Precise descriptions of forest productivity, biomass, and structure are essential for understanding ecosystem responses to climatic and anthropogenic changes. However, relations between these components are complex, in particular for tropical forests. We developed an approach to simulate carbon dynamics in the Amazon rainforest including around 410 billion individual trees within 7.8 million km.

The global uptake of carbon by land plants may be greater than previously thought, according to observations based on the enigmatic Keeling curve of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide.