Greenhouses gasses warm the Earth; tropical rainforests are vital global carbon sinks, sequestering 25% of human emissions, and mitigating climate change. Net primary productivity is the carbon sum removed by plant photosynthesis and lost through cell respiration.
Researchers collect data from a logged Malaysian rainforest; flux towers measure carbon dioxide and water vapor absorbed or emitted at different levels, showing transfers through air, plants, and soil. Hemispherical canopy image analysis aids leaf area index quantification; animal inhabitants respire, contributing to net primary productivity.
Borneo rainforest has been largely logged and converted to palm plantations; Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystem Project researches how this alters carbon transfer. They find diminished photosynthesis and additional biomass decomposition transforms ecosystems into carbon sources.
Tropical rainforests receive 80 inches of rainfall annually; canopies slow passage to ground and provide condensation surfaces. Logging reduces water vapor emitted and increases surface runoff and flood risks; palm plantations decrease, impacting weather patterns, leading to eventual droughts.
Credits: Carbon and Water Cycles in Rainforests
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Filmed in secondary Malaysian rainforest destined to become palm plantation, Carbon and Water Cycles in the Rainforest explores how land use changes impact carbon and hydrological cycles. Scientists collect data from a flux tower soaring above the canopy and from roots below soil to monitor carbon emissions and absorption at all forest levels, determining whether the ecosystem is still a carbon sink or now a carbon source.
Length: 35 minutes
Item#: BVL190165
ISBN: 978-1-64623-592-6
Copyright date: ©2018
Closed Captioned
Prices include public performance rights.
Not available to Home Video and Publisher customers.
Only available in USA and Canada.
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