6-MIN READ Wielding Machetes and Calipers, Sweat-soaked Scientists Count Carbon in Amazon Rainforest Antonio Laffayete Silveira, a forestry engineering professor at the Federal University of Rondonia, and botanist count smaller plants in a 1-by-1 meter frame on a parcel of Amazon rainforest in Itapua do Oeste, Rondonia state, Brazil. REUTERS/Jake Spring The Brazilian team is just one contingent among hundreds of researchers seeking to measure carbon in the complex and environmentally crucial Amazon rainforest ecosystem, which sprawls across more than six million square kilometers in nine countries. Reuters ITAPUÃ DO OESTE, Brazil Last Updated:January 12, 2021, 09:08 IST FOLLOW US ON: