The soil in high-elevation, cooler, drier tropical forests in the Colombian Andes stores more carbon from fires than lower, warmer regions, new research shows.
The soil in high-elevation, cooler, drier tropical forests in the Colombian Andes stores more carbon from fires than lower, warmer regions, new research shows.
Scientists investigated the long-term impact of fire on Andean forest soils, finding that carbon from fires – known as pyrogenic carbon (PyC) – varies greatly across Colombia’s lowlands and Andean mountains.
They analysed soil samples from 36 plots across different elevations and land-use types, including lowland, mid-elevation, and High Andean forests.
They found that – while overall soil organic carbon (SOC) is substantial in Andean forests – High Andean forests had PyC stocks nine to ten times higher than those in the warmer, low Andean forests and the Amazon Basin rainforest.
Read More: University of Exeter
Image: Forests and pastures near the study sites in the Colombian Andes. Credit Carmen Rosa Montes Pulido
