Tallest tree in the Amazon found by University of Cambridge researchers

[Judi Lynn]

By Paul Brackley- [e-mail]
Published: 10:12, 01 January 2020 | Updated: 10:15, 01 January 2020

Scientists have discovered a tree in the Amazon that is 30m taller than the previous record holder.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge joined an expedition to confirm the height of the Angelim vermelho (Dinizia excelsa), which proved to be an astonishing 88.5m.



The tallest tree in the Amazon. Picture: Toby Jackson

It was one of a group of giant trees found in this remote region of north-eastern Brazil and suggests the Amazon’s importance for storing carbon may be even greater than thought. Just one of these magnificent trees is thought to store as much carbon as a hectare rainforest elsewhere in the Amazon.

Toby Jackson, a plant scientist at the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute, joined the epic quest to find the tree, which had been identified using data captured by laser scanning from a plane.

The group set off by boat from Laranjal do Jari in north-eastern Brazil. In 35C heat, they headed for the community of São Francisco do Iratapuru, where villagers provided four boats and 12 people to guide them through the forest.

More:
https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/tallest-tree-in-the-amazon-found-by-university-of-cambridge-researchers-9095095/

[littlemissmartypants]

1. I love trees. Thanks, Judi Lynn. ❤ nt

[Judi Lynn]

3. They are absolutely neccessary, aren't they? We'll probably be learning a lot more about them,

and how important they are, guardians, as well as beautiful presences.

The world would be so bleak without them, and without animals.

Thanks, LMSP. 🌳🌴🌵

[Judi Lynn]

2. Researchers Find Tallest Tree in the Amazon

The tree can store as much carbon as an entire hectare of rainforest.

By Donna Fuscaldo
December 13, 2019



Atelopus/iStock

Researchers have discovered the tallest known tree in the Amazon, towering at a height of 290 feet (88.5 metres) storing as much carbon as an entire hectare of rainforest somewhere else in the Amazon.

Professor Eric Gorgens, a researcher at the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM) Brazil and a team of colleagues from Brazil, Swansea, Oxford, and Cambridge discovered a group of giant trees using a laser scanner on an aircraft. The method is known as LIDAR and relies on remote sensing.

Gigantic trees spotted on a laser scan
The discovery is important because of the role trees play in climate change.

Plants take carbon out of the atmosphere and store it. The larger the tree the more carbon it can store.

According to the researchers, whose work was published in journal The Conversation, there could be many of these huge treens in the Guiana Shield of north-eastern Amazonia. "Our discovery means that the vast jungle may be a greater carbon sink than previously thought," the researchers said in the report.

More:
https://interestingengineering.com/researchers-find-tallest-tree-in-the-amazon