AmazonFACE Project:
Scientists in Brazil have launched the AmazonFACE Project near Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon.
- It is a field experiment that exposes mature tropical trees to projected future CO2 concentrations in an old-growth Amazon forest stand located near Manaus, Brazil.
- This is the first experiment in a natural forest of this size in the tropics.
- The project uses Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) technology to increase understanding of the functioning of the world’s largest tropical forest in light of climate change.
- Six rings of steel towers loom above the jungle canopy, each surrounding groups of 50 to 70 mature trees.
- Scientists will fumigate trees in three of the rings with carbon dioxide at levels simulating climate forecasts for coming decades, while the rest serve as control samples.
- Sensors record the forest’s response to changing conditions like absorption of carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapor release in response to rain, storms and sunshine every 10 minutes.
- Supported by: The project is supported by Brazil’s federal government and the United Kingdom.
