In News:

• The AmazonFACE Project, launched near Manaus, Brazil, is a pioneering climate research experiment designed to study how the Amazon rainforest—the world’s largest tropical forest—responds to future elevated CO? levels. The initiative is significant as Brazil prepares to host COP30 in Belém.
• It is the first experiment of its scale in a natural tropical forest, marking a major advancement in global climate science.

What is AmazonFACE?

• A long-term field experiment exposing mature tropical trees to projected future CO? concentrations.
• Located in an old-growth Amazon forest stand.
• Aims to understand how increased atmospheric carbon affects forest functioning, carbon cycling, water exchange and overall ecosystem resilience.

Technology Used: FACE

FACE (Free-Air CO? Enrichment) technology:

• Releases controlled amounts of CO? into open-air forest environments.
• Allows real-time assessment of how trees respond without disturbing natural forest structure.
• Previously used in temperate biomes, but AmazonFACE is the first large-scale FACE experiment in tropical forests.

Structure & Working

• The site contains six large steel-ring towers, each enclosing 50–70 mature trees.
• Three rings are fumigated with CO? at concentrations matching climate projections for 2050–2060.
• Three rings act as control plots.
• Sensors record data every 10 minutes, including:
  • CO? absorption
  • Oxygen and water vapour release
  • Responses to rainfall, sunlight, and storms
• Later stages will simulate artificial microclimates with higher atmospheric CO?.

Institutional Support

• Led by INPA (National Institute for Amazon Research) and Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
• Supported by the Brazilian federal government and the United Kingdom.

Significance

• Helps model the future behaviour of the Amazon under climate stress.
• Provides insights into:
  • Carbon sequestration capacity
  • Forest growth patterns
  • Water cycle feedbacks
  • Potential ecosystem tipping points
• Critical for global climate policymaking, especially ahead of COP30, where adaptation and mitigation strategies for the Amazon biome will be central.