Amazon Fertilization Experiment (AFEX) in Central Amazon, Brazil (2017-2020)

The Amazon Fertilization Experiment (AFEX) is a large-scale soil nutrient manipulation study, examining how nutrient availability affects carbon cycling in tropical forests. The project was funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

The AFEX field site is located near Manaus, Amazonas in Brazil, and is a fully factorial experimental design replicated four times. Plots were established on plateaus in a randomized block design with all treatments represented in each block. The eight treatments are: control; nitrogen (N); phosphorus (P); cations (K, Ca, Mg); N and P; N and cations; P and cations; N,P and cations. The project is monitoring above and belowground carbon dynamics, macroinvertebrate communities, seedlings dynamics, plant phenology, and other biogeochemical and ecological processes.