The first long-term record of CO2 from ATTO

High-quality atmospheric CO2 measurements are sparse across the Amazon rainforest. Yet they are important to better understand the variability of sources and sinks of CO2. And indeed, one of the reasons ATTO was built was to obtain long-term measurements in such a critical region. Santiago Botía and his colleagues now published the first 6 years of continuous, high-precision measurements of atmospheric CO2 at ATTO.

New publication: Droughts affect leaf flushing in the Amazon

In a new study, Nathan Gonçalves and co-authors now wanted to find out if extreme climate events such as droughts influence leaf flushing, and thereby the average leaf age and photosynthetic capacity of the forest, and if is it possible to monitor more subtle changes associated with extreme events (compared to season changes) with satellites?

New Publication: rainforest VOC emissions change in El Nino years

Pfannerstill et al. compared VOC emissions at ATTO between a normal year and one characterized by a strong El Nino with severe droughts in the Amazon. The did not find large differences, except in the time of day that the plants release the VOCs. They published their results in the journal Frontiers in Forest and Global Change.