Abstract
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia is a significant source of greenhouse gases today and, with almost 90% of the originally forested area still uncleared, is a very large potential source of future emissions. The 1990 rate of loss of forest (13.8 × 103 km2/year) and cerrado savanna (approximately 5 × 103 km2/year) was responsible for releasing approximately 261 × 106 metric tons of carbon (106 t C) in the form of CO2, or 274–285 × 106 t of CO2-equivalent C considering IPCC 1994 global warming potentials for trace gases over a 100-year horizon. These calculations consider conversion to a landscape of agriculture, productive pasture, degraded pasture, secondary forest, and regenerated forest in the proportions corresponding to the equilibrium condition implied by current land-use patterns. Emissions are expressed as ‘net committed emissions’, or the gases released over a period of years as the carbon stock in each hectare deforested approaches a new equilibrium in the landscape that replaces the original forest. For low and high trace gas scenarios, respectively, 1990 clearing produced net committed emissions (in 106 t of gas) of 957–958 for CO2, 1.10–1.42 for CH4, 28–35 for CO, 0.06–0.16 for N2O, 0.74–0.74 for NOx and 0.58–1.16 for non-methane hydrocarbons.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahuja, D. R.: 1990, ‘Regional Anthropogenic Emissions of Greenhouse Gases’, in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Response Strategies Working Group (RSWG), Subgroup on Agriculture, Forestry and other Human Activities (AFOS), Proceedings of the Conference on Tropical Forestry Response Options to Global Climate Change, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy Assessment (USEPA-OPA, PM221), Washington, DC, pp. 417-461.
Albritton, D. L., Derwent, R. G., Isaksen, I. S. A., Lal, M., and Wuebbles, D. J.: 1995, ‘Trace Gas Radiative Forcing Indices’, in Houghton, J. T., Meira Filho, L. G., Bruce, J., Hoesung Lee, Callander, B. A., Haites, E., Harris N., and Maskell, K. (eds.), Climate Change 1994: Radiative Forcing of Climate Change and An Evaluation of the IPCC IS92 Emission Scenarios, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 205-231.
Andreae, M. O., Browell, E. V., Garstang, M., Gregory, G. L., Harriss, R. C., Hill, G. F., Jacob, D. J., Pereira, M. C., Sachse, G. W., Setzer, A. W., Silva Dias, P. L., Talbot, R. W., Torres, A. L., and Wofsy, S. C.: 1988, ‘Biomass-Burning Emissions and Associated Haze Layers over Amazonia’, J. Geophys. Res. 93(D2), 1509-1527.
Bandeira, A. G. and Macambira, M. L. J.: 1988, ‘Térmitas de Carajás, Estado do Pará, Brasil: Composição faunística, distribuição e hábito alimentar’, Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi: Zoologia 4(2), 175-190.
Barbosa, R. I.: 1994, Efeito Estufa na Amazônia: Estimativa da Biomassa e a Quantificação do Estoque e Liberação de Carbono na Queima de Pastagens Convertidas de Florestas Tropicais em Roraima, Brasil, Masters thesis in ecology, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) and Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, Brazil.
Bogdonoff, P., Detwiler, R. P., and Hall, C. A. S.: 1985, ‘Land Use Change and Carbon Exchange in the Tropics: III. Structure, Basic Equations, and Sensitivity Analysis of the Model’, Environ. Manage. 9(4),: 345-354.
Brazil, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) and Instituto Brasileiro de Desenvolvimento Florestal (IBDF): 1988, Mapa de Vegetação do Brasil, Map Scale 1:5,000,000, IBAMA, Brasilia.
Brazil, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE): 1992, Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia. INPE, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, p. 3.
Brazil, Ministério das Minas e Energia, Centrais Elétricas do Brasil (ELETROBRÁS): 1987, Plano 2010: Relatório Geral. Plano Nacional de Energia Elétrica 1987/2010. (Dezembro de 1987). ELETROBRÁS, Brasilia.
Brazil, Ministério das Minas e Energia, Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral (DNPM), Projeto RADAMBRASIL: 1973–1983, Levantamento de Recursos Naturais, Vols. 1–23, DNPM, Rio de Janeiro.
Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: 1982, ‘The Storage and Production of Organic Matter in Tropical Forests and Their Role in the Global Carbon Cycle’, Biotropica 14(3), 161-187.
Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: 1984, ‘Biomass of Tropical Forests: A New Estimate Based on Forest Volumes’, Science 223, 1290-1293.
Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: 1992, ‘Aboveground Biomass Estimates for Tropical Moist Forests of the Brazilian Amazon’, Interciencia 17(1), 8-18.
Brown, S., Gillespie, A. J. R., and Lugo, A. E.: 1989, ‘Biomass Estimation Methods for Tropical Forests with Applications to Forest Inventory Data’, For. Sci. 35(4), 881-902.
Buschbacher, R. J.: 1984, Changes in Productivity and Nutrient Cycling following Conversion of Amazon Rainforest to Pasture, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
Cerri, C. C., Volkoff, B., and Andreux, F.: 1991, ‘Nature and Behaviour of Organic Matter in Soils Under Natural Forest, and After Deforestation, Burning and Cultivation, Near Manaus’, For. Ecol. Manage. 38, 247-257.
Cofer, W. R., Levine, J. S., Riggan, P. H., Sebacher, D. I., Winstead, E. L., Shaw, E. F., Brass, J. A., and Ambrosia, V. G.: 1988, ‘Trace Gas Emissions From a Mid-Latitude Prescribed Chaparral Fire’, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 1653-1658.
Collins, N. M. and Wood, T. G.: 1984, ‘Termites and Atmospheric Gas Production’, Science 224, 84-85.
Crutzen, P. J. and Andreae, M. O.: 1990, ‘Biomass Burning in the Tropics: Impact on Atmospheric Chemistry and Biogeochemical Cycles’, Science 250, 1669-1678.
Crutzen, P. J., Aselmann, I., and Seiler, W.: 1986, ‘Methane Production by Domestic Animals, Wild Ruminants, Other Herbivorous Fauna, and Humans’, Tellus 38B, 271-284.
Crutzen, P. J., Delany, A. C., Greenberg, J., Haagenson, P., Heidt, L., Lueb, R., Pollock, W., Seiler, W., Wartburg, A., and Zimmerman, P.: 1985, ‘Tropospheric Chemical Composition Measurements in Brazil During the Dry Season’, J. Atm. Chem. 2, 233-256.
Cunningham, R. H.: 1963, ‘The Effect of Clearing a Tropical Forest Soil’, J. Soil Sci. 14, 334-344.
Desjardins, T., Andreux, F., Volkoff, B., and Cerri, C. C.: 1994, ‘Organic Carbon and 13C Contents in Soils and Soil Size-Fractions, and Their Changes Due to Deforestation and Pasture Installation in Eastern Amazonia’, Geoderma 61, 103-118.
Detwiler, R. P.: 1986, ‘Land Use Change and the Global Carbon Cycle: The Role of Tropical Soils’, Biogeochem. 2, 67-93.
Detwiler, R. P. and Hall, C. A. S.: 1988, ‘Tropical Forests and the Global Carbon Cycle’, Science 239, 42-47.
Devol, A. H., Richey, J. H., Forsberg, B. R., and Martinelli, L. A.: 1990, ‘Seasonal Dynamics in Methane Emissions From the Amazon River Floodplain to the Troposphere’, J. Geophys. Res. 95(D10): 16,417-16,426.
Dickinson, R. E. and Henderson-Sellers, A.: 1988, ‘Modelling Tropical Deforestation: A Study of GCM Land-Surface Parameterizations’, Quar. J. Royal Meteorolog. Soc. 114, 439-462.
dos Santos, J.R.: 1989, ‘Estimativa da biomassa foliar das savanas brasileiras: Uma abordagem por sensoriamento remoto’, in IV Simpósio Latinamericano en Percepción Remota, IX Reunión plenaria SELPER, 19 al 24 de noviembre de 1989, Bariloche, Argentina. Tomo 1, pp. 190-199.
Falesi, I. C.: 1976, Ecossistema de Pastagem Cultivada na Amazônia Brasileira, Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Trópico Úmido (CPATU), Belém, Para.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1979, ‘Cattle Yield Prediction for the Transamazon Highway of Brazil’, Interciencia 4(4), 220-225.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1980, ‘The Effects of Cattle Pasture on Soil Fertility in the Brazilian Amazon: Consequences for Beef Production Sustainability’, Trop. Ecol. 21(1), 125-137.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1985, ‘Brazil's Amazon Forest and the Global Carbon Problem’, Interciencia 10(4), 179-186.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1987, ‘Summary of Progress in Quantifying the Potential Contribution of Amazonian Deforestation to the Global Carbon Problem’, in Athié, D., Lovejoy, T. E., and Oyens, P. de M., (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Biogeochemistry of Tropical Rain Forests: Problems for Research, Universidade de São Paulo, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA), Piracicaba, São Paulo, pp. 75-82.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1989a, ‘Brazil's Balbina Dam: Environment Versus the Legacy of the Pharaohs in Amazonia’, Environ. Manage. 13(4), 401-423.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1989b, A Ocupação Humana de Rondônia: Impactos, Limites e Planejamento (CNPq Relatórios de Pesquisa No. 5), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brasilia.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1990, ‘The Rate and Extent of Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia’, Environ. Cons. 17(3), 213-216.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1991, ‘Greenhouse Gas Contributions from Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia’, in Levine, J. S. (ed.), Global Biomass Burning: Atmospheric, Climatic, and Biospheric Implications, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 92-105.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1992a, Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, Carbon Emissions and Sequestration in Forests: Case Studies from Developing Countries, Volume 2, LBL-32758, UC-402, Climate Change Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC and Energy and Environment Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL), University of California (UC), Berkeley, CA.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1992b, ‘Forest Biomass in Brazilian Amazonia: Comments on the Estimate by Brown and Lugo’, Interciencia 17(1), 19-27.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1993a, ‘Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: The Effect of Population and Land Tenure’, Ambio 22(8), 537-545.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1993b, ‘Desmatamento na Amazônia: Quem tem razão-o INPE ou a NASA?’, Ciência Hoje 16(96), 6-8.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1993c, ‘Biomass of Brazil's Amazonian Forests: Reply to Brown and Lugo Revisited’, Interciencia 18(1), 5-7.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1995a, ‘Global Warming Response Options in Brazil's Forest Sector: Comparison of Project-Level Costs and Benefits’, Biomass Bioenergy 8(5), 309-322.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1995b, ‘Potential Impacts of Climatic Change on Natural Forests and Forestry in Brazilian Amazonia’, For. Ecol. Manage. 78, 51-70.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1995c, ‘Hydroelectric Dams in the Brazilian Amazon as Sources of Greenhouse Gases’, Environ. Cons. 22(1), 7-19.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1996a, ‘Biomass of Brazil's Amazonian Forests’ (in preparation).
Fearnside, P. M.: 1996b, ‘Amazonian Deforestation and Global Warming: Carbon Stocks in Vegetation Replacing Brazil's Amazon Forest’, For. Ecol. Manage 80, 21-34.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1996c, ‘Tropical Forest Logging and Management: Implications for Global Warming’ (in preparation).
Fearnside, P. M.: 1996d, ‘Amazonia and Global Warming: Annual Balance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Land-Use Change in Brazil's Amazon Region’, in Levine, J. (ed.), Biomass Burning and Global Change, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (in press).
Fearnside, P. M. and Ferraz, J.: 1995, ‘A Conservation Gap Analysis of Brazil's Amazonian Vegetation’, Cons. Biol. 9(5), 1134-1147.
Fearnside, P. M. and Guimarães, W. M.: 1996, ‘Carbon Uptake by Secondary Forests in Brazilian Amazonia’, For. Ecol. Manage 80, 35-46.
Fearnside, P. M., Tardin, A. T., and Meira Filho, L. G.: 1990, Deforestation Rate in Brazilian Amazonia, Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), São José dos Campos, São Paulo, p. 8.
Fearnside, P. M., Leal Filho, N., and Fernandes, F. M.: 1993, ‘Rainforest Burning and the Global Carbon Budget: Biomass, Combustion Efficiency and Charcoal Formation in the Brazilian Amazon’, J. Geophys. Res. 98(D9), 16,733-16,743.
Fearnside, P. M., Leal Filho, N., Graça, P. M. L. A., Ferreira, G. L., Custodio, R. A., and Rodrigues, F. J. A.: 1996a, ‘Pasture Biomass and Productivity in Brazilian Amazonia’ (in preparation).
Fearnside, P. M., Graça, P. M. L. A., Leal Filho, N., Rodrigues, F. J. A., and Robinson, J. M.: 1996a, ‘Tropical Forest Burning in Brazilian Amazonia: Measurements of Biomass, Burning Efficiency and Charcoal Formation at Altamira, Pará’ (in preparation).
Fearnside, P. M., Barbosa, R. I., and Graça, P. M. L. A.: 1996c, ‘Burning of Secondary Forest in Amazonia: Biomass, Burning Efficiency and Charcoal Formation during Land Preparation for Agriculture in Roraima, Brazil’ (in preparation).
Fearnside, P. M., Graça, P. M. L. A., and Rodrigues, F. J. A.: 1996d, ‘Biomass, Combustion Efficiency and Charcoal Formation in Amazonia: Measurements in a Rainforest Burn near Manaus, Brazil’ (in preparation).
Fraser, P. J., Rasmussen, R. A., Creffield, J. W., French, J. R., and Khalil, M. A. K.: 1986, ‘Termites and Global Methane -- Another Assessment’, J. Atmos. Chem. 4, 295-310.
Glerum, B. B.: 1960, ‘Report to the Government of Brazil on a Forestry Inventory in the Amazon Valley (Part Five) (Region between Rio Caete and Rio Maracassume)’, FAO Report No. 1250, Project No. BRA/FO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, p. 67.
Goreau, T. J. and de Mello, W. Z.: 1987, ‘Effects of Deforestation on Sources and Sinks of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, and Methane from Central Amazonian Soils and Biota During the Dry Season: A Preliminary Study’, in Athié, D., Lovejoy, T. E., and Oyens, P. de M., (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Biogeochemistry of Tropical Rain Forests: Problems for Research, Universidade de São Paulo, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA), Piracicaba, São Paulo, pp. 51-66.
Goudriaan, J. and Ketner, P.: 1984, ‘A Simulation Study for the Global Carbon Cycle, Including Man's Impact on the Biosphere’, Clim. Change 6, 167-192.
Greenberg, J. P., Zimmerman, P. R., Heidt, L., and Pollock, W.: 1984, ‘Hydrocarbon and Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Biomass Burning in Brazil’, J. Geophys. Res. 89(D1), 1350-1354.
Guimarães, W. M.: 1993, Capoeira em Pastagens Degradadas e o Efeito Estufa: Quantificação do Papel da Vegetação Secundária no Balanço de Carbono Resultante do Desmatamento na Amazônia Brasileira, Masters thesis, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia/Fundação Universidade do Amazonas (INPA/FUA), Manaus.
Hall, C. A. S. and Uhlig, J.: 1991, ‘Refining Estimates of Carbon Released from Tropical Land-Use Change’, Can. J. For. Res. 21, 118-131.
Hecht, S. B.: 1981, ‘Deforestation in the Amazon Basin: Magnitude, Dynamics, and Soil Resource Effects’, Stud. Third World Soc. 13, 61-108.
Heinsdijk, D.: 1957, ‘Report to the Government of Brazil on a Forest Inventory in the Amazon Valley (Region between Rio Tapajós and Rio Xingú)’, FAO Report No. 601, Project No. BRA/FO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, p. 135.
Heinsdijk, D.: 1958a, ‘Report to the Government of Brazil on a Forestry Inventory in the Amazon Valley (Part Two) (Region between Rio Xingú and Rio Tocantins)’, FAO Report No. 949, Project No. BRA/FO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, p. 83.
Heinsdijk, D.: 1958b, ‘Report to the Government of Brazil on a Forest Inventory in the Amazon Valley (Part Three) (Region between Rio Tapajós and Rio Madeira)’, FAO Report No. 969, Project No. BRA/FO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, p. 72.
Heinsdijk, D.: 1958c, ‘Report to the Government of Brazil on a Forest Inventory in the Amazon Valley (Part Four) (Region between Rio Tocantins and Rios Guamá and Capim)’, FAO Report No. 992, Project No. BRA/FO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, p. 94.
Houghton, J. T., Callander, B. A., and Varney, S. K. (eds.): 1992, Climate Change 1992: The Supplementary Report to the IPCC Scientific Assessment, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Houghton, J. T., Jenkins, G. J., and Ephraums, J. J. (eds.): 1990, Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Houghton, R. A.: 1991, ‘Tropical Deforestation and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide’, Clim. Change 19(1–2), 99-118.
Jeffers, J. N. R.: 1978, An Introduction to Systems Analysis: With Ecological Applications, Arnold, London.
Junk, W. J. and Nunes de Mello, J. A. S.: 1987, ‘Impactos ecológicos das represas hidrelétricas na bacia amazônica brasileira’, in Kohlhepp, G. and Schrader, A. (eds.), Homem e Natureza na Amazônia, Tübinger Geographische Studien 95 (Tübinger Beiträge zur Geographischen Lateinamerika-Forschung 3), Geographisches Institut, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, pp. 367-385.
Kaplan, W. A., Wofsy, S. C., Keller, M., and da Costa, J. M.: 1988, ‘Emission of NO and Deposition of O3 in a Tropical Forest System’, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 1389-1395.
Kauffman, J. B., Cummings, D. L., Ward, D. E., and Babbitt, R.: 1995, ‘Fire in the Brazilian Amazon: Biomass, Nutrient Pools, and Losses in Slashed Primary Forests’, Oecologia 104, 397-408.
Kaufman, Y. J., Setzer, A. W., Justice, C., Tucker, C. J., Pereira, M. G., and Fung, I.: 1990, ‘Remote Sensing of Biomass Burning in the Tropics’, in Goldammer, J. G. (ed.), Fire in the Tropical Biota: Ecosystem Processes and Global Challenges, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, pp. 371-399.
Keller, M., Jacob, D. J., Wofsy, S. C., and Harriss, R. C.: 1991, ‘Effects of Tropical Deforestation on Global and Regional Atmospheric Chemistry’, Clim. Change 19(1–2), 139-158.
Keller, M., Kaplan, W. A., and Wofsy, S. C.: 1986, ‘Emissions of N2O, CH4 and CO2 from Tropical Forest Soils’, J. Geophys. Res. 91, 11,791-11,802.
Keller, M., Veldkamp, E., Weltz, A.M., and Reiners, W.: 1993, ‘Effect of Pasture Age on Soil Trace-Gas Emissions from a Deforested Area of Costa Rica’, Nature 365, 244-246.
Klink, C. A., Macedo, R. H., and Mueller, C. C.: 1994, Cerrado: Processo de Ocupação e Implicações para a Conservação e Utilização da sua Diversidade Biológica, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Brasil, Brasilia.
Kuhlbusch, T. A. J. and Crutzen, P. J.: 1995, ‘Toward a Global Estimate of Black Carbon in Residues of Vegetation Fires Representing a Sink of Atmospheric CO2 and a Source of O2’, Global Biogeochem. Cycles (in press).
Lugo, A. E., Sanchez, M. M., and Brown, S.: 1986, ‘Land Use and Organic Carbon Content of Some Subtropical Soils’, Plant and Soil 96, 185-196.
Luizão, F., Matson, P., Livingston, G., Luizão, R., and Vitousek, P.: 1989, ‘Nitrous Oxide Flux Following Tropical Land Clearing’, Global Biogeochem. Cycles 3, 281-285.
Makundi, W. R., Sathaye, J. A., and Masera, O.: 1992, Summary, Carbon Emissions and Sequestration in Forests: Case Studies from Developing Countries, Volume 1, LBL-32758, UC-402, Climate Change Division, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, DC and Energy and Environment Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL), University of california (UC), Berkeley, CA.
Martius, C.: 1989, Untersuchungen zur Ökologie des Holzabbaus durch Termiten (Isoptera) in zentralamazonischen Überschwemmunsgswäldem (Várzea), AFRAA-Verlag, Frankfurt, Germany.
Martius, C., Fearnside, P. M., Bandeira, A. G., and Wassmann, R.: 1996, ‘Deforestation and Methane Release from Termites in Amazonia’, Chemosphere 33, 517-536.
Martius, C., Wassmann, R., Thein, U., Bandeira, A., Rennenberg, H., Junk, W., and Seiler, W.: 1993, ‘Methane Emissions from Wood-Feeding Termites in Amazonia’, Chemosphere 26(1–4), 623-632.
Mooney, H. A., Vitousek, P. M., and Matson, P. A.: 1987, ‘Exchange of Materials between Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Atmosphere’, Science 238, 926-932.
Muzio, L. J. and Kramlich, J. C.: 1988, ‘An Artifact in the Measurement of N2O from Combustion Sources’, Geophys. Res. Lett. 15, 1369-1372.
Nepstad, D. C., de Carvalho, C. R., Davidson, E. A., Jipp, P. H., Lefebvre, P. A., Negreiros, G. H., da Silva, E. D., Stone, T. A., Trumbore, S. E., and Vieira, S.: 1994, ‘The Role of Deep Roots in the Hydrological and Carbon Cycles of Amazonian Forests and Pastures’, Nature 372, 666-669.
Nye, P. H. and Greenland, D. J.: 1960, The Soil Under Shifting Cultivation, Technical Comunication No. 51, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux of Soils, Harpenden, UK.
Post, W. M., Emanuel, W. R., Zinke, P. J., and Strangenberger, A. G.: 1982, ‘Soil Carbon Pools and World Life Zones’, Nature 298, 156-159.
Rasmussen, R.A. and Khalil, M.A.K.: 1988, ‘Global Production of Methane by Termites’, Nature 301, 700-702.
Rasmussen, R.A. and Khalil, M.A.K.: 1988, ‘Isoprene over the Amazon Basin’, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 1417-1421.
Revilla Cardenas, J. D., Kahn, F. L., and Guillaumet, J. L.: 1982, ‘Estimativa da Fitomassa do Reservatório da UHE de Tucuruí’, in Brazil, Presidência da República, Ministério das Minas e Energia, Centrais Elétricas do Norte S.A. (ELETRONORTE) and Brazil, Secretaria do Planejamento, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (SEPLAN-CNPq-INPA), Projeto Tucuruí, Relatório Semestral Jan.-Jun. 1982, Vol. 2: Limnologia, Macrófitas, Fitomassa, Degradação de Fitomassa, Doenças Endêmicas, Solos, INPA, Manaus, Amazonas, 1-11.
Richey, J. E., Brock, J. T., Naiman, R. J., Wissmar, R. C., and Stallard, R. R.: 1980, ‘Organic Carbon: Oxidation and Transport in the Amazon River’, Science 207, 1348-1351.
Saldarriaga, J. G., West, D. C., and Tharp, M. L.: 1986, Forest Succession in the Upper Rio Negro of Colombia and Venezuela, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Publication No. 2694, ORNL/TM-9712, National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA.
Seiler, W. and Crutzen, P. J.: 1980, ‘Estimates of Gross and Net Fluxes of Carbon between the Biosphere and the Atmosphere from Biomass Burning’, Clim. Change 2, 207-247.
Seiler, W., Conrad, R., and Scharffe, D.: 1984, ‘Field Studies of Methane Emission from Termite Nests into the Atmosphere and Measurements of Methane Uptake by Tropical Soils’, J. Atmos. Chem. 1, 171-186.
Shine, K. P., Derwent, R. G., Wuebbles, D. J., and Morcrette, J-J.: 1990, ‘Radiative Forcing of Climate’, in Houghton, J. T., Jenkins, G. J., and Ephraums, J. J. (eds.) Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 41-68.
Skole, D. and Tucker, C.: 1993. ‘Tropical Deforestation and Habitat Fragmentation in the Amazon: Satellite Data from 1978 to 1988’, Science 260, 1905-1910.
Shukla, J., Nobre, C., and Sellers, P.: 1990, ‘Amazon Deforestation and Climate Change’, Science 247, 1322-1325.
Thompson, A. M. and Cicerone, R. J.: 1986, ‘Possible Perturbations to Atmospheric CO, CH4, and OH’, J. Geophys. Res. 91(D10), 10,853-10,864.
Trumbore, S. E., Davidson, E. A., de Camargo, P. B., Nepstad, D. C., and Martinelli, L. A.: 1995. ‘Belowground Cycling of Carbon in Forests and Pastures of Eastern Amazonia’, Global Biogeochem. Cycles 9, 515-528.
Uhl, C. and Saldarriaga, J.: 1984, ‘The Disappearance of Wood Mass Following Slash and Burn Agriculture in the Venezuelan Amazon’ (manuscript).
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Programme (UNESCO)/ United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/ Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO): 1978, Tropical Forest Ecosystems: A State of Knowledge Report, UNESCO, Paris.
Veldkamp, E.: 1993, Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics in Pastures Established after Deforestation in the Humid Tropics of Costa Rica, Ph.D. Dissertation, Agricultural University Wageningen, Wageningen, The Netherlands, p. 117.
Vermeer, D. E.: 1970, ‘Population Pressure and Crop Rotational Changes Among the Tiv of Nigeria’, Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers 60, 299-314.
Ward, D. E.: 1986, Field Scale Measurements of Emission from Open Fires, Technical Paper presented at the Defense Nuclear Agency Global Effects Review, Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, DC.
Ward, D. E. and Hardy, C. C.: 1984, Advances in the Characterization and Control of Emissions from Prescribed Fires, Paper presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Air Pollution Control Association, San Francisco, CA.
Wood, T. G., Johnson, R. A., and Ohiagu, C.: 1977, ‘Populations of Termites (Isoptera) in Natural and Agricultural Ecosystems in Southern Guinea Savanna near Mokwa, Nigeria’, in Malaisse, F. (ed.), Structure, Fonctionnement et Amenagement d'Ecosystemes Tropicaux (Geo-Eco-Trop Vol. 1,No. 2), Faculté des Sciences, Université Nationale du Zaīre, Lubumbashi, Zaīre, pp. 139-148.
Zimmerman, P. R., Greenberg, J. P., and Darlington, J. P. E. C.: 1984, ‘Termites and Atmospheric Gas Production’, Science 224, 86.
Zimmerman, P. R., Greenberg, J. P., Wandiga, S. O., and Crutzen, P. J.: 1982, ‘Termites: A Potentially Large Source of Atmospheric Methane, Carbon Dioxide, and Molecular Hydrogen’, Science 218, 563-565.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fearnside, P.M. GREENHOUSE GASES FROM DEFORESTATION IN BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA: NET COMMITTED EMISSIONS. Climatic Change 35, 321–360 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005336724350
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005336724350