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Land-use change occurs nowhere more rapidly than in the tropics, where the
imbalance between deforestation and forest regrowth has large consequences
for the global carbon cycle1. However, considerable uncertainty remains
about the rate of biomass recovery in secondary forests, and how these
rates are influenced by climate, landscape, and prior land use2, 3, 4.
Here we analyse aboveground biomass recovery during secondary succession
in 45 forest sites and about 1,500 forest plots covering the major
environmental gradients in the Neotropics. The studied secondary forests
are highly productive and resilient. Aboveground biomass recovery after 20
years was on average 122 megagrams per hectare (Mg ha−1), corresponding to
a net carbon uptake of 3.05 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, 11 times the uptake rate of
old-growth forests. Aboveground biomass stocks took a median time of 66
years to recover to 90% of old-growth values. Aboveground biomass recovery
after 20 years varied 11.3-fold (from 20 to 225 Mg ha−1) across sites, and
this recovery increased with water availability (higher local rainfall and
lower climatic water deficit). We present a biomass recovery map of Latin
America, which illustrates geographical and climatic variation in carbon
sequestration potential during forest regrowth. The map will support
policies to minimize forest loss in areas where biomass resilience is
naturally low (such as seasonally dry forest regions) and promote forest
regeneration and restoration in humid tropical lowland areas with high
biomass resilience.
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