Re: HOW MUCH CO2 DOES ONE CUBIC METER OR ACRE OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST LET OUT.

  Dear Seam Travers

It is an interesting question you ask, but I have some problems with your question.

1. You ask for CO₂ per cubic meter, which is a volume, and I only can provide areas, thus CO₂ per square meter or per hectare.
2. You ask how much the rainforest will let out. Now as nearly any other organism, plants produce CO₂. But they also consume much more CO₂ during photosynthesis. Thus overall the rainforest is a CO₂ sink. The amount of organic matter present is a measure for the CO₂ fixed.
3. The rainforest is not uniform. Thus there is no general measure, just some examples.

One typical measurement made by J. Grace was 0.05 mol per square meter per day. Putting this in a model, the annual accumulation would be around 8 mol per square meter per year or just below 2500 kg CO₂ per hectare per year.

If the rainforest is cut down and made to a pasture much less CO₂ will be fixed and additionally the CO₂ accumulated over many years is set free again.

You will find lots of detailed information on the page http://yabae.cptec.inpe.br/abracos/. You can even download the original data of their carbon dioxide measurements.

For more and up to date information please contact the scientists who have done the job:

javier@cptec.inpe.br

or

maura@cptec.inpe.br

If you are able to write in portugese - it might help.

-- 
 
Jürgen Ziesmann 

MPIV-Seewiesen 
Postfach 1564 
82305 Starnberg 
Germany