About The Project
Half of the Amazon’s forests may be displaced by savanna-like vegetation by the end of the century. Causes of tropical deforestation, such as cattle ranching and slash-and-burn agriculture, contributes one fifth of the average annual global emissions of carbon to the atmosphere. The savannization of even 10% of what remains of the Amazon could provoke net carbon emissions to the atmosphere of several billion tons with potentially substantial impacts on regional evapotranspiration and rainfall.
Interactions Between Climate, Forests, and Land Use in the Amazon Basin: Modeling and Mitigating Large Scale Savannization is a project funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and involves the efforts of scientists and researchers from around the world.
The purpose of the project is to
predict how land-cover along with
changes in climate will affect the
composition, structure, and functioning
of the Amazonian ecosystem over
the next century. Using a combination
of terrestrial models and field
measurements, researchers will discover
the role of land-cover change and
climate in driving savannization
of the Amazon and determine forest
sensitivity to associated changes
in climate, carbon flux, and hydrology.
Contact Information:
Erin Sullivan