Very little is known about the biogeochemical cycling of tropical montane cloud forest systems. Despite their high levels of diversity and large below-ground carbon stocks, these communities have remained understudied. ABERG has been investigating both carbon and nutrient cycling within the tropical Andes to understand inferences for ecosystem ecology, species distributions, and implications for regional and global carbon cycling. Major contributors to the ABERG biogeochemical analyses have been Michael Zimmerman (James Cook University), Luis Aragao (University of Exeter), Yadvinder Malhi (Oxford), Cecile Girardin (Oxford), and Adam Gibbon (Oxford).

Carbon Storage and Cycling

Strategies for mitigating climate change provide potential funding mechanisms for biodiversity conservation. Tropical montane cloud forests and particularly the high-altitude puna serve to sequester significant carbon both above and below ground. Some research highlights of ABERG’s work in this field include: