Publications by authors named "Murray Collins"
Article Synopsis
- The study highlights the uncertainty in how tropical forests' carbon storage responds to climate change, particularly the effects of long-term drying and warming.
- Analysis of 590 permanent plots across the tropics finds that maximum temperature significantly reduces aboveground biomass, affecting carbon storage more in hotter forests.
- The results indicate that tropical forests have greater resilience to temperature changes than short-term studies suggest, emphasizing the need for forest protection and climate stabilization for long-term adaptation.
Article Synopsis
- Structurally intact tropical forests contributed significantly to global carbon sequestration in the 1990s and early 2000s, absorbing about 15% of human-caused CO2 emissions.
- A study comparing African and Amazonian forests found that while African forests have maintained a stable carbon sink over three decades, Amazonian forests are experiencing a long-term decline in carbon absorption due to increased tree mortality.
- Recent trends suggest a potential increase in carbon losses in African forests post-2010, indicating that both regions are facing different challenges regarding their carbon sinks and may experience declines in the future.
Article Synopsis
- Understanding how forests store carbon is important for climate change!
- Scientists studied the age of carbon in different parts of African tropical forests and found that smaller understory trees hold carbon longer than taller trees!
- This means we need to pay more attention to all parts of the forest for better conservation and carbon tracking!
Protected areas (PAs) aim to protect multiple ecosystem services. However, not all are well protected. For the first time, using published carbon and forest loss maps, we estimate carbon emissions in large forest PAs in tropical countries (N = 2018).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbove-ground biomass and structure of 260 African tropical forests.
Simon L Lewis Bonaventure Sonké Terry Sunderland Serge K Begne Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez Murray Collins
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
March 2014
We report above-ground biomass (AGB), basal area, stem density and wood mass density estimates from 260 sample plots (mean size: 1.2 ha) in intact closed-canopy tropical forests across 12 African countries. Mean AGB is 395.
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