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Contrasting effects of climate and CO 2 on Amazonian ecosystems since the last glacial maximum
Author(s) -
BEERLING DAVID J.,
MAYLE FRANCIS E.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01228.x
Subject(s) - biome , glacial period , last glacial maximum , amazonian , ecosystem , climate change , amazon rainforest , environmental science , physical geography , ecology , geography , geology , geomorphology , biology
The nature of Amazonian ecosystem responses to the large‐scale environmental changes characterizing glacial–interglacial cycles is poorly understood. We investigated this issue with a series of transient, continuous 21 000‐year simulations using a dynamic process‐based ecosystem model. Our results indicate that the Amazon Basin has been dominated by evergreen rain forests since the last glacial maximum (LGM), demonstrating the resilience of this ecosystem to glacial–interglacial environmental change. We find that biome shifts in ecotonal areas since the LGM were driven predominantly by climate change, while coincident, increased ecosystem carbon storage throughout the Amazon Basin was driven largely by CO 2 . Our findings imply that recent observed biomass increases in contemporary rain forest plots might be part of a long‐term trend driven by the anthropogenic rise in CO 2 over recent centuries.