22 June 2012
New field manual for measuring carbon processes in tropical forests has been released by ECI researchers.
The recent manual - Measuring Tropical Forest Carbon Allocation and Cycling: A RAINFOR-GEM Field Manual for Intensive Census Plots (v2.2) – has been released, providing a comprehensive set of guidelines for taking measurements and field data relating to carbon stocks and fluxes across a series of intensive monitoring plots which have been set up by the RAINFOR network in Amazonia, Asia and Africa.
The RAINFOR network was set up in tropical South America in 2000-02 as a joint venture between Prof Yadvinder Malhi (Oxford) and Prof Oliver Phillips (Leeds) and a kaleidoscope of partner institutions in countries across all three main tropical zones. Similar plot networks have been initiated in tropical Africa and the techniques have now been applied to plots in tropical Asia and Australia.
The research has contributed to building local capacity by training a large number of South American, African and Southeast Asian students in specialist ecological measurement and analysis techniques. Data and is also being used in the development of the next generation of coupled atmosphere-biosphere models that will play a key role in shaping international climate policy.
The monitoring network has provided numerous PhD opportunities and research positions over the last decade with many of our Ecosystems Dynamics team involved in field work at one or more of the sites. A full account of our research activities in the Andes, including work from many of these sites, can be read from the ECI website and the new GEM website where you can see many photos of our actvities across the world.