Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests

An analysis of 45 forest sites and 1,500 plots in the Neotropics reveals that secondary forests are highly productive, with an average biomass recovery of 122 Mg/ha after 20 years and a median recovery time of 66 years to reach 90% of old-growth levels. Recovery rates are strongly influenced by water availability, with the highest potential in humid tropical lowland areas and the lowest in seasonally dry forest regions.

• Secondary forests in the Neotropics exhibit high productivity and resilience, with an average aboveground biomass recovery of 122 megagrams per hectare (Mg/ha) after 20 years. This represents a net carbon uptake of 3.05 Mg C/ha/yr, which is 11 times the uptake rate observed in old-growth forests.
• The median time required for aboveground biomass stocks to recover to 90% of the values found in old-growth forests is 66 years.
• Biomass recovery after 20 years varies significantly across sites (between 20 and 225 Mg/ha) and is positively correlated with water availability, specifically higher local rainfall and lower climatic water deficit.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/biomass-resilience-of-neotropical-secondary-forests/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/biomass-resilience-of-neotropical-secondary-forests/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests |date=13 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/biomass-resilience-of-neotropical-secondary-forests/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025biomass, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/biomass-resilience-of-neotropical-secondary-forests/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }