Abstract. Diffuse light conditions can increase the efficiency of photosynthesis and
carbon uptake by vegetation canopies. The diffuse fraction of
photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) can be affected by either a change
in the atmospheric aerosol burden and/or a change in cloudiness. During the
dry season, a hotspot of biomass burning on the edges of the Amazon
rainforest emits a complex mixture of aerosols and their precursors and
climate-active trace gases (e.g. CO2, CH4, NOx). This
creates potential for significant interactions between chemistry, aerosol,
cloud, radiation and the biosphere across the Amazon region. The combined
effects of biomass burning on the terrestrial carbon cycle for the
present day are potentially large, yet poorly quantified. Here, we quantify
such effects using the Met Office Hadley Centre Earth system model
HadGEM2-ES, which provides a fully coupled framework with interactive aerosol, radiative
transfer, dynamic vegetation, atmospheric chemistry and biogenic volatile
organic compound emission components. Results show that for present day,
defined as year 2000 climate, the overall net impact of biomass burning
aerosols is to increase net primary productivity (NPP) by +80 to +105 TgC yr−1,
or 1.9 % to 2.7 %, over the central Amazon Basin on annual mean. For
the first time we show that this enhancement is the net result of multiple
competing effects: an increase in diffuse light which stimulates
photosynthetic activity in the shaded part of the canopy (+65 to +110 TgC yr−1), a reduction in the total amount of radiation (−52 to −105 TgC yr−1)
which reduces photosynthesis and feedback from climate adjustments in
response to the aerosol forcing which increases the efficiency of biochemical
processes (+67 to +100 TgC yr−1). These results illustrate that despite a
modest direct aerosol effect (the sum of the first two counteracting
mechanisms), the overall net impact of biomass burning aerosols on
vegetation is sizeable when indirect climate feedbacks are considered. We
demonstrate that capturing the net impact of aerosols on vegetation should be
assessed considering the system-wide behaviour.