Study
Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink
Brienen, R. J. W.; Phillips, O. L.; Feldpausch, T. R.; Gloor, E.; Baker, T. R.; Lloyd, J.; Lopez-Gonzalez, G.; Monteagudo-Mendoza, A.; Malhi, Y.; Lewis, S. L.
Nature, 2015
Tagged trees in long-term Amazonian plots were re-measured over about thirty years, and growth and mortality were tracked separately so that changes in uptake could be distinguished from changes in loss.
- Sample size
- 321 forest plots monitored over three decadesRepeated censuses of tagged trees across Amazonia.
Tree growth rose over the period, but mortality rose faster and earlier, so the net sink fell by about a third from its peak. Trees were growing more and dying sooner.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The Amazon carbon sink has been in long-term decline, driven by rising tree mortality rather than by falling growth.
How NatureHQ reads it
The clearest demonstration that a carbon sink is a balance rather than a substance. Faster growth is easy to read as more carbon captured, and here it came with shorter lives, which returned carbon sooner; the second effect was larger. Any account of what a forest does to carbon that measures only uptake will get the sign of the change wrong.
- Plot networks are unevenly distributed and under-sample some forest types.
- Identifies the pattern more confidently than its cause.
- Above-ground biomass in mature forest; soil and root carbon are not directly measured.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Nature PortfolioPublished in a Nature Portfolio journal.
Checked by an editor on 2026-08-30.
A note on this reference: Searching the catalogues for this paper turned up a news item about it rather than the paper itself, so our automatic check would not confirm it. Looking the reference number up directly returns exactly this paper: Nature, 2015, first author Brienen. An editor has confirmed it.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-30.