.P.B.) and the DfID and NERC Programme
“Understanding the impact of the current El Nino event”
(NE/P004806/1 to M.E.J.C., D.F.R.P.B., D.S.B., G.M.F., and
G.M.F.v.d.H.). Airborne carbon mapping, processing, and analysis
were funded by the UN Development Programme GEF, Avatar
Alliance Foundation, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil,
Worldwide Fund for Nature, Morgan Family Foundation, and the
Rainforest Trust (to G.P.A. and G.R.).
PY - 2020/8/14
Y1 - 2020/8/14
N2 - More than half of all tropical forests are degraded by human impacts, leaving them threatened with conversion to agricultural plantations and risking substantial biodiversity and carbon losses. Restoration could accelerate recovery of aboveground carbon density (ACD), but adoption of restoration is constrained by cost and uncertainties over effectiveness. We report a long-term comparison of ACD recovery rates between naturally regenerating and actively restored logged tropical forests. Restoration enhanced decadal ACD recovery by more than 50%, from 2.9 to 4.4 megagrams per hectare per year. This magnitude of response, coupled with modal values of restoration costs globally, would require higher carbon prices to justify investment in restoration. However, carbon prices required to fulfill the 2016 Paris climate agreement [$40 to $80 (USD) per tonne carbon dioxide equivalent] would provide an economic justification for tropical forest restoration.
AB - More than half of all tropical forests are degraded by human impacts, leaving them threatened with conversion to agricultural plantations and risking substantial biodiversity and carbon losses. Restoration could accelerate recovery of aboveground carbon density (ACD), but adoption of restoration is constrained by cost and uncertainties over effectiveness. We report a long-term comparison of ACD recovery rates between naturally regenerating and actively restored logged tropical forests. Restoration enhanced decadal ACD recovery by more than 50%, from 2.9 to 4.4 megagrams per hectare per year. This magnitude of response, coupled with modal values of restoration costs globally, would require higher carbon prices to justify investment in restoration. However, carbon prices required to fulfill the 2016 Paris climate agreement [$40 to $80 (USD) per tonne carbon dioxide equivalent] would provide an economic justification for tropical forest restoration.
UR - http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/369/6505/838?ijkey=bKiu9UWwnogK.&keytype=ref&siteid=sci
UR - http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/369/6505/838?ijkey=bKiu9UWwnogK.&keytype=ref&siteid=sci
UR - http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/369/6505/838?ijkey=bKiu9UWwnogK.&keytype=ref&siteid=sci
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089468296&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.aay4490
DO - 10.1126/science.aay4490
M3 - Article
C2 - 32792397
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 369
SP - 838
EP - 841
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6505
ER -
