Journal of Energy Bioscience 2024, Vol.15, No.2, 132-134 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 132 Scientific Review Open Access Comparative Study of Carbon Cycling in Tropical Forests: An Analysis of Productivity and Efficiency from West Africa to the Amazon Josselynn Feng Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572024, China Corresponding author email: josselynn.editor@gmail.com Journal of Energy Bioscience, 2024, Vol.15, No.2 doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0013 Received: 07 Mar., 2024 Accepted: 11 Apr., 2024 Published: 24 Apr., 2024 Copyright © 2024 Feng, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Feng J., 2024, Comparative study of carbon cycling in tropical forests: an analysis of productivity and efficiency from West Africa to the Amazon, Journal of Energy Bioscience, 15(2): 132-134 (doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0013) The paper "Contrasting carbon cycle along tropical forest aridity gradients in West Africa and Amazonia" was published in the journal Nature Communications on April 11, 2024, by authors Huanyuan Zhang-Zheng, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Akwasi Duah-Gyamfi, et al., from the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, Ghana, among other institutions. The research presented contrasts carbon cycle dynamics along tropical forest aridity gradients in West Africa and Amazonia. This study offers a comprehensive field assessment of carbon budgets in multiple forest sites in Africa by monitoring one-hectare plots along an aridity gradient in Ghana, compared to an equivalent gradient in Amazonia. The findings suggest notable differences in productivity and carbon use efficiency between these regions, challenging existing models that have underrepresented African tropical forests' productivity. 1 Experimental Data Analysis Key findings include: Higher Net Primary Productivity (NPP) and Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) in West African forests compared to Amazonian ones. Carbon Use Efficiency (CUE) was generally higher at medium-aridity sites, with significant differences observed between the two regions in how GPP and CUE correlate with aridity. Notable discrepancies between satellite-based and field-measured productivity data, emphasizing the need for improved modeling approaches. Graphical representations in the paper illustrate these findings, showing the stark contrasts in productivity and efficiency across the gradients studied (Figure 2). Figure 1 illustrates the geographical distribution of study sites across two distinct tropical regions, denoted by red dots. Section A represents the aridity gradient within the Amazon basin, whereas section B outlines a similar gradient in West Africa. The color scale maps the mean annual precipitation (MAP), providing a visual correlation between site location and rainfall patterns. This spatial arrangement offers a framework for comparing ecological variables across continents, factoring in the gradient of aridity and its potential influence on regional forest dynamics and productivity. Figure 2 presents biometric estimates of various carbon flux components in tropical forests, juxtaposing Amazonian and West African sites. The graph uses blue dots to represent Amazonian plots and yellow triangles for West African ones. Polynomial regression lines suggest trends in carbon flux components along an aridity gradient, ranked from wet to dry as indicated by the maximum climatological water deficit (MCWD). The error bars denote the uncertainties in these estimates. The illustrated metrics include net primary productivity (NPP), gross primary productivity (GPP), and carbon use efficiency (CUE), among others. The data underscores the differences and similarities in the carbon dynamics between the two regions, providing insight into the adaptation of forests to varying levels of water availability.
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