Terrestrial carbon losses from mountaintop coal mining offset regional forest carbon sequestration in the 21st century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott Campbell, J; Fox, James F; Acton, Peter M

2012-01-01

Studies that quantify the spatial and temporal variability of carbon sources and sinks provide process-level information for the prediction of future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide as well as verification of current emission agreements. Assessments of carbon sources and sinks for North America that compare top-down atmospheric constraints with bottom-up inventories find particularly large carbon sinks in the southeastern US. However, this southeastern US sink may be impacted by extreme land-use disturbance events due to mountaintop coal mining (MCM). Here we apply ecosystem modeling and field experiment data to quantify the potential impact of future mountaintop coal mining on the carbon budget of the southern Appalachian forest region. For projections based on historical mining rates, grassland reclamation, and the continued regrowth of un-mined forests, we find that the southern Appalachian forests switch from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source by year 2025–33 with a 30%–35% loss in terrestrial carbon stocks relative to a scenario with no future mining by the year 2100. Alternatively, scenarios of forest sequestration due to the effect of CO 2 fertilization result in a 15%–24% loss in terrestrial carbon stocks by the year 2100 for mining scenarios relative to scenarios with no future mining. These results suggest that while power plant stack emissions are the dominant life-cycle stage in coal-fired electricity, accounting for mountaintop coal mining in bottom-up inventories may be a critical component of regional carbon budgets. (letter)

Aboveground vs. Belowground Carbon Stocks in African Tropical Lowland Rainforest: Drivers and Implications.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Doetterl

Full Text Available African tropical rainforests are one of the most important hotspots to look for changes in the upcoming decades when it comes to C storage and release. The focus of studying C dynamics in these systems lies traditionally on living aboveground biomass. Belowground soil organic carbon stocks have received little attention and estimates of the size, controls and distribution of soil organic carbon stocks are highly uncertain. In our study on lowland rainforest in the central Congo basin, we combine both an assessment of the aboveground C stock with an assessment of the belowground C stock and analyze the latter in terms of functional pools and controlling factors.Our study shows that despite similar vegetation, soil and climatic conditions, soil organic carbon stocks in an area with greater tree height (= larger aboveground carbon stock were only half compared to an area with lower tree height (= smaller aboveground carbon stock. This suggests that substantial variability in the aboveground vs. belowground C allocation strategy and/or C turnover in two similar tropical forest systems can lead to significant differences in total soil organic C content and C fractions with important consequences for the assessment of the total C stock of the system.We suggest nutrient limitation, especially potassium, as the driver for aboveground versus belowground C allocation. However, other drivers such as C turnover, tree functional traits or demographic considerations cannot be excluded. We argue that large and unaccounted variability in C stocks is to be expected in African tropical rain-forests. Currently, these differences in aboveground and belowground C stocks are not adequately verified and implemented mechanistically into Earth System Models. This will, hence, introduce additional uncertainty to models and predictions of the response of C storage of the Congo basin forest to climate change and its contribution to the terrestrial C budget.

Aboveground vs. Belowground Carbon Stocks in African Tropical Lowland Rainforest: Drivers and Implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Doetterl, Sebastian; Kearsley, Elizabeth; Bauters, Marijn; Hufkens, Koen; Lisingo, Janvier; Baert, Geert; Verbeeck, Hans; Boeckx, Pascal

2015-01-01

African tropical rainforests are one of the most important hotspots to look for changes in the upcoming decades when it comes to C storage and release. The focus of studying C dynamics in these systems lies traditionally on living aboveground biomass. Belowground soil organic carbon stocks have received little attention and estimates of the size, controls and distribution of soil organic carbon stocks are highly uncertain. In our study on lowland rainforest in the central Congo basin, we combine both an assessment of the aboveground C stock with an assessment of the belowground C stock and analyze the latter in terms of functional pools and controlling factors. Our study shows that despite similar vegetation, soil and climatic conditions, soil organic carbon stocks in an area with greater tree height (= larger aboveground carbon stock) were only half compared to an area with lower tree height (= smaller aboveground carbon stock). This suggests that substantial variability in the aboveground vs. belowground C allocation strategy and/or C turnover in two similar tropical forest systems can lead to significant differences in total soil organic C content and C fractions with important consequences for the assessment of the total C stock of the system. We suggest nutrient limitation, especially potassium, as the driver for aboveground versus belowground C allocation. However, other drivers such as C turnover, tree functional traits or demographic considerations cannot be excluded. We argue that large and unaccounted variability in C stocks is to be expected in African tropical rain-forests. Currently, these differences in aboveground and belowground C stocks are not adequately verified and implemented mechanistically into Earth System Models. This will, hence, introduce additional uncertainty to models and predictions of the response of C storage of the Congo basin forest to climate change and its contribution to the terrestrial C budget.

Consequences of alternative tree-level biomass estimation procedures on U.S. forest carbon stock estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Grant M. Domke; Christopher W. Woodall; James E. Smith; James A. Westfall; Ronald E. McRoberts

2012-01-01

Forest ecosystems are the largest terrestrial carbon sink on earth and their management has been recognized as a relatively cost-effective strategy for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. Forest carbon stocks in the U.S. are estimated using data from the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. In an attempt to balance accuracy with...

1km Global Terrestrial Carbon Flux: Estimations and Evaluations

Science.gov (United States)

Murakami, K.; Sasai, T.; Kato, S.; Saito, M.; Matsunaga, T.; Hiraki, K.; Maksyutov, S. S.

2017-12-01

Estimating global scale of the terrestrial carbon flux change with high accuracy and high resolution is important to understand global environmental changes. Furthermore the estimations of the global spatiotemporal distribution may contribute to the political and social activities such as REDD+. In order to reveal the current state of terrestrial carbon fluxes covering all over the world and a decadal scale. The satellite-based diagnostic biosphere model is suitable for achieving this purpose owing to observing on the present global land surface condition uniformly at some time interval. In this study, we estimated the global terrestrial carbon fluxes with 1km grids by using the terrestrial biosphere model (BEAMS). And we evaluated our new carbon flux estimations on various spatial scales and showed the transition of forest carbon stocks in some regions. Because BEAMS required high resolution meteorological data and satellite data as input data, we made 1km interpolated data using a kriging method. The data used in this study were JRA-55, GPCP, GOSAT L4B atmospheric CO2 data as meteorological data, and MODIS land product as land surface satellite data. Interpolating process was performed on the meteorological data because of insufficient resolution, but not on MODIS data. We evaluated our new carbon flux estimations using the flux tower measurement (FLUXNET2015 Datasets) in a point scale. We used 166 sites data for evaluating our model results. These flux sites are classified following vegetation type (DBF, EBF, ENF, mixed forests, grass lands, croplands, shrub lands, Savannas, wetlands). In global scale, the BEAMS estimations was underestimated compared to the flux measurements in the case of carbon uptake and release. The monthly variations of NEP showed relatively high correlations in DBF and mixed forests, but the correlation coefficients of EBF, ENF, and grass lands were less than 0.5. In the meteorological factors, air temperature and solar radiation showed

A Canadian upland forest soil profile and carbon stocks database.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Cindy; Hilger, Arlene; Filiatrault, Michelle; Kurz, Werner

2018-04-01

"A Canadian upland forest soil profile and carbon stocks database" was compiled in phases over a period of 10 years to address various questions related to modeling upland forest soil carbon in a national forest carbon accounting model. For 3,253 pedons, the SITES table contains estimates for soil organic carbon stocks (Mg/ha) in organic horizons and mineral horizons to a 100-cm depth, soil taxonomy, leading tree species, mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, province or territory, terrestrial ecozone, and latitude and longitude, with an assessment of the quality of information about location. The PROFILES table contains profile data (16,167 records by horizon) used to estimate the carbon stocks that appear in the SITES table, plus additional soil chemical and physical data, where provided by the data source. The exceptions to this are estimates for soil carbon stocks based on Canadian National Forest Inventory data (NFI [2006] in REFERENCES table), where data were collected by depth increment rather than horizon and, therefore, total soil carbon stocks were calculated separately before being entered into the SITES table. Data in the PROFILES table include the carbon stock estimate for each horizon (corrected for coarse fragment content), and the data used to calculate the carbon stock estimate, such as horizon thickness, bulk density, and percent organic carbon. The PROFILES table also contains data, when reported by the source, for percent carbonate carbon, pH, percent total nitrogen, particle size distribution (percent sand, silt, clay), texture class, exchangeable cations, cation and total exchange capacity, and percent Fe and Al. An additional table provides references (REFERENCES table) for the source data. Earlier versions of the database were used to develop national soil carbon modeling categories based on differences in carbon stocks linked to soil taxonomy and to examine the potential of using soil taxonomy and leading tree species to improve

Correlation analysis between forest carbon stock and spectral vegetation indices in Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, Thanh Hoa, Viet Nam

Science.gov (United States)

Dung Nguyen, The; Kappas, Martin

2017-04-01

In the last several years, the interest in forest biomass and carbon stock estimation has increased due to its importance for forest management, modelling carbon cycle, and other ecosystem services. However, no estimates of biomass and carbon stocks of deferent forest cover types exist throughout in the Xuan Lien Nature Reserve, Thanh Hoa, Viet Nam. This study investigates the relationship between above ground carbon stock and different vegetation indices and to identify the most likely vegetation index that best correlate with forest carbon stock. The terrestrial inventory data come from 380 sample plots that were randomly sampled. Individual tree parameters such as DBH and tree height were collected to calculate the above ground volume, biomass and carbon for different forest types. The SPOT6 2013 satellite data was used in the study to obtain five vegetation indices NDVI, RDVI, MSR, RVI, and EVI. The relationships between the forest carbon stock and vegetation indices were investigated using a multiple linear regression analysis. R-square, RMSE values and cross-validation were used to measure the strength and validate the performance of the models. The methodology presented here demonstrates the possibility of estimating forest volume, biomass and carbon stock. It can also be further improved by addressing more spectral bands data and/or elevation.

Quantifying the uncertainty of regional and national estimates of soil carbon stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Papritz, Andreas

2013-04-01

soils of Swiss forests (Nussbaum et al., 2012). Nussbaum, M., Papritz, A., Baltensweiler, A., and Walthert, L. (2012). Organic carbon stocks of swiss forest soils. Final report, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zürich and Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), pp. 51, http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/eserv/eth:6027/eth-6027-01.pdf

High-severity wildfire effects on carbon stocks and emissions in fuels treated and untreated forest

Science.gov (United States)

Malcolm P. North; Matthew D. Hurteau

2011-01-01

Forests contain the world's largest terrestrial carbonstocks, but in seasonally dry environments stock stability can be compromised if burned by wildfire, emitting carbon back to the atmosphere. Treatments to reduce wildfireseverity can reduce emissions, but with an immediate cost of reducing carbonstocks. In this study we examine the tradeoffs in...

Exploring global carbon turnover and radiocarbon cycling in terrestrial biosphere models

Science.gov (United States)

Graven, H. D.; Warren, H.

2017-12-01

The uptake of carbon into terrestrial ecosystems through net primary productivity (NPP) and the turnover of that carbon through various pathways are the fundamental drivers of changing carbon stocks on land, in addition to human-induced and natural disturbances. Terrestrial biosphere models use different formulations for carbon uptake and release, resulting in a range of values in NPP of 40-70 PgC/yr and biomass turnover times of about 25-40 years for the preindustrial period in current-generation models from CMIP5. Biases in carbon uptake and turnover impact simulated carbon uptake and storage in the historical period and later in the century under changing climate and CO2 concentration, however evaluating global-scale NPP and carbon turnover is challenging. Scaling up of plot-scale measurements involves uncertainty due to the large heterogeneity across ecosystems and biomass types, some of which are not well-observed. We are developing the modelling of radiocarbon in terrestrial biosphere models, with a particular focus on decadal 14C dynamics after the nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s-60s, including the impact of carbon flux trends and variability on 14C cycling. We use an estimate of the total inventory of excess 14C in the biosphere constructed by Naegler and Levin (2009) using a 14C budget approach incorporating estimates of total 14C produced by the weapons tests and atmospheric and oceanic 14C observations. By simulating radiocarbon in simple biosphere box models using carbon fluxes from the CMIP5 models, we find that carbon turnover is too rapid in many of the simple models - the models appear to take up too much 14C and release it too quickly. Therefore many CMIP5 models may also simulate carbon turnover that is too rapid. A caveat is that the simple box models we use may not adequately represent carbon dynamics in the full-scale models. Explicit simulation of radiocarbon in terrestrial biosphere models would allow more robust evaluation of biosphere

Assessment of soil organic carbon stocks under future climate and land cover changes in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Yigini, Yusuf; Panagos, Panos

2016-07-01

Soil organic carbon plays an important role in the carbon cycling of terrestrial ecosystems, variations in soil organic carbon stocks are very important for the ecosystem. In this study, a geostatistical model was used for predicting current and future soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in Europe. The first phase of the study predicts current soil organic carbon content by using stepwise multiple linear regression and ordinary kriging and the second phase of the study projects the soil organic carbon to the near future (2050) by using a set of environmental predictors. We demonstrate here an approach to predict present and future soil organic carbon stocks by using climate, land cover, terrain and soil data and their projections. The covariates were selected for their role in the carbon cycle and their availability for the future model. The regression-kriging as a base model is predicting current SOC stocks in Europe by using a set of covariates and dense SOC measurements coming from LUCAS Soil Database. The base model delivers coefficients for each of the covariates to the future model. The overall model produced soil organic carbon maps which reflect the present and the future predictions (2050) based on climate and land cover projections. The data of the present climate conditions (long-term average (1950-2000)) and the future projections for 2050 were obtained from WorldClim data portal. The future climate projections are the recent climate projections mentioned in the Fifth Assessment IPCC report. These projections were extracted from the global climate models (GCMs) for four representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The results suggest an overall increase in SOC stocks by 2050 in Europe (EU26) under all climate and land cover scenarios, but the extent of the increase varies between the climate model and emissions scenarios. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamics of sediment carbon stocks across intertidal wetland habitats of Moreton Bay, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Matthew A; Jesse, Amber; Hawke, Bruce; Baldock, Jeff; Tabet, Basam; Lockington, David; Lovelock, Catherine E

2017-10-01

Coastal wetlands are known for high carbon storage within their sediments, but our understanding of the variation in carbon storage among intertidal habitats, particularly over geomorphological settings and along elevation gradients, is limited. Here, we collected 352 cores from 18 sites across Moreton Bay, Australia. We assessed variation in sediment organic carbon (OC) stocks among different geomorphological settings (wetlands within riverine settings along with those with reduced riverine influence located on tide-dominated sand islands), across elevation gradients, with distance from shore and among habitat and vegetation types. We used mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy combined with analytical data and partial least squares regression to quantify the carbon content of ~2500 sediment samples and provide fine-scale spatial coverage of sediment OC stocks to 150 cm depth. We found sites in river deltas had larger OC stocks (175-504 Mg/ha) than those in nonriverine settings (44-271 Mg/ha). Variation in OC stocks among nonriverine sites was high in comparison with riverine and mixed geomorphic settings, with sites closer to riverine outflow from the east and south of Moreton Bay having higher stocks than those located on the sand islands in the northwest of the bay. Sediment OC stocks increased with elevation within nonriverine settings, but not in riverine geomorphic settings. Sediment OC stocks did not differ between mangrove and saltmarsh habitats. OC stocks did, however, differ between dominant species across the research area and within geomorphic settings. At the landscape scale, the coastal wetlands of the South East Queensland catchments (17,792 ha) are comprised of approximately 4,100,000-5,200,000 Mg of sediment OC. Comparatively high variation in OC storage between riverine and nonriverine geomorphic settings indicates that the availability of mineral sediments and terrestrial derived OC may exert a strong influence over OC storage potential across

Current and potential carbon stocks in Moso bamboo forests in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Pingheng; Zhou, Guomo; Du, Huaqiang; Lu, Dengsheng; Mo, Lufeng; Xu, Xiaojun; Shi, Yongjun; Zhou, Yufeng

2015-06-01

Bamboo forests provide important ecosystem services and play an important role in terrestrial carbon cycling. Of the approximately 500 bamboo species in China, Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) is the most important one in terms of distribution, timber value, and other economic values. In this study, we estimated current and potential carbon stocks in China's Moso bamboo forests and in their products. The results showed that Moso bamboo forests in China stored about 611.15 ± 142.31 Tg C, 75% of which was in the top 60 cm soil, 22% in the biomass of Moso bamboos, and 3% in the ground layer (i.e., bamboo litter, shrub, and herb layers). Moso bamboo products store 10.19 ± 2.54 Tg C per year. The potential carbon stocks reach 1331.4 ± 325.1 Tg C, while the potential C stored in products is 29.22 ± 7.31 Tg C a(-1). Our results indicate that Moso bamboo forests and products play a critical role in C sequestration. The information gained in this study will facilitate policy decisions concerning carbon sequestration and management of Moso bamboo forests in China. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ancient Terrestrial Carbon: Lost and Found

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, K. H.

2017-12-01

Carbon fluxes in terrestrial environments dominate the global carbon cycle. The fluxes of terrestrial carbon are strongly tied to regional climate due to the influences of temperature, water, and nutrient dynamics on plant productivity. However, climate also influences the destruction of terrestrial organic matter, through weathering, erosion, and biomass loss via fire and oxidative microbial processes. Organic geochemical methods enable us to interrogate past terrestrial carbon dynamics and learn how continental processes might accelerate, or mitigate carbon transfer to the atmosphere, and the associated greenhouse warming. Terrestrial soil systems represent the weathering rind of the continents, and are inherently non-depositional and erosive. The production, transport, and depositional processes affecting organics in continental settings each impart their own biases on the amount and characteristics of preserved carbon. Typically, the best archives for biomarker records are sediments in ancient lakes or subaqueous fans, which represents a preservation bias that tends to favor wetter environments. Paleosols, or ancient soils, formed under depositional conditions that, for one reason or another, truncated soil ablation, erosion, or other loss processes. In modern soils, widely ranging organic carbon abundances are almost always substantially greater than the trace amounts of carbon left behind in ancient soils. Even so, measureable amounts of organic biomarkers persist in paleosols. We have been investigating processes that preserve soil organic carbon on geologic timescales, and how these mechanisms may be sensitive to past climate change. Climate-linked changes in temperature, moisture, pH, and weathering processes can impact carbon preservation via organo-mineral sorption, soil biogeochemistry, and stability based on the physical and chemical properties of organic compounds. These will be discussed and illustrated with examples from our studies of Cenozoic

State-Space Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Stock

Science.gov (United States)

Ogunwole, Joshua O.; Timm, Luis C.; Obidike-Ugwu, Evelyn O.; Gabriels, Donald M.

2014-04-01

Understanding soil spatial variability and identifying soil parameters most determinant to soil organic carbon stock is pivotal to precision in ecological modelling, prediction, estimation and management of soil within a landscape. This study investigates and describes field soil variability and its structural pattern for agricultural management decisions. The main aim was to relate variation in soil organic carbon stock to soil properties and to estimate soil organic carbon stock from the soil properties. A transect sampling of 100 points at 3 m intervals was carried out. Soils were sampled and analyzed for soil organic carbon and other selected soil properties along with determination of dry aggregate and water-stable aggregate fractions. Principal component analysis, geostatistics, and state-space analysis were conducted on the analyzed soil properties. The first three principal components explained 53.2% of the total variation; Principal Component 1 was dominated by soil exchange complex and dry sieved macroaggregates clusters. Exponential semivariogram model described the structure of soil organic carbon stock with a strong dependence indicating that soil organic carbon values were correlated up to 10.8m.Neighbouring values of soil organic carbon stock, all waterstable aggregate fractions, and dithionite and pyrophosphate iron gave reliable estimate of soil organic carbon stock by state-space.

Increased topsoil carbon stock across China's forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yuanhe; Li, Pin; Ding, Jinzhi; Zhao, Xia; Ma, Wenhong; Ji, Chengjun; Fang, Jingyun

2014-08-01

Biomass carbon accumulation in forest ecosystems is a widespread phenomenon at both regional and global scales. However, as coupled carbon-climate models predicted, a positive feedback could be triggered if accelerated soil carbon decomposition offsets enhanced vegetation growth under a warming climate. It is thus crucial to reveal whether and how soil carbon stock in forest ecosystems has changed over recent decades. However, large-scale changes in soil carbon stock across forest ecosystems have not yet been carefully examined at both regional and global scales, which have been widely perceived as a big bottleneck in untangling carbon-climate feedback. Using newly developed database and sophisticated data mining approach, here we evaluated temporal changes in topsoil carbon stock across major forest ecosystem in China and analysed potential drivers in soil carbon dynamics over broad geographical scale. Our results indicated that topsoil carbon stock increased significantly within all of five major forest types during the period of 1980s-2000s, with an overall rate of 20.0 g C m(-2) yr(-1) (95% confidence interval, 14.1-25.5). The magnitude of soil carbon accumulation across coniferous forests and coniferous/broadleaved mixed forests exhibited meaningful increases with both mean annual temperature and precipitation. Moreover, soil carbon dynamics across these forest ecosystems were positively associated with clay content, with a larger amount of SOC accumulation occurring in fine-textured soils. In contrast, changes in soil carbon stock across broadleaved forests were insensitive to either climatic or edaphic variables. Overall, these results suggest that soil carbon accumulation does not counteract vegetation carbon sequestration across China's forest ecosystems. The combination of soil carbon accumulation and vegetation carbon sequestration triggers a negative feedback to climate warming, rather than a positive feedback predicted by coupled carbon-climate models

Quantifying terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Jinsha watershed, Upper Yangtze, China from 1975 to 2000

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Shuqing; Liu, Shuguang; Yin, Runsheng; Li, Zhengpeng; Deng, Yulin; Tan, Kun; Deng, Xiangzheng; Rothstein, David; Qi, Jiaguo

2010-01-01

Quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems and carbon fluxes between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is critical to our understanding of regional patterns of carbon budgets. Here we use the General Ensemble biogeochemical Modeling System to simulate the terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Jinsha watershed of China’s upper Yangtze basin from 1975 to 2000, based on unique combinations of spatial and temporal dynamics of major driving forces, such as climate, soil properties, nitrogen deposition, and land use and land cover changes. Our analysis demonstrates that the Jinsha watershed ecosystems acted as a carbon sink during the period of 1975–2000, with an average rate of 0.36 Mg/ha/yr, primarily resulting from regional climate variation and local land use and land cover change. Vegetation biomass accumulation accounted for 90.6% of the sink, while soil organic carbon loss before 1992 led to a lower net gain of carbon in the watershed, and after that soils became a small sink. Ecosystem carbon sink/source patterns showed a high degree of spatial heterogeneity. Carbon sinks were associated with forest areas without disturbances, whereas carbon sources were primarily caused by stand-replacing disturbances. It is critical to adequately represent the detailed fast-changing dynamics of land use activities in regional biogeochemical models to determine the spatial and temporal evolution of regional carbon sink/source patterns.

Environmental forcing of terrestrial carbon isotope excursion amplification across five Eocene hyperthermals

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, G. J.; Abels, H.

2015-12-01

Abrupt changes in the isotope composition of exogenic carbon pools accompany many major episodes of global change in the geologic record. The global expression of this change in substrates that reflect multiple carbon pools provides important evidence that many events reflect persistent, global redistribution of carbon between reduced and oxidized stocks. As the diversity of records documenting any event grows, however, discrepancies in the expression of carbon isotope change among substrates are almost always revealed. These differences in magnitude, pace, and pattern of change can complicate interpretations of global carbon redistribution, but under ideal circumstances can also provide additional information on changes in specific environmental and biogeochemical systems that accompanied the global events. Here we evaluate possible environmental influences on new terrestrial records of the negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) associated with multiple hyperthermals of the Early Eocene, which show a common pattern of amplified carbon isotope change in terrestrial paleosol carbonate records relative to that recorded in marine substrates. Scaling relationships between climate and carbon-cycle proxies suggest that that the climatic (temperature) impact of each event scaled proportionally with the magnitude of its marine CIE, likely implying that all events involved release of reduced carbon with a similar isotopic composition. Amplification of the terrestrial CIEs, however, does not scale with event magnitude, being proportionally less for the first, largest event (the PETM). We conduct a sensitivity test of a coupled plant-soil carbon isotope model to identify conditions that could account for the observed CIE scaling. At least two possibilities consistent with independent lines of evidence emerge: first, varying effects of pCO2 change on photosynthetic carbon isotope discrimination under changing background pCO2, and second, contrasting changes in regional

Top-down constraints on disturbance dynamics in the terrestrial carbon cycle: effects at global and regional scales

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, A. A.; Exbrayat, J. F.; van der Velde, I.; Peters, W.; Williams, M.

2014-12-01

Large uncertainties preside over terrestrial carbon flux estimates on a global scale. In particular, the strongly coupled dynamics between net ecosystem productivity and disturbance C losses are poorly constrained. To gain an improved understanding of ecosystem C dynamics from regional to global scale, we apply a Markov Chain Monte Carlo based model-data-fusion approach into the CArbon DAta-MOdel fraMework (CARDAMOM). We assimilate MODIS LAI and burned area, plant-trait data, and use the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD) and maps of above ground biomass as prior knowledge for initial conditions. We optimize model parameters based on (a) globally spanning observations and (b) ecological and dynamic constraints that force single parameter values and parameter inter-dependencies to be representative of real world processes. We determine the spatial and temporal dynamics of major terrestrial C fluxes and model parameter values on a global scale (GPP = 123 +/- 8 Pg C yr-1 & NEE = -1.8 +/- 2.7 Pg C yr-1). We further show that the incorporation of disturbance fluxes, and accounting for their instantaneous or delayed effect, is of critical importance in constraining global C cycle dynamics, particularly in the tropics. In a higher resolution case study centred on the Amazon Basin we show how fires not only trigger large instantaneous emissions of burned matter, but also how they are responsible for a sustained reduction of up to 50% in plant uptake following the depletion of biomass stocks. The combination of these two fire-induced effects leads to a 1 g C m-2 d-1reduction in the strength of the net terrestrial carbon sink. Through our simulations at regional and global scale, we advocate the need to assimilate disturbance metrics in global terrestrial carbon cycle models to bridge the gap between globally spanning terrestrial carbon cycle data and the full dynamics of the ecosystem C cycle. Disturbances are especially important because their quick occurrence may have

Ecosystem Carbon Stocks of Intertidal Wetlands in Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Phang, V. X. H.; Friess, D.; Chou, L. M.

2014-12-01

Mangrove forests and seagrass meadows provide numerous ecosystem services, with huge recent interest in their carbon sequestration and storage value. Mangrove forests and seagrass meadows as well as mudflats and sandbars form a continuum of intertidal wetlands, but studies that consider these spatially-linked habitats as a whole are limited. This paper presents the results of a field-based and remote sensing carbon stock assessment, including the first study of the ecosystem carbon stocks of these adjacent habitats in the tropics. Aboveground, belowground and soil organic carbon pools were quantified at Chek Jawa, an intertidal wetland in Singapore. Total ecosystem carbon stocks averaged 499 Mg C ha-1 in the mangrove forest and 140 Mg C ha-1 in the seagrass meadow. Soil organic carbon dominated the total storage in both habitats. In the adjacent mudflats and sandbars, soil organic carbon averaged 143 and 124 Mg C ha-1 respectively. High amount of carbon stored in soil demonstrate the role of intertidal wetlands in sequestering large amount of carbon in sediments accumulated over millennia. High-resolution remote sensing imagery was used to create spatial models that upscaled field-based carbon measurements to the national scale. Field-based data and spatial modeling of ecosystem carbon stocks to the entire island through remote sensing provides a large-scale and holistic carbon stock value, important for the understanding and management of these threatened intertidal ecosystems.

The role of forest disturbance in global forest mortality and terrestrial carbon fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Pugh, Thomas; Arneth, Almut; Smith, Benjamin; Poulter, Benjamin

2017-04-01

Large-scale forest disturbance dynamics such as insect outbreaks, wind-throw and fires, along with anthropogenic disturbances such as logging, have been shown to turn forests from carbon sinks into intermittent sources, often quite dramatically so. There is also increasing evidence that disturbance regimes in many regions are changing as a result of climatic change and human land-management practices. But how these landscape-scale events fit into the wider picture of global tree mortality is not well understood. Do such events dominate global carbon turnover, or are their effects highly regional? How sensitive is global terrestrial carbon exchange to realistic changes in the occurrence rate of such disturbances? Here, we combine recent advances in global satellite observations of stand-replacing forest disturbances and in compilations of forest inventory data, with a global terrestrial ecosystem model which incorporates an explicit representation of the role of disturbance in forest dynamics. We find that stand-replacing disturbances account for a fraction of wood carbon turnover that varies spatially from less than 5% in the tropical rainforest to ca. 50% in the mid latitudes, and as much as 90% in some heavily-managed regions. We contrast the size of the land-atmosphere carbon flux due to this disturbance with other components of the terrestrial carbon budget. In terms of sensitivity, we find a quasi log-linear relationship of disturbance rate to total carbon storage. Relatively small changes in disturbance rates at all latitudes have marked effects on vegetation carbon storage, with potentially very substantial implications for the global terrestrial carbon sink. Our results suggest a surprisingly small effect of disturbance type on large-scale forest vegetation dynamics and carbon storage, with limited evidence of widespread increases in nitrogen limitation as a result of increasing future disturbance. However, the influence of disturbance type on soil carbon

Global socioeconomic carbon stocks in long-lived products 1900-2008

Science.gov (United States)

Lauk, Christian; Haberl, Helmut; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Gingrich, Simone; Krausmann, Fridolin

2012-09-01

A better understanding of the global carbon cycle as well as of climate change mitigation options such as carbon sequestration requires the quantification of natural and socioeconomic stocks and flows of carbon. A so-far under-researched aspect of the global carbon budget is the accumulation of carbon in long-lived products such as buildings and furniture. We present a comprehensive assessment of global socioeconomic carbon stocks and the corresponding in- and outflows during the period 1900-2008. These data allowed calculation of the annual carbon sink in socioeconomic stocks during this period. The study covers the most important socioeconomic carbon fractions, i.e. wood, bitumen, plastic and cereals. Our assessment was mainly based on production and consumption data for plastic, bitumen and wood products and the respective fractions remaining in stocks in any given year. Global socioeconomic carbon stocks were 2.3 GtC in 1900 and increased to 11.5 GtC in 2008. The share of wood in total C stocks fell from 97% in 1900 to 60% in 2008, while the shares of plastic and bitumen increased to 16% and 22%, respectively. The rate of gross carbon sequestration in socioeconomic stocks increased from 17 MtC yr-1 in 1900 to a maximum of 247 MtC yr-1 in 2007, corresponding to 2.2%-3.4% of global fossil-fuel-related carbon emissions. We conclude that while socioeconomic carbon stocks are not negligible, their growth over time is not a major climate change mitigation option and there is an only modest potential to mitigate climate change by the increase of socioeconomic carbon stocks.

Global patterns of aboveground carbon stock and sequestration in mangroves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GUSTAVO C.D. ESTRADA

Full Text Available ABSTRACT In order to contribute to understand the factors that control the provisioning of the ecosystem service of carbon storage by mangroves, data on carbon stock and sequestration in the aboveground biomass (AGB from 73 articles were averaged and tested for the dependence on latitude, climatic parameters, physiographic types and age. Global means of carbon stock (78.0 ± 64.5 tC.ha-1 and sequestration (2.9 ± 2.2 tC.ha-1.yr-1 showed that mangroves are among the forest ecosystems with greater capacity of carbon storage in AGB per area. On the global scale, carbon stock increases toward the equator (R²=0.22 and is dependent on 13 climatic parameters, which can be integrated in the following predictive equation: Carbon Stock in AGB = -16.342 + (8.341 x Isothermality + (0.021 x Annual Precipitation [R²=0.34; p < 0.05]. It was shown that almost 70% of carbon stock variability is explained by age. Carbon stock and sequestration also vary according to physiographic types, indicating the importance of hydroperiod and edaphic parameters to the local variability of carbon stock. By demonstrating the contribution of local and regional-global factors to carbon stock, this study provides information to the forecast of the effects of future climate changes and local anthropogenic forcings on this ecosystem service.

Northern peatland carbon stocks and dynamics: a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. C. Yu

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Peatlands contain a large belowground carbon (C stock in the biosphere, and their dynamics have important implications for the global carbon cycle. However, there are still large uncertainties in C stock estimates and poor understanding of C dynamics across timescales. Here I review different approaches and associated uncertainties of C stock estimates in the literature, and on the basis of the literature review my best estimate of C stocks and uncertainty is 500 ± 100 (approximate range gigatons of C (Gt C in northern peatlands. The greatest source of uncertainty for all the approaches is the lack or insufficient representation of data, including depth, bulk density and carbon accumulation data, especially from the world's large peatlands. Several ways to improve estimates of peat carbon stocks are also discussed in this paper, including the estimates of C stocks by regions and further utilizations of widely available basal peat ages.

Changes in peatland carbon stocks over time, estimated using Sphagnum (peat moss spore data and down-core peat accumulation records, show different patterns during the Holocene, and I argue that spore-based approach underestimates the abundance of peatlands in their early histories. Considering long-term peat decomposition using peat accumulation data allows estimates of net carbon sequestration rates by peatlands, or net (ecosystem carbon balance (NECB, which indicates more than half of peat carbon (> 270 Gt C was sequestrated before 7000 yr ago during the Holocene. Contemporary carbon flux studies at 5 peatland sites show much larger NECB during the last decade (32 ± 7.8 (S.E. g C m⁻² yr^–1 than during the last 7000 yr (∼ 11 g C m⁻² yr^–1, as modeled from peat records across northern peatlands. This discrepancy highlights the urgent need for carbon accumulation data and process understanding, especially at decadal and centennial timescales

Carbon stocks in mangroves, salt marshes, and salt barrens in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA: Vegetative and soil characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Moyer, R. P.; Radabaugh, K.; Chappel, A. R.; Powell, C.; Bociu, I.; Smoak, J. M.

2017-12-01

When compared to other terrestrial environments, coastal "blue carbon" habitats such as salt marshes and mangrove forests sequester disproportionately large amounts of carbon as standing plant biomass and sedimentary peat deposits. This study quantified total carbon stocks in vegetation and soil of 17 salt marshes, salt barrens, and mangrove forests in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. The sites included natural, restored, and created wetlands of varying ages and degrees of anthropogenic impacts. The average vegetative carbon stock in mangrove forests was 60.1 ± 2.7 Mg ha-1. Mangrove forests frequently consisted of a few large Avicennia germinans trees with smaller, abundant Rhizophora mangle and/or Laguncularia racemosa trees. The average vegetative carbon stock was 11.8 ± 3.7 Mg ha-1 for salt marshes and 2.0 ± 1.2 Mg ha-1 for salt barrens. Vegetative carbon did not significantly differ between natural and newly created salt marsh habitats, indicating that mature restored wetlands can be included with natural wetlands for the calculation of vegetative carbon in coastal blue carbon assessments. Peat deposits were generally less than 50 cm thick and organic content rapidly decreased with depth in all habitats. Soil in this study was analyzed in 1 cm intervals; the accuracy of subsampling or binning soil into depth intervals of 2-5 cm was also assessed. In most cases, carbon stock values obtained from these larger sampling intervals were not statistically different from values obtained from sampling at 1 cm intervals. In the first 15 cm, soil in mangrove forests contained an average of 15.1% organic carbon by weight, salt marshes contained 6.5%, and salt barrens contained 0.8%. Total carbon stock in mangroves was 187.1±17.3 Mg ha-1, with 68% of that carbon stored in soil. Salt marshes contained an average of 65.2±25.3 Mg ha-1 (82% soil carbon) and salt barrens had carbon stocks of 21.4±7.4 Mg ha-1 (89% soil carbon). These values were much lower than global averages for

Ecosystem-Level Carbon Stocks in Costa Rican Mangrove Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Cifuentes, M.

2012-12-01

Tropical mangroves provide a wide variety of ecosystem services, including atmospheric carbon sequestration. Because of their high rates of carbon accumulation, the large expected size of their total stocks (from 2 to 5 times greater than those of upland tropical forests), and the alarming rates at which they are being converted to other uses (releasing globally from 0.02 to 0.12 Pg C yr-1), mangroves are receiving increasing attention as additional tools to mitigate climate change. However, data on whole ecosystem-level carbon in tropical mangroves is limited. Here I present the first estimate of ecosystem level carbon stocks in mangrove forests of Central America. I established 28, 125 m-long, sampling transects along the 4 main rivers draining the Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland in the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This area represents 39% of all remaining mangroves in the country (48300 ha). A circular nested plot was placed every 25 m along each transect. Carbon stocks of standing trees, regeneration, the herbaceous layer, litter, and downed wood were measured following internationally-developed methods compatible with IPCC "Good Practice Guidelines". In addition, total soil carbon stocks were determined down to 1 m depth. Together, these carbon estimates represent the ecosystem-carbon stocks of these forests. The average aboveground carbon stocks were 72.5 ± 3.2 MgC ha-1 (range: 9 - 241 MgC ha-1), consistent with results elsewhere in the world. Between 74 and 92% of the aboveground carbon is stored in trees ≥ 5cm dbh. I found a significant correlation between basal area of trees ≥ 5cm dbh and total aboveground carbon. Soil carbon stocks to 1 m depth ranged between 141 y 593 MgC ha-1. Ecosystem-level carbon stocks ranged from 391 MgC ha-1 to 438 MgC ha-1, with a slight increase from south to north locations. Soil carbon stocks represent an average 76% of total ecosystem carbon stocks, while trees represent only 20%. These Costa Rican mangroves

Deforestation and Carbon Stock Loss in Brazil's Amazonian Settlements.

Science.gov (United States)

Yanai, Aurora Miho; Nogueira, Euler Melo; de Alencastro Graça, Paulo Maurício Lima; Fearnside, Philip Martin

2017-03-01

We estimate deforestation and the carbon stock in 2740 (82 %) of the 3325 settlements in Brazil's Legal Amazonia region. Estimates are made both using available satellite data and a carbon map for the "pre-modern" period (prior to 1970). We used data from Brazil's Project for Monitoring Deforestation in Amazonia updated through 2013 and from the Brazilian Biomes Deforestation Monitoring Project (PMDBBS) updated through 2010. To obtain the pre-modern and recent carbon stocks we performed an intersection between a carbon map and a map derived from settlement boundaries and deforestation data. Although the settlements analyzed occupied only 8 % of Legal Amazonia, our results indicate that these settlements contributed 17 % (160,410 km 2 ) of total clearing (forest + non-forest) in Legal Amazonia (967,003 km 2 ). This represents a clear-cutting of 41 % of the original vegetation in the settlements. Out of this total, 72 % (115,634 km 2 ) was in the "Federal Settlement Project" (PA) category. Deforestation in settlements represents 20 % (2.6 Pg C) of the total carbon loss in Legal Amazonia (13.1 Pg C). The carbon stock in remaining vegetation represents 3.8 Pg C, or 6 % of the total remaining carbon stock in Legal Amazonia (58.6 Pg C) in the periods analyzed. The carbon reductions in settlements are caused both by the settlers and by external actors. Our findings suggest that agrarian reform policies contributed directly to carbon loss. Thus, the implementation of new settlements should consider potential carbon stock losses, especially if settlements are created in areas with high carbon stocks.

Global socioeconomic carbon stocks in long-lived products 1900–2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lauk, Christian; Haberl, Helmut; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Gingrich, Simone; Krausmann, Fridolin

2012-01-01

A better understanding of the global carbon cycle as well as of climate change mitigation options such as carbon sequestration requires the quantification of natural and socioeconomic stocks and flows of carbon. A so-far under-researched aspect of the global carbon budget is the accumulation of carbon in long-lived products such as buildings and furniture. We present a comprehensive assessment of global socioeconomic carbon stocks and the corresponding in- and outflows during the period 1900–2008. These data allowed calculation of the annual carbon sink in socioeconomic stocks during this period. The study covers the most important socioeconomic carbon fractions, i.e. wood, bitumen, plastic and cereals. Our assessment was mainly based on production and consumption data for plastic, bitumen and wood products and the respective fractions remaining in stocks in any given year. Global socioeconomic carbon stocks were 2.3 GtC in 1900 and increased to 11.5 GtC in 2008. The share of wood in total C stocks fell from 97% in 1900 to 60% in 2008, while the shares of plastic and bitumen increased to 16% and 22%, respectively. The rate of gross carbon sequestration in socioeconomic stocks increased from 17 MtC yr −1 in 1900 to a maximum of 247 MtC yr −1 in 2007, corresponding to 2.2%–3.4% of global fossil-fuel-related carbon emissions. We conclude that while socioeconomic carbon stocks are not negligible, their growth over time is not a major climate change mitigation option and there is an only modest potential to mitigate climate change by the increase of socioeconomic carbon stocks. (letter)

Parallel Computing for Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Dali; Post, Wilfred M.; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Berry, Michael

2011-01-01

Terrestrial ecosystems are a primary component of research on global environmental change. Observational and modeling research on terrestrial ecosystems at the global scale, however, has lagged behind their counterparts for oceanic and atmospheric systems, largely because the unique challenges associated with the tremendous diversity and complexity of terrestrial ecosystems. There are 8 major types of terrestrial ecosystem: tropical rain forest, savannas, deserts, temperate grassland, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, tundra, and chaparral. The carbon cycle is an important mechanism in the coupling of terrestrial ecosystems with climate through biological fluxes of CO 2 . The influence of terrestrial ecosystems on atmospheric CO 2 can be modeled via several means at different timescales. Important processes include plant dynamics, change in land use, as well as ecosystem biogeography. Over the past several decades, many terrestrial ecosystem models (see the 'Model developments' section) have been developed to understand the interactions between terrestrial carbon storage and CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere, as well as the consequences of these interactions. Early TECMs generally adapted simple box-flow exchange models, in which photosynthetic CO 2 uptake and respiratory CO 2 release are simulated in an empirical manner with a small number of vegetation and soil carbon pools. Demands on kinds and amount of information required from global TECMs have grown. Recently, along with the rapid development of parallel computing, spatially explicit TECMs with detailed process based representations of carbon dynamics become attractive, because those models can readily incorporate a variety of additional ecosystem processes (such as dispersal, establishment, growth, mortality etc.) and environmental factors (such as landscape position, pest populations, disturbances, resource manipulations, etc.), and provide information to frame policy options for climate change

Terrestrial carbon storage dynamics: Chasing a moving target

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Y.; Shi, Z.; Jiang, L.; Xia, J.; Wang, Y.; Kc, M.; Liang, J.; Lu, X.; Niu, S.; Ahlström, A.; Hararuk, O.; Hastings, A.; Hoffman, F. M.; Medlyn, B. E.; Rasmussen, M.; Smith, M. J.; Todd-Brown, K. E.; Wang, Y.

2015-12-01

Terrestrial ecosystems have been estimated to absorb roughly 30% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Past studies have identified myriad drivers of terrestrial carbon storage changes, such as fire, climate change, and land use changes. Those drivers influence the carbon storage change via diverse mechanisms, which have not been unified into a general theory so as to identify what control the direction and rate of terrestrial carbon storage dynamics. Here we propose a theoretical framework to quantitatively determine the response of terrestrial carbon storage to different exogenous drivers. With a combination of conceptual reasoning, mathematical analysis, and numeric experiments, we demonstrated that the maximal capacity of an ecosystem to store carbon is time-dependent and equals carbon input (i.e., net primary production, NPP) multiplying by residence time. The capacity is a moving target toward which carbon storage approaches (i.e., the direction of carbon storage change) but usually does not attain. The difference between the capacity and the carbon storage at a given time t is the unrealized carbon storage potential. The rate of the storage change is proportional to the magnitude of the unrealized potential. We also demonstrated that a parameter space of NPP, residence time, and carbon storage potential can well characterize carbon storage dynamics quantified at six sites ranging from tropical forests to tundra and simulated by two versions (carbon-only and coupled carbon-nitrogen) of the Australian Community Atmosphere-Biosphere Land Ecosystem (CABLE) Model under three climate change scenarios (CO2 rising only, climate warming only, and RCP8.5). Overall this study reveals the unified mechanism unerlying terrestrial carbon storage dynamics to guide transient traceability analysis of global land models and synthesis of empirical studies.

Measuring Biomass and Carbon Stock in Resprouting Woody Plants

Science.gov (United States)

Matula, Radim; Damborská, Lenka; Nečasová, Monika; Geršl, Milan; Šrámek, Martin

2015-01-01

Resprouting multi-stemmed woody plants form an important component of the woody vegetation in many ecosystems, but a clear methodology for reliable measurement of their size and quick, non-destructive estimation of their woody biomass and carbon stock is lacking. Our goal was to find a minimum number of sprouts, i.e., the most easily obtainable, and sprout parameters that should be measured for accurate sprout biomass and carbon stock estimates. Using data for 5 common temperate woody species, we modelled carbon stock and sprout biomass as a function of an increasing number of sprouts in an interaction with different sprout parameters. The mean basal diameter of only two to five of the thickest sprouts and the basal diameter and DBH of the thickest sprouts per stump proved to be accurate estimators for the total sprout biomass of the individual resprouters and the populations of resprouters, respectively. Carbon stock estimates were strongly correlated with biomass estimates, but relative carbon content varied among species. Our study demonstrated that the size of the resprouters can be easily measured, and their biomass and carbon stock estimated; therefore, resprouters can be simply incorporated into studies of woody vegetation. PMID:25719601

US forest carbon calculation tool: forest-land carbon stocks and net annual stock change

Science.gov (United States)

James E. Smith; Linda S. Heath; Michael C. Nichols

2007-01-01

The Carbon Calculation Tool 4.0, CCTv40.exe, is a computer application that reads publicly available forest inventory data collected by the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA) and generates state-level annualized estimates of carbon stocks on forest land based on FORCARB2 estimators. Estimates can be recalculated as...

Spatial distribution of soil organic carbon stocks in France

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. P. Martin

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Soil organic carbon plays a major role in the global carbon budget, and can act as a source or a sink of atmospheric carbon, thereby possibly influencing the course of climate change. Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC stocks are now taken into account in international negotiations regarding climate change. Consequently, developing sampling schemes and models for estimating the spatial distribution of SOC stocks is a priority. The French soil monitoring network has been established on a 16 km × 16 km grid and the first sampling campaign has recently been completed, providing around 2200 measurements of stocks of soil organic carbon, obtained through an in situ composite sampling, uniformly distributed over the French territory.

We calibrated a boosted regression tree model on the observed stocks, modelling SOC stocks as a function of other variables such as climatic parameters, vegetation net primary productivity, soil properties and land use. The calibrated model was evaluated through cross-validation and eventually used for estimating SOC stocks for mainland France. Two other models were calibrated on forest and agricultural soils separately, in order to assess more precisely the influence of pedo-climatic variables on SOC for such soils.

The boosted regression tree model showed good predictive ability, and enabled quantification of relationships between SOC stocks and pedo-climatic variables (plus their interactions over the French territory. These relationships strongly depended on the land use, and more specifically, differed between forest soils and cultivated soil. The total estimate of SOC stocks in France was 3.260 ± 0.872 PgC for the first 30 cm. It was compared to another estimate, based on the previously published European soil organic carbon and bulk density maps, of 5.303 PgC. We demonstrate that the present estimate might better represent the actual SOC stock distributions of France, and consequently that the

Large-Scale Mapping of Carbon Stocks in Riparian Forests with Self-Organizing Maps and the k-Nearest-Neighbor Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonhard Suchenwirth

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Among the machine learning tools being used in recent years for environmental applications such as forestry, self-organizing maps (SOM and the k-nearest neighbor (kNN algorithm have been used successfully. We applied both methods for the mapping of organic carbon (Corg in riparian forests due to their considerably high carbon storage capacity. Despite the importance of floodplains for carbon sequestration, a sufficient scientific foundation for creating large-scale maps showing the spatial Corg distribution is still missing. We estimated organic carbon in a test site in the Danube Floodplain based on RapidEye remote sensing data and additional geodata. Accordingly, carbon distribution maps of vegetation, soil, and total Corg stocks were derived. Results were compared and statistically evaluated with terrestrial survey data for outcomes with pure remote sensing data and for the combination with additional geodata using bias and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE. Results show that SOM and kNN approaches enable us to reproduce spatial patterns of riparian forest Corg stocks. While vegetation Corg has very high RMSEs, outcomes for soil and total Corg stocks are less biased with a lower RMSE, especially when remote sensing and additional geodata are conjointly applied. SOMs show similar percentages of RMSE to kNN estimations.

Diagnosing phosphorus limitations in natural terrestrial ecosystems in carbon cycle models

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yan; Peng, Shushi; Goll, Daniel S.; Ciais, Philippe; Guenet, Bertrand; Guimberteau, Matthieu; Hinsinger, Philippe; Janssens, Ivan A.; Peñuelas, Josep; Piao, Shilong; Poulter, Benjamin; Violette, Aurélie; Yang, Xiaojuan; Yin, Yi; Zeng, Hui

2017-07-01

Most of the Earth System Models (ESMs) project increases in net primary productivity (NPP) and terrestrial carbon (C) storage during the 21st century. Despite empirical evidence that limited availability of phosphorus (P) may limit the response of NPP to increasing atmospheric CO2, none of the ESMs used in the previous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment accounted for P limitation. We diagnosed from ESM simulations the amount of P need to support increases in carbon uptake by natural ecosystems using two approaches: the demand derived from (1) changes in C stocks and (2) changes in NPP. The C stock-based additional P demand was estimated to range between -31 and 193 Tg P and between -89 and 262 Tg P for Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 and RCP8.5, respectively, with negative values indicating a P surplus. The NPP-based demand, which takes ecosystem P recycling into account, results in a significantly higher P demand of 648-1606 Tg P for RCP2.6 and 924-2110 Tg P for RCP8.5. We found that the P demand is sensitive to the turnover of P in decomposing plant material, explaining the large differences between the NPP-based demand and C stock-based demand. The discrepancy between diagnosed P demand and actual P availability (potential P deficit) depends mainly on the assumptions about availability of the different soil P forms. Overall, future P limitation strongly depends on both soil P availability and P recycling on ecosystem scale.

Global patterns and controls of soil organic carbon dynamics as simulated by multiple terrestrial biosphere models: Current status and future directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Hanqin; Lu, Chaoqun; Yang, Jia; Banger, Kamaljit; Huntzinger, Deborah N; Schwalm, Christopher R; Michalak, Anna M; Cook, Robert; Ciais, Philippe; Hayes, Daniel; Huang, Maoyi; Ito, Akihiko; Jain, Atul K; Lei, Huimin; Mao, Jiafu; Pan, Shufen; Post, Wilfred M; Peng, Shushi; Poulter, Benjamin; Ren, Wei; Ricciuto, Daniel; Schaefer, Kevin; Shi, Xiaoying; Tao, Bo; Wang, Weile; Wei, Yaxing; Yang, Qichun; Zhang, Bowen; Zeng, Ning

2015-06-01

Soil is the largest organic carbon (C) pool of terrestrial ecosystems, and C loss from soil accounts for a large proportion of land-atmosphere C exchange. Therefore, a small change in soil organic C (SOC) can affect atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration and climate change. In the past decades, a wide variety of studies have been conducted to quantify global SOC stocks and soil C exchange with the atmosphere through site measurements, inventories, and empirical/process-based modeling. However, these estimates are highly uncertain, and identifying major driving forces controlling soil C dynamics remains a key research challenge. This study has compiled century-long (1901-2010) estimates of SOC storage and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) from 10 terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) in the Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project and two observation-based data sets. The 10 TBM ensemble shows that global SOC estimate ranges from 425 to 2111 Pg C (1 Pg = 10 15  g) with a median value of 1158 Pg C in 2010. The models estimate a broad range of Rh from 35 to 69 Pg C yr -1 with a median value of 51 Pg C yr -1 during 2001-2010. The largest uncertainty in SOC stocks exists in the 40-65°N latitude whereas the largest cross-model divergence in Rh are in the tropics. The modeled SOC change during 1901-2010 ranges from -70 Pg C to 86 Pg C, but in some models the SOC change has a different sign from the change of total C stock, implying very different contribution of vegetation and soil pools in determining the terrestrial C budget among models. The model ensemble-estimated mean residence time of SOC shows a reduction of 3.4 years over the past century, which accelerate C cycling through the land biosphere. All the models agreed that climate and land use changes decreased SOC stocks, while elevated atmospheric CO 2 and nitrogen deposition over intact ecosystems increased SOC stocks-even though the responses varied

Degradation in carbon stocks near tropical forest edges.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Ramler, Ivan; Sharp, Richard; Haddad, Nick M; Gerber, James S; West, Paul C; Mandle, Lisa; Engstrom, Peder; Baccini, Alessandro; Sim, Sarah; Mueller, Carina; King, Henry

2015-12-18

Carbon stock estimates based on land cover type are critical for informing climate change assessment and landscape management, but field and theoretical evidence indicates that forest fragmentation reduces the amount of carbon stored at forest edges. Here, using remotely sensed pantropical biomass and land cover data sets, we estimate that biomass within the first 500 m of the forest edge is on average 25% lower than in forest interiors and that reductions of 10% extend to 1.5 km from the forest edge. These findings suggest that IPCC Tier 1 methods overestimate carbon stocks in tropical forests by nearly 10%. Proper accounting for degradation at forest edges will inform better landscape and forest management and policies, as well as the assessment of carbon stocks at landscape and national levels.

Blue carbon stocks in Baltic Sea eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rohr, Maria Emilia; Bostrom, Christoffer; Canal-Vergés, Paula

2016-01-01

Although seagrasses cover only a minor fraction of the ocean seafloor, their carbon sink capacity accounts for nearly one-fifth of the total oceanic carbon burial and thus play a critical structural and functional role in many coastal ecosystems. We sampled 10 eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows....... The C-org stock integrated over the top 25 cm of the sediment averaged 627 g C m(-2) in Finland, while in Denmark the average C-org stock was over 6 times higher (4324 g Cm-2). A conservative estimate of the total organic carbon pool in the regions ranged between 6.98 and 44.9 t C ha(-1). Our results...... in Finland and 10 in Denmark to explore seagrass carbon stocks (C-org stock) and carbon accumulation rates (C-org accumulation) in the Baltic Sea area. The study sites represent a gradient from sheltered to exposed locations in both regions to reflect expected minimum and maximum stocks and accumulation...

Land-cover effects on soil organic carbon stocks in a European city.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmondson, Jill L; Davies, Zoe G; McCormack, Sarah A; Gaston, Kevin J; Leake, Jonathan R

2014-02-15

Soil is the vital foundation of terrestrial ecosystems storing water, nutrients, and almost three-quarters of the organic carbon stocks of the Earth's biomes. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks vary with land-cover and land-use change, with significant losses occurring through disturbance and cultivation. Although urbanisation is a growing contributor to land-use change globally, the effects of urban land-cover types on SOC stocks have not been studied for densely built cities. Additionally, there is a need to resolve the direction and extent to which greenspace management such as tree planting impacts on SOC concentrations. Here, we analyse the effect of land-cover (herbaceous, shrub or tree cover), on SOC stocks in domestic gardens and non-domestic greenspaces across a typical mid-sized U.K. city (Leicester, 73 km(2), 56% greenspace), and map citywide distribution of this ecosystem service. SOC was measured in topsoil and compared to surrounding extra-urban agricultural land. Average SOC storage in the city's greenspace was 9.9 kg m(-2), to 21 cm depth. SOC concentrations under trees and shrubs in domestic gardens were greater than all other land-covers, with total median storage of 13.5 kg m(-2) to 21 cm depth, more than 3 kg m(-2) greater than any other land-cover class in domestic and non-domestic greenspace and 5 kg m(-2) greater than in arable land. Land-cover did not significantly affect SOC concentrations in non-domestic greenspace, but values beneath trees were higher than under both pasture and arable land, whereas concentrations under shrub and herbaceous land-covers were only higher than arable fields. We conclude that although differences in greenspace management affect SOC stocks, trees only marginally increase these stocks in non-domestic greenspaces, but may enhance them in domestic gardens, and greenspace topsoils hold substantial SOC stores that require protection from further expansion of artificial surfaces e.g. patios and driveways. Copyright �

Spatial optimization of carbon-stocking projects across Africa integrating stocking potential with co-benefits and feasibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Greve, Michelle; Reyers, Belinda; Mette Lykke, Anne; Svenning, Jens-Christian

2013-01-01

Carbon offset projects through forestation are employed within the emissions trading framework to store carbon. Yet, information about the potential of landscapes to stock carbon, essential to the design of offset projects, is often lacking. Here, based on data on vegetation carbon, climate and soil, we quantify the potential for carbon storage in woody vegetation across tropical Africa. The ability of offset projects to produce co-benefits for ecosystems and people is then quantified. When co-benefits such as biodiversity conservation are considered, the top-ranked sites are sometimes different to sites selected purely for their carbon-stocking potential, although they still possess up to 92% of the latter carbon-stocking potential. This work provides the first continental-scale assessment of which areas may provide the greatest direct and indirect benefits from carbon storage reforestation projects at the smallest costs and risks, providing crucial information for prioritization of investments in carbon storage projects.

Inverted edge effects on carbon stocks in human-dominated landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Romitelli, I.; Keller, M.; Vieira, S. A.; Metzger, J. P.; Reverberi Tambosi, L.

2017-12-01

Although the importance of tropical forests to regulate greenhouse gases is well documented, little is known about what factors affect the ability of these forests to store carbon in human-dominated landscapes. Among those factors, the landscape structure, particularly the amount of forest cover, the type of matrix and edge effects, can have important roles. We tested how carbon stock is influenced by a combination of factors of landscape composition (pasture and forest cover), landscape configuration (edge effect) and relief factors (slope, elevation and aspect). To test those relationships, we performed a robust carbon stock estimation with inventory and LiDAR data in human-dominated landscapes from the Brazilian Atlantic forest region. The study area showed carbon stock mean 45.49 ± 9.34 Mg ha-1. The interaction between forest cover, edge effect and slope was the best combination explanatory of carbon stock. We observed an inverted edge effect pattern where carbon stock is higher close to the edges of the studied secondary forests. This inverted edge effect observed contradicts the usual pattern reported in the literature for mature forests. We suppose this pattern is related with a positive effect that edge conditions can have stimulating forest regeneration, but the underlying processes to explain the observed pattern should still be tested. Those results suggest that Carbon stocks in human-dominated and fragmented landscapes can be highly affected by the landscape structure, and particularly that edges conditions can favor carbon sequestration in regenerating tropical forests.

Aquatic carbon cycling in the conterminous United States and implications for terrestrial carbon accounting.

Science.gov (United States)

Butman, David; Stackpoole, Sarah; Stets, Edward; McDonald, Cory P; Clow, David W; Striegl, Robert G

2016-01-05

Inland water ecosystems dynamically process, transport, and sequester carbon. However, the transport of carbon through aquatic environments has not been quantitatively integrated in the context of terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we present the first integrated assessment, to our knowledge, of freshwater carbon fluxes for the conterminous United States, where 106 (range: 71-149) teragrams of carbon per year (TgC⋅y(-1)) is exported downstream or emitted to the atmosphere and sedimentation stores 21 (range: 9-65) TgC⋅y(-1) in lakes and reservoirs. We show that there is significant regional variation in aquatic carbon flux, but verify that emission across stream and river surfaces represents the dominant flux at 69 (range: 36-110) TgC⋅y(-1) or 65% of the total aquatic carbon flux for the conterminous United States. Comparing our results with the output of a suite of terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs), we suggest that within the current modeling framework, calculations of net ecosystem production (NEP) defined as terrestrial only may be overestimated by as much as 27%. However, the internal production and mineralization of carbon in freshwaters remain to be quantified and would reduce the effect of including aquatic carbon fluxes within calculations of terrestrial NEP. Reconciliation of carbon mass-flux interactions between terrestrial and aquatic carbon sources and sinks will require significant additional research and modeling capacity.

Aquatic carbon cycling in the conterminous United States and implications for terrestrial carbon accounting

Science.gov (United States)

Butman, David; Stackpoole, Sarah; Stets, Edward; McDonald, Cory P.; Clow, David W.; Striegl, Robert G.

2016-01-01

Inland water ecosystems dynamically process, transport, and sequester carbon. However, the transport of carbon through aquatic environments has not been quantitatively integrated in the context of terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we present the first integrated assessment, to our knowledge, of freshwater carbon fluxes for the conterminous United States, where 106 (range: 71–149) teragrams of carbon per year (TgC⋅y−1) is exported downstream or emitted to the atmosphere and sedimentation stores 21 (range: 9–65) TgC⋅y−1 in lakes and reservoirs. We show that there is significant regional variation in aquatic carbon flux, but verify that emission across stream and river surfaces represents the dominant flux at 69 (range: 36–110) TgC⋅y−1 or 65% of the total aquatic carbon flux for the conterminous United States. Comparing our results with the output of a suite of terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs), we suggest that within the current modeling framework, calculations of net ecosystem production (NEP) defined as terrestrial only may be overestimated by as much as 27%. However, the internal production and mineralization of carbon in freshwaters remain to be quantified and would reduce the effect of including aquatic carbon fluxes within calculations of terrestrial NEP. Reconciliation of carbon mass–flux interactions between terrestrial and aquatic carbon sources and sinks will require significant additional research and modeling capacity. PMID:26699473

Monitoring and estimating tropical forest carbon stocks: making REDD a reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibbs, Holly K; Brown, Sandra; Niles, John O; Foley, Jonathan A

2007-01-01

Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries is of central importance in efforts to combat climate change. Key scientific challenges must be addressed to prevent any policy roadblocks. Foremost among the challenges is quantifying nations' carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which requires information on forest clearing and carbon storage. Here we review a range of methods available to estimate national-level forest carbon stocks in developing countries. While there are no practical methods to directly measure all forest carbon stocks across a country, both ground-based and remote-sensing measurements of forest attributes can be converted into estimates of national carbon stocks using allometric relationships. Here we synthesize, map and update prominent forest biomass carbon databases to create the first complete set of national-level forest carbon stock estimates. These forest carbon estimates expand on the default values recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guidelines and provide a range of globally consistent estimates

Preliminary work of mangrove ecosystem carbon stock mapping in small island using remote sensing: above and below ground carbon stock mapping on medium resolution satellite image

Science.gov (United States)

Wicaksono, Pramaditya; Danoedoro, Projo; Hartono, Hartono; Nehren, Udo; Ribbe, Lars

2011-11-01

Mangrove forest is an important ecosystem located in coastal area that provides various important ecological and economical services. One of the services provided by mangrove forest is the ability to act as carbon sink by sequestering CO2 from atmosphere through photosynthesis and carbon burial on the sediment. The carbon buried on mangrove sediment may persist for millennia before return to the atmosphere, and thus act as an effective long-term carbon sink. Therefore, it is important to understand the distribution of carbon stored within mangrove forest in a spatial and temporal context. In this paper, an effort to map carbon stocks in mangrove forest is presented using remote sensing technology to overcome the handicap encountered by field survey. In mangrove carbon stock mapping, the use of medium spatial resolution Landsat 7 ETM+ is emphasized. Landsat 7 ETM+ images are relatively cheap, widely available and have large area coverage, and thus provide a cost and time effective way of mapping mangrove carbon stocks. Using field data, two image processing techniques namely Vegetation Index and Linear Spectral Unmixing (LSU) were evaluated to find the best method to explain the variation in mangrove carbon stocks using remote sensing data. In addition, we also tried to estimate mangrove carbon sequestration rate via multitemporal analysis. Finally, the technique which produces significantly better result was used to produce a map of mangrove forest carbon stocks, which is spatially extensive and temporally repetitive.

Carbon stocks and flux in French forests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupouey, Jean-Luc; Pignard, Gerome; Badeau, Vincent; Thimonier, A.; Dhote, Jean-Francois; Nepveu, G.; Berges, L.; Augusto, L.; Belkacem, S.; Nys, C.

2000-01-01

Forests contain most of the carbon stored in the earth's biomass (81 %) and could play a role in CO 2 mitigation to a certain extent. We estimate French forest carbon stocks in biomass to be 860 MtC on 14.5 million hectares of forests, and 1,140 MtC in forest soils. Total carbon in the 14.5 million hectares of French forests is estimated at 2,000 MtC. Average annual flux for the 1979/91 period is 10.5 MtC/y, i.e. 10 % of national fossil fuel emissions. The main causes of this net carbon uptake are the rapid increase of forest area, increasing productivity due to environmental changes, ageing or, in some localized areas, more intensive silviculture practices. These carbon sinks are not offset by the harvesting level which remains low on average (61 % of the annual volume growth). Forestry carbon mitigation options applicable in France are discussed. The need for global economic and ecological budgets (including carbon stocks, soil fertility and biodiversity) of the possible alternatives is stressed. (authors)

Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents

Science.gov (United States)

Chuixiang Yi; Daniel Ricciuto; Runze Li; John Wolbeck; Xiyan Xu; Mats Nilsson; John Frank; William J. Massman

2010-01-01

Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between climate and terrestrial CO2 exchange with the atmosphere across biomes...

Carbon stock and plants biodiversity of pekarangan in Cisadane watershed West Java

Science.gov (United States)

Aisyah Filqisthi, Tatag; Leonardus Kaswanto, Regan

2017-01-01

The presence of vegetation in Pekarangan can be proposed to mitigate global climate change impacts by CO2 sequestration and at the same time to promote the availability of food for the community. The aims of this research is to calculate carbon stock and biodiversity in pekarangan, and to compare carbon stock and biodiversity on three levels of Cisadane Watershed. Four groups of Pekarangan defined on a purposive random sampling. Allometric models were developed to estimate aboveground biomass of vegetation, and an inventory was conducted in 48 pekarangan. Shannon Weiner Index (H’) and Margalef Index (Dm) are used to evaluate biodiversity, averaged 2,84 and 5,10 (G1); 2,55 and 4,27 (G2); 2,56 and 4,52 (G3); 2,68 and 4,84 (G4), while carbon stock averaged 33,20 Mg Carbon/ha (G1); 29,97 Mg/ha (G2); 59,18 Mg/ha (G3); and 40,98 Mg/ha (G4). There is no relationship between biodiversity with carbon stock on pekarangan (R2 = 0,02), or tree’s biodiversity with carbon stock (R2 = 0,23). High resolution satellite imagery can be used to extrapolate carbon stock and plants biodiversity of Pekarangan at watershed level.

Deadwood biomass: an underestimated carbon stock in degraded tropical forests?

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeifer, Marion; Lefebvre, Veronique; Turner, Edgar; Cusack, Jeremy; Khoo, MinSheng; Chey, Vun K.; Peni, Maria; Ewers, Robert M.

2015-04-01

Despite a large increase in the area of selectively logged tropical forest worldwide, the carbon stored in deadwood across a tropical forest degradation gradient at the landscape scale remains poorly documented. Many carbon stock studies have either focused exclusively on live standing biomass or have been carried out in primary forests that are unaffected by logging, despite the fact that coarse woody debris (deadwood with ≥10 cm diameter) can contain significant portions of a forest’s carbon stock. We used a field-based assessment to quantify how the relative contribution of deadwood to total above-ground carbon stock changes across a disturbance gradient, from unlogged old-growth forest to severely degraded twice-logged forest, to oil palm plantation. We measured in 193 vegetation plots (25 × 25 m), equating to a survey area of >12 ha of tropical humid forest located within the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems Project area, in Sabah, Malaysia. Our results indicate that significant amounts of carbon are stored in deadwood across forest stands. Live tree carbon storage decreased exponentially with increasing forest degradation 7-10 years after logging while deadwood accounted for >50% of above-ground carbon stocks in salvage-logged forest stands, more than twice the proportion commonly assumed in the literature. This carbon will be released as decomposition proceeds. Given the high rates of deforestation and degradation presently occurring in Southeast Asia, our findings have important implications for the calculation of current carbon stocks and sources as a result of human-modification of tropical forests. Assuming similar patterns are prevalent throughout the tropics, our data may indicate a significant global challenge to calculating global carbon fluxes, as selectively-logged forests now represent more than one third of all standing tropical humid forests worldwide.

Reviews and syntheses: Systematic Earth observations for use in terrestrial carbon cycle data assimilation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Scholze, Marko; Buchwitz, Michael; Dorigo, Wouter; Guanter, Luis; Quegan, Shaun

2017-07-01

The global carbon cycle is an important component of the Earth system and it interacts with the hydrology, energy and nutrient cycles as well as ecosystem dynamics. A better understanding of the global carbon cycle is required for improved projections of climate change including corresponding changes in water and food resources and for the verification of measures to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. An improved understanding of the carbon cycle can be achieved by data assimilation systems, which integrate observations relevant to the carbon cycle into coupled carbon, water, energy and nutrient models. Hence, the ingredients for such systems are a carbon cycle model, an algorithm for the assimilation and systematic and well error-characterised observations relevant to the carbon cycle. Relevant observations for assimilation include various in situ measurements in the atmosphere (e.g. concentrations of CO2 and other gases) and on land (e.g. fluxes of carbon water and energy, carbon stocks) as well as remote sensing observations (e.g. atmospheric composition, vegetation and surface properties).We briefly review the different existing data assimilation techniques and contrast them to model benchmarking and evaluation efforts (which also rely on observations). A common requirement for all assimilation techniques is a full description of the observational data properties. Uncertainty estimates of the observations are as important as the observations themselves because they similarly determine the outcome of such assimilation systems. Hence, this article reviews the requirements of data assimilation systems on observations and provides a non-exhaustive overview of current observations and their uncertainties for use in terrestrial carbon cycle data assimilation. We report on progress since the review of model-data synthesis in terrestrial carbon observations by Raupach et al.(2005), emphasising the rapid advance in relevant space-based observations.

Carbon stocks of intact mangroves and carbon emissions arising from their conversion in the Dominican Republic.

Science.gov (United States)

Kauffman, J Boone; Heider, Chris; Norfolk, Jennifer; Payton, Frederick

2014-04-01

Mangroves are recognized to possess a variety of ecosystem services including high rates of carbon sequestration and storage. Deforestation and conversion of these ecosystems continue to be high and have been predicted to result in significant carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Yet few studies have quantified the carbon stocks or losses associated with conversion of these ecosystems. In this study we quantified the ecosystem carbon stocks of three common mangrove types of the Caribbean as well as those of abandoned shrimp ponds in areas formerly occupied by mangrove-a common land-use conversion of mangroves throughout the world. In the mangroves of the Montecristi Province in Northwest Dominican Republic we found C stocks ranged from 706 to 1131 Mg/ha. The medium-statured mangroves (3-10 m in height) had the highest C stocks while the tall (> 10 m) mangroves had the lowest ecosystem carbon storage. Carbon stocks of the low mangrove (shrub) type (carbon-rich soils as deep as 2 m. Carbon stocks of abandoned shrimp ponds were 95 Mg/ha or approximately 11% that of the mangroves. Using a stock-change approach, the potential emissions from the conversion of mangroves to shrimp ponds ranged from 2244 to 3799 Mg CO2e/ha (CO2 equivalents). This is among the largest measured C emissions from land use in the tropics. The 6260 ha of mangroves and converted mangroves in the Montecristi Province are estimated to contain 3,841,490 Mg of C. Mangroves represented 76% of this area but currently store 97% of the carbon in this coastal wetland (3,696,722 Mg C). Converted lands store only 4% of the total ecosystem C (144,778 Mg C) while they comprised 24% of the area. By these metrics the replacement of mangroves with shrimp and salt ponds has resulted in estimated emissions from this region totaling 3.8 million Mg CO2e or approximately 21% of the total C prior to conversion. Given the high C stocks of mangroves, the high emissions from their conversion, and the other important

Using the CARDAMOM framework to retrieve global terrestrial ecosystem functioning properties

Science.gov (United States)

Exbrayat, Jean-François; Bloom, A. Anthony; Smallman, T. Luke; van der Velde, Ivar R.; Feng, Liang; Williams, Mathew

2016-04-01

Terrestrial ecosystems act as a sink for anthropogenic emissions of fossil-fuel and thereby partially offset the ongoing global warming. However, recent model benchmarking and intercomparison studies have highlighted the non-trivial uncertainties that exist in our understanding of key ecosystem properties like plant carbon allocation and residence times. It leads to worrisome differences in terrestrial carbon stocks simulated by Earth system models, and their evolution in a warming future. In this presentation we attempt to provide global insights on these properties by merging an ecosystem model with remotely-sensed global observations of leaf area and biomass through a data-assimilation system: the CARbon Data MOdel fraMework (CARDAMOM). CARDAMOM relies on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to retrieve confidence intervals of model parameters that regulate ecosystem properties independently of any prior land-cover information. The MCMC method thereby enables an explicit representation of the uncertainty in land-atmosphere fluxes and the evolution of terrestrial carbon stocks through time. Global experiments are performed for the first decade of the 21st century using a 1°×1° spatial resolution. Relationships emerge globally between key ecosystem properties. For example, our analyses indicate that leaf lifespan and leaf mass per area are highly correlated. Furthermore, there exists a latitudinal gradient in allocation patterns: high latitude ecosystems allocate more carbon to photosynthetic carbon (leaves) while plants invest more carbon in their structural parts (wood and root) in the wet tropics. Overall, the spatial distribution of these ecosystem properties does not correspond to usual land-cover maps and are also partially correlated with disturbance regimes. For example, fire-prone ecosystems present statistically significant higher values of carbon use efficiency than less disturbed ecosystems experiencing similar climatic conditions. These results

Accounting for biomass carbon stock change due to wildfire in temperate forest landscapes in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Keith, Heather; Lindenmayer, David B; Mackey, Brendan G; Blair, David; Carter, Lauren; McBurney, Lachlan; Okada, Sachiko; Konishi-Nagano, Tomoko

2014-01-01

Carbon stock change due to forest management and disturbance must be accounted for in UNFCCC national inventory reports and for signatories to the Kyoto Protocol. Impacts of disturbance on greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories are important for many countries with large forest estates prone to wildfires. Our objective was to measure changes in carbon stocks due to short-term combustion and to simulate longer-term carbon stock dynamics resulting from redistribution among biomass components following wildfire. We studied the impacts of a wildfire in 2009 that burnt temperate forest of tall, wet eucalypts in south-eastern Australia. Biomass combusted ranged from 40 to 58 tC ha(-1), which represented 6-7% and 9-14% in low- and high-severity fire, respectively, of the pre-fire total biomass carbon stock. Pre-fire total stock ranged from 400 to 1040 tC ha(-1) depending on forest age and disturbance history. An estimated 3.9 TgC was emitted from the 2009 fire within the forest region, representing 8.5% of total biomass carbon stock across the landscape. Carbon losses from combustion were large over hours to days during the wildfire, but from an ecosystem dynamics perspective, the proportion of total carbon stock combusted was relatively small. Furthermore, more than half the stock losses from combustion were derived from biomass components with short lifetimes. Most biomass remained on-site, although redistributed from living to dead components. Decomposition of these components and new regeneration constituted the greatest changes in carbon stocks over ensuing decades. A critical issue for carbon accounting policy arises because the timeframes of ecological processes of carbon stock change are longer than the periods for reporting GHG inventories for national emissions reductions targets. Carbon accounts should be comprehensive of all stock changes, but reporting against targets should be based on human-induced changes in carbon stocks to incentivise mitigation activities.

Climate change mitigation by carbon stocking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lykke, Anne Mette; Barfod, Anders S.; Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard

2009-01-01

with promotion of secondary crops such as food resources and traditional medicines harvested on a sustainable basis. Methods for modelling and mapping of potential carbon biomass are being developed, but are still in a preliminary state. Although economic benefits from the sale of carbon credits are likely...... primarily on rain forest countries and excludes semi-arid West Africa from the preliminary setup. African savannas have potentials to store carbon in the present situation with degrading ecosystems and relatively low revenues from crops and cattle, especially if it is possible to combine carbon stocking...

Peatland geoengineering: an alternative approach to terrestrial carbon sequestration.

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Christopher; Fenner, Nathalie; Shirsat, Anil H

2012-09-13

Terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems contribute almost equally to the sequestration of ca 50 per cent of anthropogenic CO(2) emissions, and already play a role in minimizing our impact on Earth's climate. On land, the majority of the sequestered carbon enters soil carbon stores. Almost one-third of that soil carbon can be found in peatlands, an area covering just 2-3% of the Earth's landmass. Peatlands are thus well established as powerful agents of carbon capture and storage; the preservation of archaeological artefacts, such as ancient bog bodies, further attest to their exceptional preservative properties. Peatlands have higher carbon storage densities per unit ecosystem area than either the oceans or dry terrestrial systems. However, despite attempts over a number of years at enhancing carbon capture in the oceans or in land-based afforestation schemes, no attempt has yet been made to optimize peatland carbon storage capacity or even to harness peatlands to store externally captured carbon. Recent studies suggest that peatland carbon sequestration is due to the inhibitory effects of phenolic compounds that create an 'enzymic latch' on decomposition. Here, we propose to harness that mechanism in a series of peatland geoengineering strategies whereby molecular, biogeochemical, agronomical and afforestation approaches increase carbon capture and long-term sequestration in peat-forming terrestrial ecosystems.

First Assessment of Carbon Stock in the Belowground Biomass of Brazilian Mangroves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DANIEL M.C. SANTOS

2017-08-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Studies on belowground roots biomass have increasingly reported the importance of the contribution of this compartment in carbon stock maintenance in mangrove forests. To date, there are no estimates of this contribution in Brazilian mangrove forests, although the country has the second largest area of mangroves worldwide. For this study, trenches dug in fringing forests in Guaratiba State Biological Reserve (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were used to evaluate the contribution of the different classes of roots and the vertical stratification of carbon stock. The total carbon stock average in belowground roots biomass in these forests was 104.41 ± 20.73 tC.ha−1. From that, an average of 84.13 ± 21.34 tC.ha−1 corresponded to the carbon stock only in fine roots, which have diameters smaller than 5 mm and are responsible for over 80% of the total belowground biomass. Most of the belowground carbon stock is concentrated in the first 40 cm below the surface (about 70%. The root:shoot ratio in this study is 1.14. These estimates demonstrate that the belowground roots biomass significantly contributes, more than 50%, to the carbon stock in mangrove forests. And the mangrove root biomass can be greater than that of other Brazilian ecosystems.

Benchmark values for forest soil carbon stocks in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Vos, Bruno; Cools, Nathalie; Ilvesniemi, Hannu

2015-01-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in forest floors and in mineral and peat forest soils were estimated at the European scale. The assessment was based on measured C concentration, bulk density, coarse fragments and effective soil depth data originating from 4914 plots in 22 EU countries belonging...... to the UN/ECE ICP Forests 16 × 16 km Level I network. Plots were sampled and analysed according to harmonized methods during the 2nd European Forest Soil Condition Survey. Using continuous carbon density depth functions, we estimated SOC stocks to 30-cm and 1-m depth, and stratified these stocks according...... to 22 WRB Reference Soil Groups (RSGs) and 8 humus forms to provide European scale benchmark values. Average SOC stocks amounted to 22.1 t C ha− 1 in forest floors, 108 t C ha− 1 in mineral soils and 578 t C ha− 1 in peat soils, to 1 m depth. Relative to 1-m stocks, the vertical SOC distribution...

High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon

Science.gov (United States)

G. P. Asner; George V. N. Powell; Joseph Mascaro; David E. Knapp; John K. Clark; James Jacobson; Ty Kennedy-Bowdoin; Aravindh Balaji; Guayana Paez-Acosta; Eloy Victoria; Laura Secada; Michael Valqui; R. Flint. Hughes

2010-01-01

Efforts to mitigate climate change through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) depend on mapping and monitoring of tropical forest carbon stocks and emissions over large geographic areas. With a new integrated use of satellite imaging, airborne light detection and ranging, and field plots, we mapped aboveground carbon stocks and emissions at...

Influence of stocking, site quality, stand age, low-severity canopy disturbance, and forest composition on sub-boreal aspen mixedwood carbon stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Reinikainen, Michael; D’Amato, Anthony W.; Bradford, John B.; Fraver, Shawn

2014-01-01

Low-severity canopy disturbance presumably influences forest carbon dynamics during the course of stand development, yet the topic has received relatively little attention. This is surprising because of the frequent occurrence of such events and the potential for both the severity and frequency of disturbances to increase as a result of climate change. We investigated the impacts of low-severity canopy disturbance and average insect defoliation on forest carbon stocks and rates of carbon sequestration in mature aspen mixedwood forests of varying stand age (ranging from 61 to 85 years), overstory composition, stocking level, and site quality. Stocking level and site quality positively affected the average annual aboveground tree carbon increment (CAAI), while stocking level, site quality, and stand age positively affected tree carbon stocks (CTREE) and total ecosystem carbon stocks (CTOTAL). Cumulative canopy disturbance (DIST) was reconstructed using dendroecological methods over a 29-year period. DIST was negatively and significantly related to soil carbon (CSOIL), and it was negatively, albeit marginally, related to CTOTAL. Minima in the annual aboveground carbon increment of trees (CAI) occurred at sites during defoliation of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) by forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria Hubner), and minima were more extreme at sites dominated by trembling aspen than sites mixed with conifers. At sites defoliated by forest tent caterpillar in the early 2000s, increased sequestration by the softwood component (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. and Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) compensated for overall decreases in CAI by 17% on average. These results underscore the importance of accounting for low-severity canopy disturbance events when developing regional forest carbon models and argue for the restoration and maintenance of historically important conifer species within aspen mixedwoods to enhance stand-level resilience to disturbance agents and maintain

Reconciling biodiversity and carbon conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Chris D; Anderson, Barbara J; Moilanen, Atte; Eigenbrod, Felix; Heinemeyer, Andreas; Quaife, Tristan; Roy, David B; Gillings, Simon; Armsworth, Paul R; Gaston, Kevin J

2013-05-01

Climate change is leading to the development of land-based mitigation and adaptation strategies that are likely to have substantial impacts on global biodiversity. Of these, approaches to maintain carbon within existing natural ecosystems could have particularly large benefits for biodiversity. However, the geographical distributions of terrestrial carbon stocks and biodiversity differ. Using conservation planning analyses for the New World and Britain, we conclude that a carbon-only strategy would not be effective at conserving biodiversity, as have previous studies. Nonetheless, we find that a combined carbon-biodiversity strategy could simultaneously protect 90% of carbon stocks (relative to a carbon-only conservation strategy) and > 90% of the biodiversity (relative to a biodiversity-only strategy) in both regions. This combined approach encapsulates the principle of complementarity, whereby locations that contain different sets of species are prioritised, and hence disproportionately safeguard localised species that are not protected effectively by carbon-only strategies. It is efficient because localised species are concentrated into small parts of the terrestrial land surface, whereas carbon is somewhat more evenly distributed; and carbon stocks protected in one location are equivalent to those protected elsewhere. Efficient compromises can only be achieved when biodiversity and carbon are incorporated together within a spatial planning process. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Structural Break, Stock Prices of Clean Energy Firms and Carbon Market

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yubao; Cai, Junyu

2018-03-01

This paper uses EU ETS carbon future price and Germany/UK clean energy firms stock indices to study the relationship between carbon market and clean energy market. By structural break test, it is found that the ‘non-stationary’ variables judged by classical unit root test do own unit roots and need taking first difference. After analysis of VAR and Granger causality test, no causal relationships are found between the two markets. However, when Hsiao’s version of causality test is employed, carbon market is found to have power in explaining the movement of stock prices of clean energy firms, and stock prices of clean energy firms also affect the carbon market.

Carbon stocks and fluxes in the high latitudes: using site-level data to evaluate Earth system models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. E. Chadburn

2017-11-01

Full Text Available It is important that climate models can accurately simulate the terrestrial carbon cycle in the Arctic due to the large and potentially labile carbon stocks found in permafrost-affected environments, which can lead to a positive climate feedback, along with the possibility of future carbon sinks from northward expansion of vegetation under climate warming. Here we evaluate the simulation of tundra carbon stocks and fluxes in three land surface schemes that each form part of major Earth system models (JSBACH, Germany; JULES, UK; ORCHIDEE, France. We use a site-level approach in which comprehensive, high-frequency datasets allow us to disentangle the importance of different processes. The models have improved physical permafrost processes and there is a reasonable correspondence between the simulated and measured physical variables, including soil temperature, soil moisture and snow. We show that if the models simulate the correct leaf area index (LAI, the standard C3 photosynthesis schemes produce the correct order of magnitude of carbon fluxes. Therefore, simulating the correct LAI is one of the first priorities. LAI depends quite strongly on climatic variables alone, as we see by the fact that the dynamic vegetation model can simulate most of the differences in LAI between sites, based almost entirely on climate inputs. However, we also identify an influence from nutrient limitation as the LAI becomes too large at some of the more nutrient-limited sites. We conclude that including moss as well as vascular plants is of primary importance to the carbon budget, as moss contributes a large fraction to the seasonal CO2 flux in nutrient-limited conditions. Moss photosynthetic activity can be strongly influenced by the moisture content of moss, and the carbon uptake can be significantly different from vascular plants with a similar LAI. The soil carbon stocks depend strongly on the rate of input of carbon from the vegetation to the soil, and our

Carbon stocks and fluxes in the high latitudes: using site-level data to evaluate Earth system models

Science.gov (United States)

Chadburn, Sarah E.; Krinner, Gerhard; Porada, Philipp; Bartsch, Annett; Beer, Christian; Belelli Marchesini, Luca; Boike, Julia; Ekici, Altug; Elberling, Bo; Friborg, Thomas; Hugelius, Gustaf; Johansson, Margareta; Kuhry, Peter; Kutzbach, Lars; Langer, Moritz; Lund, Magnus; Parmentier, Frans-Jan W.; Peng, Shushi; Van Huissteden, Ko; Wang, Tao; Westermann, Sebastian; Zhu, Dan; Burke, Eleanor J.

2017-11-01

It is important that climate models can accurately simulate the terrestrial carbon cycle in the Arctic due to the large and potentially labile carbon stocks found in permafrost-affected environments, which can lead to a positive climate feedback, along with the possibility of future carbon sinks from northward expansion of vegetation under climate warming. Here we evaluate the simulation of tundra carbon stocks and fluxes in three land surface schemes that each form part of major Earth system models (JSBACH, Germany; JULES, UK; ORCHIDEE, France). We use a site-level approach in which comprehensive, high-frequency datasets allow us to disentangle the importance of different processes. The models have improved physical permafrost processes and there is a reasonable correspondence between the simulated and measured physical variables, including soil temperature, soil moisture and snow. We show that if the models simulate the correct leaf area index (LAI), the standard C3 photosynthesis schemes produce the correct order of magnitude of carbon fluxes. Therefore, simulating the correct LAI is one of the first priorities. LAI depends quite strongly on climatic variables alone, as we see by the fact that the dynamic vegetation model can simulate most of the differences in LAI between sites, based almost entirely on climate inputs. However, we also identify an influence from nutrient limitation as the LAI becomes too large at some of the more nutrient-limited sites. We conclude that including moss as well as vascular plants is of primary importance to the carbon budget, as moss contributes a large fraction to the seasonal CO2 flux in nutrient-limited conditions. Moss photosynthetic activity can be strongly influenced by the moisture content of moss, and the carbon uptake can be significantly different from vascular plants with a similar LAI. The soil carbon stocks depend strongly on the rate of input of carbon from the vegetation to the soil, and our analysis suggests that

The carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pilli R

2009-05-01

Full Text Available A comment is made on a recent letter published on Nature, in which different methodologies are applied to estimate the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems of China. A global carbon sink of 0.19-0.26 Pg per year is estimated during the 1980s and 1990s, and it is estimated that in 2006 terrestrial ecosystems have absorbed 28-37 per cent of global carbon emissions in China. Most of the carbon absorption is attributed to large-scale plantation made since the 1980s and shrub recovery. These results will certainly be valuable in the frame of the so-called “REDD” (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation forest Degradation in developing countries mechanism (UN convention on climate change UNFCCC.

The zero inflation of standing dead tree carbon stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher W. Woodall; David W. MacFarlane

2012-01-01

Given the importance of standing dead trees in numerous forest ecosystem attributes/processes such as carbon (C) stocks, the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program began consistent nationwide sampling of standing dead trees in 1999. Modeled estimates of standing dead tree C stocks are currently used as the official C stock estimates for the...

Accounting for Biomass Carbon Stock Change Due to Wildfire in Temperate Forest Landscapes in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Keith, Heather; Lindenmayer, David B.; Mackey, Brendan G.; Blair, David; Carter, Lauren; McBurney, Lachlan; Okada, Sachiko; Konishi-Nagano, Tomoko

2014-01-01

Carbon stock change due to forest management and disturbance must be accounted for in UNFCCC national inventory reports and for signatories to the Kyoto Protocol. Impacts of disturbance on greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories are important for many countries with large forest estates prone to wildfires. Our objective was to measure changes in carbon stocks due to short-term combustion and to simulate longer-term carbon stock dynamics resulting from redistribution among biomass components following wildfire. We studied the impacts of a wildfire in 2009 that burnt temperate forest of tall, wet eucalypts in south-eastern Australia. Biomass combusted ranged from 40 to 58 tC ha−1, which represented 6–7% and 9–14% in low- and high-severity fire, respectively, of the pre-fire total biomass carbon stock. Pre-fire total stock ranged from 400 to 1040 tC ha−1 depending on forest age and disturbance history. An estimated 3.9 TgC was emitted from the 2009 fire within the forest region, representing 8.5% of total biomass carbon stock across the landscape. Carbon losses from combustion were large over hours to days during the wildfire, but from an ecosystem dynamics perspective, the proportion of total carbon stock combusted was relatively small. Furthermore, more than half the stock losses from combustion were derived from biomass components with short lifetimes. Most biomass remained on-site, although redistributed from living to dead components. Decomposition of these components and new regeneration constituted the greatest changes in carbon stocks over ensuing decades. A critical issue for carbon accounting policy arises because the timeframes of ecological processes of carbon stock change are longer than the periods for reporting GHG inventories for national emissions reductions targets. Carbon accounts should be comprehensive of all stock changes, but reporting against targets should be based on human-induced changes in carbon stocks to incentivise mitigation activities

Linking plant functional traits and forest carbon stocks in the Congo Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Kearsley, Elizabeth; Verbeeck, Hans; Hufkens, Koen; Lewis, Simon; Huygens, Dries; Beeckman, Hans; Steppe, Kathy; Boeckx, Pascal

2013-04-01

Accurate estimates of the amount of carbon stored in tropical forests represent crucial baseline data for recent climate change mitigation policies. Such data are needed to quantify possible emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation, and to evaluate the potential of these forests to act as carbon sinks. Currently, only rough estimates of the carbon stocks for Central African tropical forests are available due to a lack of field data, and little is known about the response of these stocks to climate change. We present the first ground-based carbon stock data for the central Congo Basin in Yangambi, D. R. Congo, based on data of 20 inventory plots of 1 ha covering different forest types. We found an average aboveground carbon stock of 163 ± 19 Mg C ha-1 for intact old-growth forest, which is significantly lower than the stocks recorded in the outer regions of the Congo Basin. Commonly studied drivers for variations of carbon stocks include climatic and edaphic factors, but detailed trait-based studies are lacking. We identified a significant difference in height-diameter relations across the Congo Basin as a driver for spatial differences in carbon stocks. The study of a more detailed interaction of the environment and the available tree species pool as drivers for differences in carbon storage could have large implications. The effect of the species pool on carbon storage can be large since species differ in their ability to sequester carbon, and the collective functional characteristics of plant communities could be a major driver of carbon accumulation. The use of a trait-based approach shows high potential for identifying and quantifying carbon stocks as an ecosystem service. We test for associations between functional trait values and carbon storage across multiple regrowth and old-growth forests types in the Yangambi study area, with soil properties and climate similar for all plots. A selection of traits associated with carbon dynamics is made

THE Eucalyptus sp. AGE PLANTATIONS INFLUENCING THE CARBON STOCKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charlote Wink

2013-06-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/198050989279The tree growth and biomass accumulation, as well as the maintenance of forest residue at the soil surface can act in the removal of carbon from the atmosphere through the cycling process of plant material. The objective was to study the influence of Eucalyptus sp. Plantations with 20, 44 and 240 months of age on the variation of carbon in soil and biomass. The carbon in the soil depth was determined by CHNS auto-analyzer and carbon in the vegetation was determined by the biomass in each forest, considering a factor of 0.45 of the dry mass. We determined the density and particle size distribution of soil. For the comparison between plantations, there was analysis of variance and comparison of means of carbon in vegetation and soil, considering the 5% level of probability. The carbon content and stock in the soil were low, indicating that a natural feature of the category of Paleuldt, or the growth of eucalyptus forests, replacing the field native vegetation did not aggregate a significant increase in the carbon. Although, there was a significant increase carbon in aboveground biomass. It includes forest biomass and litter. So, despite the values ​​of carbon stocks are low, it identified a greater average total in the soil compared to the stock aboveground. Furthermore, this increase aboveground (tree and litter compartments can be considered significant between the eucalyptus plantations of different ages.

Long rotation swidden systems maintain higher carbon stocks than rubber plantations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bruun, Thilde Bech; Berry, Nicholas; De Neergaard, Andreas

2018-01-01

in fallows were 1.5 ± 0.12 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 and 1.9 ± 0.14 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 in rubber plantations. When comparing time-averaged carbon stocks of swidden systems to rubber plantations with 30 year rotation periods, the stocks of swidden systems with rotation times of 5 and 10 years were 19% and 13% lower......Conversion of shifting cultivation to rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations is one of the dominant land use changes in montane mainland areas of Southeast Asia, with the area of rubber expected to quadruple by 2050. However, the impacts of this transition on total ecosystem carbon stocks...... are poorly quantified. We undertook a chronosequence study to quantify changes in ecosystem carbon stocks following conversion from swidden agriculture to rubber plantations in Northern Laos. We measured above-ground biomass stocks and collected volume specific soil samples across rubber plantations...

Effectiveness of management interventions on forest carbon stock in planted forests in Nepal.

Science.gov (United States)

Dangal, Shambhu Prasad; Das, Abhoy Kumar; Paudel, Shyam Krishna

2017-07-01

Nepal has successfully established more than 370,000 ha of plantations, mostly with Pinus patula, in the last three and a half decades. However, intensive management of these planted forests is very limited. Despite the fact that the Kyoto Convention in 1997 recognized the role of plantations for forest-carbon sequestration, there is still limited knowledge on the effects of management practices and stand density on carbon-sequestration of popular plantation species (i.e. Pinus patula) in Nepal. We carried out case studies in four community forests planted between 1976 and 1990 to assess the impacts of management on forest carbon stocks. The study found that the average carbon stock in the pine plantations was 217 Mg C ha -1 , and was lower in forests with intensively managed plantations (214.3 Mg C ha -1 ) than in traditionally managed plantations (219 Mg C ha -1 ). However, it was the reverse in case of soil carbon, which was higher (78.65 Mg C ha -1 ) in the forests with intensive management. Though stand density was positively correlated with carbon stock, the proportionate increment in carbon stock was lower with increasing stand density, as carbon stock increased by less than 25% with a doubling of stand density (300-600). The total carbon stock was higher in plantations aged between 25 and 30 years compared to those aged between 30 and 35 years. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Potential strong contribution of future anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change to the terrestrial carbon cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Quesada, Benjamin; Arneth, Almut; Robertson, Eddy; de Noblet-Ducoudré, Nathalie

2018-06-01

Anthropogenic land-use and land cover changes (LULCC) affect global climate and global terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. However, relatively few studies have quantified the impacts of future LULCC on terrestrial carbon cycle. Here, using Earth system model simulations performed with and without future LULCC, under the RCP8.5 scenario, we find that in response to future LULCC, the carbon cycle is substantially weakened: browning, lower ecosystem C stocks, higher C loss by disturbances and higher C turnover rates are simulated. Projected global greening and land C storage are dampened, in all models, by 22% and 24% on average and projected C loss by disturbances enhanced by ~49% when LULCC are taken into account. By contrast, global net primary productivity is found to be only slightly affected by LULCC (robust +4% relative enhancement compared to all forcings, on average). LULCC is projected to be a predominant driver of future C changes in regions like South America and the southern part of Africa. LULCC even cause some regional reversals of projected increased C sinks and greening, particularly at the edges of the Amazon and African rainforests. Finally, in most carbon cycle responses, direct removal of C dominates over the indirect CO2 fertilization due to LULCC. In consequence, projections of land C sequestration potential and Earth’s greening could be substantially overestimated just because of not fully accounting for LULCC.

Carbon Stocks in the Small Estuarine Mangroves of Geza and Mtimbwani, Tanga, Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edmond Alavaisha

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Mangrove forests offer important ecosystem services, including their high capacity for carbon sequestration and stocking. However, they face rapid degradation and loss of ecological resilience particularly at local scales due to human pressure. We conducted inventory of mangrove forests to characterise forest stand structure and estimate carbon stocks in the small estuarine mangroves of Geza and Mtimbwani in Tanga, Tanzania. Forest structure, above-ground carbon (AGC, and below-ground carbon (BGC were characterised. Soil carbon was estimated to 1 m depth using loss on ignition procedure. Six common mangrove species were identified dominated by Avicennia marina (Forsk. Vierh. and Rhizophora mucronata Lamarck. Forest stand density and basal area were 1740 stems ha−1 and 17.2 m2 ha−1 for Geza and 2334 stems ha−1 and 30.3 m2 ha−1 for Mtimbwani. Total ecosystem carbon stocks were 414.6 Mg C ha−1 for Geza and 684.9 Mg C ha−1 for Mtimbwani. Soil carbon contributed over 65% of these stocks, decreasing with depth. Mid zones of the mangrove stands had highest carbon stocks. These data demonstrate that studied mangroves are potential for carbon projects and provide the baseline for monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV to support the projects.

The Unified North American Soil Map and Its Implication on the Soil Organic Carbon Stock in North America

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Y.; Liu, S.; Huntzinger, D. N.; Michalak, A. M.; Post, W. M.; Cook, R. B.; Schaefer, K. M.; Thornton, M.

2014-12-01

The Unified North American Soil Map (UNASM) was developed by Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP) to provide more accurate regional soil information for terrestrial biosphere modeling. The UNASM combines information from state-of-the-art US STATSGO2 and Soil Landscape of Canada (SLCs) databases. The area not covered by these datasets is filled by using the Harmonized World Soil Database version 1.21 (HWSD1.21). The UNASM contains maximum soil depth derived from the data source as well as seven soil attributes (including sand, silt, and clay content, gravel content, organic carbon content, pH, and bulk density) for the topsoil layer (0-30 cm) and the subsoil layer (30-100 cm), respectively, of the spatial resolution of 0.25 degrees in latitude and longitude. There are pronounced differences in the spatial distributions of soil properties and soil organic carbon between UNASM and HWSD, but the UNASM overall provides more detailed and higher-quality information particularly in Alaska and central Canada. To provide more accurate and up-to-date estimate of soil organic carbon stock in North America, we incorporated Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database (NCSCD) into the UNASM. The estimate of total soil organic carbon mass in the upper 100 cm soil profile based on the improved UNASM is 365.96 Pg, of which 23.1% is under trees, 14.1% is in shrubland, and 4.6% is in grassland and cropland. This UNASM data has been provided as a resource for use in terrestrial ecosystem modeling of MsTMIP both for input of soil characteristics and for benchmarking model output.

Effect of tree species on carbon stocks in forest floor and mineral soil and implications for soil carbon inventories

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schulp, C.J.E.; Nabuurs, G.J.; Verburg, P.H.; Waal, de R.W.

2008-01-01

Forest soil organic carbon (SOC) and forest floor carbon (FFC) stocks are highly variable. The sampling effort required to assess SOC and FFC stocks is therefore large, resulting in limited sampling and poor estimates of the size, spatial distribution, and changes in SOC and FFC stocks in many

Effects of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon cycle: concepts, processes and potential future impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Dorothea; Reichstein, Markus; Bahn, Michael; Thonicke, Kirsten; Frank, David; Mahecha, Miguel D; Smith, Pete; van der Velde, Marijn; Vicca, Sara; Babst, Flurin; Beer, Christian; Buchmann, Nina; Canadell, Josep G; Ciais, Philippe; Cramer, Wolfgang; Ibrom, Andreas; Miglietta, Franco; Poulter, Ben; Rammig, Anja; Seneviratne, Sonia I; Walz, Ariane; Wattenbach, Martin; Zavala, Miguel A; Zscheischler, Jakob

2015-01-01

Extreme droughts, heat waves, frosts, precipitation, wind storms and other climate extremes may impact the structure, composition and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, and thus carbon cycling and its feedbacks to the climate system. Yet, the interconnected avenues through which climate extremes drive ecological and physiological processes and alter the carbon balance are poorly understood. Here, we review the literature on carbon cycle relevant responses of ecosystems to extreme climatic events. Given that impacts of climate extremes are considered disturbances, we assume the respective general disturbance-induced mechanisms and processes to also operate in an extreme context. The paucity of well-defined studies currently renders a quantitative meta-analysis impossible, but permits us to develop a deductive framework for identifying the main mechanisms (and coupling thereof) through which climate extremes may act on the carbon cycle. We find that ecosystem responses can exceed the duration of the climate impacts via lagged effects on the carbon cycle. The expected regional impacts of future climate extremes will depend on changes in the probability and severity of their occurrence, on the compound effects and timing of different climate extremes, and on the vulnerability of each land-cover type modulated by management. Although processes and sensitivities differ among biomes, based on expert opinion, we expect forests to exhibit the largest net effect of extremes due to their large carbon pools and fluxes, potentially large indirect and lagged impacts, and long recovery time to regain previous stocks. At the global scale, we presume that droughts have the strongest and most widespread effects on terrestrial carbon cycling. Comparing impacts of climate extremes identified via remote sensing vs. ground-based observational case studies reveals that many regions in the (sub-)tropics are understudied. Hence, regional investigations are needed to allow a global

Scaling impacts on environmental controls and spatial heterogeneity of soil organic carbon stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, U.; Riley, W. J.

2015-07-01

The spatial heterogeneity of land surfaces affects energy, moisture, and greenhouse gas exchanges with the atmosphere. However, representing the heterogeneity of terrestrial hydrological and biogeochemical processes in Earth system models (ESMs) remains a critical scientific challenge. We report the impact of spatial scaling on environmental controls, spatial structure, and statistical properties of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks across the US state of Alaska. We used soil profile observations and environmental factors such as topography, climate, land cover types, and surficial geology to predict the SOC stocks at a 50 m spatial scale. These spatially heterogeneous estimates provide a data set with reasonable fidelity to the observations at a sufficiently high resolution to examine the environmental controls on the spatial structure of SOC stocks. We upscaled both the predicted SOC stocks and environmental variables from finer to coarser spatial scales (s = 100, 200, and 500 m and 1, 2, 5, and 10 km) and generated various statistical properties of SOC stock estimates. We found different environmental factors to be statistically significant predictors at different spatial scales. Only elevation, temperature, potential evapotranspiration, and scrub land cover types were significant predictors at all scales. The strengths of control (the median value of geographically weighted regression coefficients) of these four environmental variables on SOC stocks decreased with increasing scale and were accurately represented using mathematical functions (R2 = 0.83-0.97). The spatial structure of SOC stocks across Alaska changed with spatial scale. Although the variance (sill) and unstructured variability (nugget) of the calculated variograms of SOC stocks decreased exponentially with scale, the correlation length (range) remained relatively constant across scale. The variance of predicted SOC stocks decreased with spatial scale over the range of 50 m to ~ 500 m, and remained

A large-scale field assessment of carbon stocks in human-modified tropical forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Berenguer, Erika; Ferreira, Joice; Gardner, Toby Alan; Aragão, Luiz Eduardo Oliveira Cruz; De Camargo, Plínio Barbosa; Cerri, Carlos Eduardo; Durigan, Mariana; Cosme De Oliveira Junior, Raimundo; Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães; Barlow, Jos

2014-12-01

Tropical rainforests store enormous amounts of carbon, the protection of which represents a vital component of efforts to mitigate global climate change. Currently, tropical forest conservation, science, policies, and climate mitigation actions focus predominantly on reducing carbon emissions from deforestation alone. However, every year vast areas of the humid tropics are disturbed by selective logging, understory fires, and habitat fragmentation. There is an urgent need to understand the effect of such disturbances on carbon stocks, and how stocks in disturbed forests compare to those found in undisturbed primary forests as well as in regenerating secondary forests. Here, we present the results of the largest field study to date on the impacts of human disturbances on above and belowground carbon stocks in tropical forests. Live vegetation, the largest carbon pool, was extremely sensitive to disturbance: forests that experienced both selective logging and understory fires stored, on average, 40% less aboveground carbon than undisturbed forests and were structurally similar to secondary forests. Edge effects also played an important role in explaining variability in aboveground carbon stocks of disturbed forests. Results indicate a potential rapid recovery of the dead wood and litter carbon pools, while soil stocks (0-30 cm) appeared to be resistant to the effects of logging and fire. Carbon loss and subsequent emissions due to human disturbances remain largely unaccounted for in greenhouse gas inventories, but by comparing our estimates of depleted carbon stocks in disturbed forests with Brazilian government assessments of the total forest area annually disturbed in the Amazon, we show that these emissions could represent up to 40% of the carbon loss from deforestation in the region. We conclude that conservation programs aiming to ensure the long-term permanence of forest carbon stocks, such as REDD+, will remain limited in their success unless they effectively

Data-driven diagnostics of terrestrial carbon dynamics over North America

Science.gov (United States)

Jingfeng Xiao; Scott V. Ollinger; Steve Frolking; George C. Hurtt; David Y. Hollinger; Kenneth J. Davis; Yude Pan; Xiaoyang Zhang; Feng Deng; Jiquan Chen; Dennis D. Baldocchi; Bevery E. Law; M. Altaf Arain; Ankur R. Desai; Andrew D. Richardson; Ge Sun; Brian Amiro; Hank Margolis; Lianhong Gu; Russell L. Scott; Peter D. Blanken; Andrew E. Suyker

2014-01-01

The exchange of carbon dioxide is a key measure of ecosystem metabolism and a critical intersection between the terrestrial biosphere and the Earth's climate. Despite the general agreement that the terrestrial ecosystems in North America provide a sizeable carbon sink, the size and distribution of the sink remain uncertain. We use a data-driven approach to upscale...

The average carbon-stock approach for small-scale CDM AR projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia Quijano, J.F.; Muys, B. [Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Laboratory for Forest, Nature and Landscape Research, Leuven (Belgium); Schlamadinger, B. [Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Institute for Energy Research, Graz (Austria); Emmer, I. [Face Foundation, Arnhem (Netherlands); Somogyi, Z. [Forest Research Institute, Budapest (Hungary); Bird, D.N. [Woodrising Consulting Inc., Belfountain, Ontario (Canada)

2004-06-15

In many afforestation and reforestation (AR) projects harvesting with stand regeneration forms an integral part of the silvicultural system and satisfies local timber and/or fuelwood demand. Especially clear-cut harvesting will lead to an abrupt and significant reduction of carbon stocks. The smaller the project, the more significant the fluctuations of the carbon stocks may be. In the extreme case a small-scale project could consist of a single forest stand. In such case, all accounted carbon may be removed during a harvesting operation and the time-path of carbon stocks will typically look as in the hypothetical example presented in the report. For the aggregate of many such small-scale projects there will be a constant benefit to the atmosphere during the projects, due to averaging effects.

[Roles of soil dissolved organic carbon in carbon cycling of terrestrial ecosystems: a review].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ling; Qiu, Shao-Jun; Liu, Jing-Tao; Liu, Qing; Lu, Zhao-Hua

2012-05-01

Soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an active fraction of soil organic carbon pool, playing an important role in the carbon cycling of terrestrial ecosystems. In view of the importance of the carbon cycling, this paper summarized the roles of soil DOC in the soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gases emission, and in considering of our present ecological and environmental problems such as soil acidification and climate warming, discussed the effects of soil properties, environmental factors, and human activities on the soil DOC as well as the response mechanisms of the DOC. This review could be helpful to the further understanding of the importance of soil DOC in the carbon cycling of terrestrial ecosystems and the reduction of greenhouse gases emission.

Nitrogen Deposition Effects on Soil Carbon Dynamics in Temperate Forests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ginzburg Ozeri, Shimon

Soils contain the largest fraction of terrestrial carbon (C). Understanding the factors regulating the decomposition and storage of soil organic matter (SOM) is essential for predictions of the C sink strength of the terrestrial environment in the light of global change. Elevated long-term nitrog...... implications for modelling the carbon sink-strength of temperate forests under global change.......Soils contain the largest fraction of terrestrial carbon (C). Understanding the factors regulating the decomposition and storage of soil organic matter (SOM) is essential for predictions of the C sink strength of the terrestrial environment in the light of global change. Elevated long-term nitrogen...... (N) deposition into forest ecosystems has been increasing globally and was hypothesized to raise soil organic C (SOC) stocks by increasing forest productivity and by reducing SOM decomposition. Yet, these effects of N deposition on forest SOC stocks are uncertain and largely based on observations...

Allocation pattern and accumulation potential of carbon stock in natural spruce forests in northwest China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun-Wei Yue

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background The spruce forests are dominant communities in northwest China, and play a key role in national carbon budgets. However, the patterns of carbon stock distribution and accumulation potential across stand ages are poorly documented. Methods We investigated the carbon stocks in biomass and soil in the natural spruce forests in the region by surveys on 39 plots. Biomass of tree components were estimated using allometric equations previously established based on tree height and diameter at breast height, while biomass in understory (shrub and herb and forest floor were determined by total harvesting method. Fine root biomass was estimated by soil coring technique. Carbon stocks in various biomass components and soil (0–100 cm were estimated by analyzing the carbon content of each component. Results The results showed that carbon stock in these forest ecosystems can be as high as 510.1 t ha−1, with an average of 449.4 t ha−1. Carbon stock ranged from 28.1 to 93.9 t ha−1 and from 0.6 to 8.7 t ha−1 with stand ages in trees and deadwoods, respectively. The proportion of shrubs, herbs, fine roots, litter and deadwoods ranged from 0.1% to 1% of the total ecosystem carbon, and was age-independent. Fine roots and deadwood which contribute to about 2% of the biomass carbon should be attached considerable weight in the investigation of natural forests. Soil carbon stock did not show a changing trend with stand age, ranging from 254.2 to 420.0 t ha−1 with an average of 358.7 t ha−1. The average value of carbon sequestration potential for these forests was estimated as 29.4 t ha−1, with the lower aged ones being the dominant contributor. The maximum carbon sequestration rate was 2.47 t ha−1 year−1 appearing in the growth stage of 37–56 years. Conclusion The carbon stock in biomass was the major contributor to the increment of carbon stock in ecosystems. Stand age is not a good predictor of soil carbon stocks and accurate

Benchmark map of forest carbon stocks in tropical regions across three continents.

Science.gov (United States)

Saatchi, Sassan S; Harris, Nancy L; Brown, Sandra; Lefsky, Michael; Mitchard, Edward T A; Salas, William; Zutta, Brian R; Buermann, Wolfgang; Lewis, Simon L; Hagen, Stephen; Petrova, Silvia; White, Lee; Silman, Miles; Morel, Alexandra

2011-06-14

Developing countries are required to produce robust estimates of forest carbon stocks for successful implementation of climate change mitigation policies related to reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). Here we present a "benchmark" map of biomass carbon stocks over 2.5 billion ha of forests on three continents, encompassing all tropical forests, for the early 2000s, which will be invaluable for REDD assessments at both project and national scales. We mapped the total carbon stock in live biomass (above- and belowground), using a combination of data from 4,079 in situ inventory plots and satellite light detection and ranging (Lidar) samples of forest structure to estimate carbon storage, plus optical and microwave imagery (1-km resolution) to extrapolate over the landscape. The total biomass carbon stock of forests in the study region is estimated to be 247 Gt C, with 193 Gt C stored aboveground and 54 Gt C stored belowground in roots. Forests in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia accounted for 49%, 25%, and 26% of the total stock, respectively. By analyzing the errors propagated through the estimation process, uncertainty at the pixel level (100 ha) ranged from ± 6% to ± 53%, but was constrained at the typical project (10,000 ha) and national (>1,000,000 ha) scales at ca. ± 5% and ca. ± 1%, respectively. The benchmark map illustrates regional patterns and provides methodologically comparable estimates of carbon stocks for 75 developing countries where previous assessments were either poor or incomplete.

Benchmark map of forest carbon stocks in tropical regions across three continents

Science.gov (United States)

Saatchi, Sassan S.; Harris, Nancy L.; Brown, Sandra; Lefsky, Michael; Mitchard, Edward T. A.; Salas, William; Zutta, Brian R.; Buermann, Wolfgang; Lewis, Simon L.; Hagen, Stephen; Petrova, Silvia; White, Lee; Silman, Miles; Morel, Alexandra

2011-01-01

Developing countries are required to produce robust estimates of forest carbon stocks for successful implementation of climate change mitigation policies related to reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). Here we present a “benchmark” map of biomass carbon stocks over 2.5 billion ha of forests on three continents, encompassing all tropical forests, for the early 2000s, which will be invaluable for REDD assessments at both project and national scales. We mapped the total carbon stock in live biomass (above- and belowground), using a combination of data from 4,079 in situ inventory plots and satellite light detection and ranging (Lidar) samples of forest structure to estimate carbon storage, plus optical and microwave imagery (1-km resolution) to extrapolate over the landscape. The total biomass carbon stock of forests in the study region is estimated to be 247 Gt C, with 193 Gt C stored aboveground and 54 Gt C stored belowground in roots. Forests in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia accounted for 49%, 25%, and 26% of the total stock, respectively. By analyzing the errors propagated through the estimation process, uncertainty at the pixel level (100 ha) ranged from ±6% to ±53%, but was constrained at the typical project (10,000 ha) and national (>1,000,000 ha) scales at ca. ±5% and ca. ±1%, respectively. The benchmark map illustrates regional patterns and provides methodologically comparable estimates of carbon stocks for 75 developing countries where previous assessments were either poor or incomplete. PMID:21628575

Biophysical Controls over Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks in Desert Playa Wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

McKenna, O. P.; Sala, O. E.

2014-12-01

Playas are ephemeral desert wetlands situated at the bottom of closed catchments. Desert playas in the Southwestern US have not been intensively studied despite their potential importance for the functioning of desert ecosystems. We want to know which geomorphic and ecological variables control of the stock size of soil organic carbon, and soil total nitrogen in playas. We hypothesize that the magnitude of carbon and nitrogen stocks depends on: (a) catchment size, (b) catchment slope, (d) catchment vegetation cover, (e) bare-ground patch size, and (f) catchment soil texture. We chose thirty playas from across the Jornada Basin (Las Cruces, NM) ranging from 0.5-60ha in area and with varying catchment characteristics. We used the available 5m digital elevation map (DEM) to calculate the catchment size and catchment slope for these thirty playas. We measured percent cover, and patch size using the point-intercept method with three 10m transects in each catchment. We used the Bouyoucos-hydrometer soil particle analysis to determine catchment soil texture. Stocks of organic carbon and nitrogen were measured from soil samples at four depths (0-10 cm, 10-30 cm, 30-60 cm, 60-100 cm) using C/N combustion analysis. In terms of nitrogen and organic carbon storage, we found soil nitrogen values in the top 10cm ranging from 41.963-214.365 gN/m2, and soil organic carbon values in the top 10cm ranging from 594.339-2375.326 gC/m2. The results of a multiple regression analysis show a positive relationship between catchment slope and both organic carbon and nitrogen stock size (nitrogen: y= 56.801 +47.053, R2=0.621; organic carbon: y= 683.200 + 499.290x, R2= 0.536). These data support our hypothesis that catchment slope is one of factors controlling carbon and nitrogen stock in desert playas. We also applied our model to the 69 other playas of the Jornada Basin and estimated stock sizes (0-10cm) between 415.07-447.97 Mg for total soil nitrogen and 4627.99-5043.51 Mg for soil organic

Simultaneous reproduction of global carbon exchange and storage of terrestrial forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Kondo, M.; Ichii, K.

2012-12-01

Understanding the mechanism of the terrestrial carbon cycle is essential for assessing the impact of climate change. Quantification of both carbon exchange and storage is the key to the understanding, but it often associates with difficulties due to complex entanglement of environmental and physiological factors. Terrestrial ecosystem models have been the major tools to assess the terrestrial carbon budget for decades. Because of its strong association with climate change, carbon exchange has been more rigorously investigated by the terrestrial biosphere modeling community. Seeming success of model based assessment of carbon budge often accompanies with the ill effect, substantial misrepresentation of storage. In practice, a number of model based analyses have paid attention solely on terrestrial carbon fluxes and often neglected carbon storage such as forest biomass. Thus, resulting model parameters are inevitably oriented to carbon fluxes. This approach is insufficient to fully reduce uncertainties about future terrestrial carbon cycles and climate change because it does not take into account the role of biomass, which is equivalently important as carbon fluxes in the system of carbon cycle. To overcome this issue, a robust methodology for improving the global assessment of both carbon budget and storage is needed. One potentially effective approach to identify a suitable balance of carbon allocation proportions for each individual ecosystem. Carbon allocations can influence the plant growth by controlling the amount of investment acquired from photosynthesis, as well as carbon fluxes by controlling the carbon content of leaves and litter, both are active media for photosynthesis and decomposition. Considering those aspects, there may exist the suitable balance of allocation proportions enabling the simultaneous reproduction of carbon budget and storage. The present study explored the existence of such suitable balances of allocation proportions, and examines the

Carbon Sequestration in Colorado's Lands: A Spatial and Policy Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, N.; Brazeau, A.; Browning, K.; Meier, R.

2017-12-01

Managing landscapes to enhance terrestrial carbon sequestration has significant potential to mitigate climate change. While a previous carbon baseline assessment in Colorado has been published (Conant et al, 2007), our study pulls from the existing literature to conduct an updated baseline assessment of carbon stocks and a unique review of carbon policies in Colorado. Through a multi-level spatial analysis based in GIS and informed by a literature review, we established a carbon stock baseline and ran four land use and carbon stock projection scenarios using Monte Carlo simulations. We identified 11 key policy recommendations for improving Colorado's carbon stocks, and evaluated each using Bardach's policy matrix approach (Bardach, 2012). We utilized a series of case studies to support our policy recommendations. We found that Colorado's lands have a carbon stock of 3,334 MMT CO2eq, with Forests and Woodlands holding the largest stocks, at 1,490 and 774 MMT CO2eq respectively. Avoided conversion of all Grasslands, Forests, and Wetlands in Colorado projected over 40 years would increase carbon stocks by 32 MMT CO2eq, 1,053 MMT CO2eq, and 36 MMT CO2eq, respectively. Over the 40-year study period, Forests and Woodlands areas are projected to shrink while Shrublands and Developed areas are projected to grow. Those projections suggest sizable increases in area of future wildfires and development in Colorado. We found that numerous policy opportunities to sequester carbon exist at different jurisdictional levels and across land cover types. The largest opportunities were found in state-level policies and policies impacting Forests, Grasslands, and Wetlands. The passage of statewide emission reduction legislation has the highest potential to impact carbon sequestration, although political and administrative feasibility of this option are relatively low. This study contributes to the broader field of carbon sequestration literature by examining the nexus of carbon stocks

Nonautonomous linear system of the terrestrial carbon cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Y.

2012-12-01

Carbon cycle has been studied by uses of observation through various networks, field and laboratory experiments, and simulation models. Much less has been done on theoretical thinking and analysis to understand fundament properties of carbon cycle and then guide observatory, experimental, and modeling research. This presentation is to explore what would be the theoretical properties of terrestrial carbon cycle and how those properties can be used to make observatory, experimental, and modeling research more effective. Thousands of published data sets from litter decomposition and soil incubation studies almost all indicate that decay processes of litter and soil organic carbon can be well described by first order differential equations with one or more pools. Carbon pool dynamics in plants and soil after disturbances (e.g., wildfire, clear-cut of forests, and plows of soil for cropping) and during natural recovery or ecosystem restoration also exhibit characteristics of first-order linear systems. Thus, numerous lines of empirical evidence indicate that the terrestrial carbon cycle can be adequately described as a nonautonomous linear system. The linearity reflects the nature of the carbon cycle that carbon, once fixed by photosynthesis, is linearly transferred among pools within an ecosystem. The linear carbon transfer, however, is modified by nonlinear functions of external forcing variables. In addition, photosynthetic carbon influx is also nonlinearly influenced by external variables. This nonautonomous linear system can be mathematically expressed by a first-order linear ordinary matrix equation. We have recently used this theoretical property of terrestrial carbon cycle to develop a semi-analytic solution of spinup. The new methods have been applied to five global land models, including NCAR's CLM and CABLE models and can computationally accelerate spinup by two orders of magnitude. We also use this theoretical property to develop an analytic framework to

Soil Carbon Stocks Decrease following Conversion of Secondary Forests to Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) Plantations

Science.gov (United States)

de Blécourt, Marleen; Brumme, Rainer; Xu, Jianchu; Corre, Marife D.; Veldkamp, Edzo

2013-01-01

Forest-to-rubber plantation conversion is an important land-use change in the tropical region, for which the impacts on soil carbon stocks have hardly been studied. In montane mainland southeast Asia, monoculture rubber plantations cover 1.5 million ha and the conversion from secondary forests to rubber plantations is predicted to cause a fourfold expansion by 2050. Our study, conducted in southern Yunnan province, China, aimed to quantify the changes in soil carbon stocks following the conversion from secondary forests to rubber plantations. We sampled 11 rubber plantations ranging in age from 5 to 46 years and seven secondary forest plots using a space-for-time substitution approach. We found that forest-to-rubber plantation conversion resulted in losses of soil carbon stocks by an average of 37.4±4.7 (SE) Mg C ha−1 in the entire 1.2-m depth over a time period of 46 years, which was equal to 19.3±2.7% of the initial soil carbon stocks in the secondary forests. This decline in soil carbon stocks was much larger than differences between published aboveground carbon stocks of rubber plantations and secondary forests, which range from a loss of 18 Mg C ha−1 to an increase of 8 Mg C ha−1. In the topsoil, carbon stocks declined exponentially with years since deforestation and reached a steady state at around 20 years. Although the IPCC tier 1 method assumes that soil carbon changes from forest-to-rubber plantation conversions are zero, our findings show that they need to be included to avoid errors in estimating overall ecosystem carbon fluxes. PMID:23894456

Soil carbon stocks in Sarawak, Malaysia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Padmanabhan, E., E-mail: Eswaran_padmanabhan@petronas.com.my [Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Tronoh, 31750, Perak (Malaysia); Eswaran, H.; Reich, P.F. [USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC 20250 (United States)

2013-11-01

The relationship between greenhouse gas emission and climate change has led to research to identify and manage the natural sources and sinks of the gases. CO{sub 2}, CH{sub 4}, and N{sub 2}O have an anthropic source and of these CO{sub 2} is the least effective in trapping long wave radiation. Soil carbon sequestration can best be described as a process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and relocating into soils in a form that is not readily released back into the atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to estimate carbon stocks available under current conditions in Sarawak, Malaysia. SOC estimates are made for a standard depth of 100 cm unless the soil by definition is less than this depth, as in the case of lithic subgroups. Among the mineral soils, Inceptisols tend to generally have the highest carbon contents (about 25 kg m{sup −2} m{sup −1}), while Oxisols and Ultisols rate second (about 10–15 kg m{sup −2} m{sup −1}). The Oxisols store a good amount of carbon because of an appreciable time-frame to sequester carbon and possibly lower decomposition rates for the organic carbon that is found at 1 m depths. Wet soils such as peatlands tend to store significant amounts of carbon. The highest values estimated for such soils are about 114 kg m{sup −2} m{sup −1}. Such appreciable amounts can also be found in the Aquepts. In conclusion, it is pertinent to recognize that degradation of the carbon pool, just like desertification, is a real process and that this irreversible process must be addressed immediately. Therefore, appropriate soil management practices should be instituted to sequester large masses of soil carbon on an annual basis. This knowledge can be used effectively to formulate strategies to prevent forest fires and clearing: two processes that can quickly release sequestered carbon to the atmosphere in an almost irreversible manner. - Highlights: • Soil carbon stocks in different soils in Sarawak • In depth discussion of

Soil carbon stocks in Sarawak, Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padmanabhan, E.; Eswaran, H.; Reich, P.F.

2013-01-01

The relationship between greenhouse gas emission and climate change has led to research to identify and manage the natural sources and sinks of the gases. CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O have an anthropic source and of these CO 2 is the least effective in trapping long wave radiation. Soil carbon sequestration can best be described as a process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and relocating into soils in a form that is not readily released back into the atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to estimate carbon stocks available under current conditions in Sarawak, Malaysia. SOC estimates are made for a standard depth of 100 cm unless the soil by definition is less than this depth, as in the case of lithic subgroups. Among the mineral soils, Inceptisols tend to generally have the highest carbon contents (about 25 kg m −2 m −1 ), while Oxisols and Ultisols rate second (about 10–15 kg m −2 m −1 ). The Oxisols store a good amount of carbon because of an appreciable time-frame to sequester carbon and possibly lower decomposition rates for the organic carbon that is found at 1 m depths. Wet soils such as peatlands tend to store significant amounts of carbon. The highest values estimated for such soils are about 114 kg m −2 m −1 . Such appreciable amounts can also be found in the Aquepts. In conclusion, it is pertinent to recognize that degradation of the carbon pool, just like desertification, is a real process and that this irreversible process must be addressed immediately. Therefore, appropriate soil management practices should be instituted to sequester large masses of soil carbon on an annual basis. This knowledge can be used effectively to formulate strategies to prevent forest fires and clearing: two processes that can quickly release sequestered carbon to the atmosphere in an almost irreversible manner. - Highlights: • Soil carbon stocks in different soils in Sarawak • In depth discussion of soil carbon pools in Histosols • Strategies

Scotland's forgotten carbon: a national assessment of mid-latitude fjord sedimentary carbon stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Smeaton, Craig; Austin, William E. N.; Davies, Althea L.; Baltzer, Agnes; Howe, John A.; Baxter, John M.

2017-12-01

Fjords are recognised as hotspots for the burial and long-term storage of carbon (C) and potentially provide a significant climate regulation service over multiple timescales. Understanding the magnitude of marine sedimentary C stores and the processes which govern their development is fundamental to understanding the role of the coastal ocean in the global C cycle. In this study, we use the mid-latitude fjords of Scotland as a natural laboratory to further develop methods to quantify these marine sedimentary C stores on both the individual fjord and national scale. Targeted geophysical and geochemical analysis has allowed the quantification of sedimentary C stocks for a number of mid-latitude fjords and, coupled with upscaling techniques based on fjord classification, has generated the first full national sedimentary C inventory for a fjordic system. The sediments within these mid-latitude fjords hold 640.7 ± 46 Mt of C split between 295.6 ± 52 and 345.1 ± 39 Mt of organic and inorganic C, respectively. When compared, these marine mid-latitude sedimentary C stores are of similar magnitude to their terrestrial equivalents, with the exception of the Scottish peatlands, which hold significantly more C. However, when area-normalised comparisons are made, these mid-latitude fjords are significantly more effective as C stores than their terrestrial counterparts, including Scottish peatlands. The C held within Scotland's coastal marine sediments has been largely overlooked as a significant component of the nation's natural capital; such coastal C stores are likely to be key to understanding and constraining improved global C budgets.

Digital mapping of soil organic carbon contents and stocks in Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Adhikari, Kabindra; Hartemink, Alfred E; Minasny, Budiman; Bou Kheir, Rania; Greve, Mette B; Greve, Mogens H

2014-01-01

Estimation of carbon contents and stocks are important for carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and national carbon balance inventories. For Denmark, we modeled the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and bulk density, and mapped its spatial distribution at five standard soil depth intervals (0-5, 5-15, 15-30, 30-60 and 60-100 cm) using 18 environmental variables as predictors. SOC distribution was influenced by precipitation, land use, soil type, wetland, elevation, wetness index, and multi-resolution index of valley bottom flatness. The highest average SOC content of 20 g kg(-1) was reported for 0-5 cm soil, whereas there was on average 2.2 g SOC kg(-1) at 60-100 cm depth. For SOC and bulk density prediction precision decreased with soil depth, and a standard error of 2.8 g kg(-1) was found at 60-100 cm soil depth. Average SOC stock for 0-30 cm was 72 t ha(-1) and in the top 1 m there was 120 t SOC ha(-1). In total, the soils stored approximately 570 Tg C within the top 1 m. The soils under agriculture had the highest amount of carbon (444 Tg) followed by forest and semi-natural vegetation that contributed 11% of the total SOC stock. More than 60% of the total SOC stock was present in Podzols and Luvisols. Compared to previous estimates, our approach is more reliable as we adopted a robust quantification technique and mapped the spatial distribution of SOC stock and prediction uncertainty. The estimation was validated using common statistical indices and the data and high-resolution maps could be used for future soil carbon assessment and inventories.

Monitoring Forest Carbon Stocks and Fluxes in the Congo Basin

OpenAIRE

2010-01-01

The Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) and its partners (OFAC, USAID, EC-JRC, OSFAC, WWF, WRI, WCS, GOFC-GOLD, START, UN-FAO) organized an international conference on "Monitoring of Carbon stocks and fluxes in the Congo Basin" in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, 2-4 February 2010. The conference brought together leading international specialists to discuss approaches for quantifying stocks and flows of carbon in tropical forests of the Congo Basin. The conference provided a unique op...

Carbon stocks assessment in subtropical forest types of Kashmir Himalayas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaheen, H.; Khan, R.W.A.; Hussain, K.; Ullah, T.S.; Mehmood, A.

2016-01-01

Estimation of carbon sequestration in forest ecosystem is necessary to mitigate impacts of climate change. Current research project was focused to assess the Carbon contents in standing trees and soil of different subtropical forest sites in Kashmir. Tree biomass was estimated by using allometric equations whereas Soil carbon was calculated by Walkey-Black titration method. Total carbon stock was computed as 186.27 t/ha with highest value of 326 t/ha recorded from Pinus roxburghii forest whereas lowest of 75.86 t/ha at mixed forest. Average biomass carbon was found to be 151.38 t/ha with a maximum value of 294.7 t/ha and minimum of 43.4 t/ha. Pinus roxburghii was the most significant species having biomass value of 191.8 t/ha, followed by Olea cuspidata (68.9 t/ha), Acacia modesta (12.71 t/ha), Dalbergia sissoo (12.01 t/ha), Broussonetia papyrifera (5.93 t/ha), Punica granatum (2.27 t/ha), Mallotus philippensis (2.2 t/ha), Albizia lebbeck (1.8t/ha), Ficus palmata (1.51 t/ha), Acacia arabica (1.4 t/ha), Melia azedarach, (1.14 t/ha) and Ficus carica (1.07 t/ha) respectively. Recorded value of tree density was 492/ha; average DBH was 87.27 cm; tree height was 13.3m; and regeneration value was 83 seedlings/ha. Soil carbon stocks were found to be 34.89 t/ha whereas agricultural soil carbon was calculated as 27.18 t/ha. Intense deforestation was represented by a stump density of 147.4/ha. The results of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed the distinct species clusters on the basis of location, biomass and Carbon stock values. Pinus roxburghii and Olea cuspidata were found to be the major contributors of carbon stock having maximum vector lengths in the PCA Biplot. Forest in the area needs to be managed in a sustainable manner to increase its carbon sequestration potential. (author)

Soil salinity decreases global soil organic carbon stocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Setia, Raj; Gottschalk, Pia; Smith, Pete; Marschner, Petra; Baldock, Jeff; Setia, Deepika; Smith, Jo

2013-11-01

Saline soils cover 3.1% (397 million hectare) of the total land area of the world. The stock of soil organic carbon (SOC) reflects the balance between carbon (C) inputs from plants, and losses through decomposition, leaching and erosion. Soil salinity decreases plant productivity and hence C inputs to the soil, but also microbial activity and therefore SOC decomposition rates. Using a modified Rothamsted Carbon model (RothC) with a newly introduced salinity decomposition rate modifier and a plant input modifier we estimate that, historically, world soils that are currently saline have lost an average of 3.47 tSOC ha(-1) since they became saline. With the extent of saline soils predicted to increase in the future, our modelling suggests that world soils may lose 6.8 Pg SOC due to salinity by the year 2100. Our findings suggest that current models overestimate future global SOC stocks and underestimate net CO2 emissions from the soil-plant system by not taking salinity effects into account. From the perspective of enhancing soil C stocks, however, given the lower SOC decomposition rate in saline soils, salt tolerant plants could be used to sequester C in salt-affected areas. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Community monitoring of carbon stocks for REDD+

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brofeldt, Søren; Theilade, Ida; Burgess, Neil David

2014-01-01

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) is a potentially powerful international policy mechanism that many tropica...

Nitrogen attenuation of terrestrial carbon cycle response to global environmental factors

Science.gov (United States)

Atul Jain; Xiaojuan Yang; Haroon Kheshgi; A. David McGuire; Wilfred Post; David. Kicklighter

2009-01-01

Nitrogen cycle dynamics have the capacity to attenuate the magnitude of global terrestrial carbon sinks and sources driven by CO2 fertilization and changes in climate. In this study, two versions of the terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycle components of the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM) are used to evaluate how variation in nitrogen...

Carbon Stocks of Fine Woody Debris in Coppice Oak Forests at Different Development Stages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ender Makineci

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Dead woody debris is a significant component of the carbon cycle in forest ecosystems. This study was conducted in coppice-originated oak forests to determine carbon stocks of dead woody debris in addition to carbon stocks of different ecosystem compartments from the same area and forests which were formerly elucidated. Weight and carbon stocks of woody debris were determined with recent samplings and compared among development stages (diameter at breast height (DBH, D1.3m, namely small-diameter forests (SDF = 0–8 cm, medium diameter forests (MDF = 8–20 cm, and large-diameter forests (LDF = 20–36 cm. Total woody debris was collected in samplings; as bilateral diameters of all woody debris parts were less than 10 cm, all woody parts were in the “fine woody debris (FWD” class. The carbon concentrations of FWD were about 48% for all stages. Mass (0.78–4.92 Mg·ha−1 and carbon stocks (0.38–2.39 Mg·ha−1 of FWD were significantly (p > 0.05 different among development stages. FWD carbon stocks were observed to have significant correlation with D1.3m, age, basal area, and carbon stocks of aboveground biomass (Spearman rank correlation coefficients; 0.757, 0.735, 0.709, and 0.694, respectively. The most important effects on carbon budgets of fine woody debris were determined to be coppice management and intensive utilization. Also, national forestry management, treatments of traditional former coppice, and conversion to high forest were emphasized as having substantial effects.

Above Ground Carbon Stock Estimates of Mangrove Forest Using Worldview-2 Imagery in Teluk Benoa, Bali

Science.gov (United States)

Candra, E. D.; Hartono; Wicaksono, P.

2016-11-01

Mangrove forests have a role as an absorbent and a carbon sink to a reduction CO2 in the atmosphere. Based on the previous studies found that mangrove forests have the ability to sequestering carbon through photosynthesis and carbon burial of sediment effectively. The value and distribution of carbon stock are important to understand through remote sensing technology. In this study, will estimate the carbon stock using WorldView-2 imagery with and without distinction mangrove species. Worldview-2 is a high resolution image with 2 meters spatial resolution and eight spectral bands. Worldview-2 potential to estimate carbon stock in detail. Vegetation indices such as DVI (Difference Vegetation Index), EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index), and MRE-SR (Modified Red Edge-Simple Ratio) and field data were modeled to determine the best vegetation indices to estimate carbon stocks. Carbon stock estimated by allometric equation approach specific to each species of mangrove. Worldview-2 imagery to map mangrove species with an accuracy of 80.95%. Total carbon stock estimation results in the study area of 35.349,87 tons of dominant species Rhizophora apiculata, Rhizophora mucronata and Sonneratia alba.

The role of composition, invasives, and maintenance emissions on urban forest carbon stocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Josh; Escobedo, Francisco J; Hinkle, Ross; Hostetler, Mark; Timilsina, Nilesh

2015-02-01

There are few field-based, empirical studies quantifying the effect of invasive trees and palms and maintenance-related carbon emissions on changes in urban forest carbon stocks. We estimated carbon (C) stock changes and tree maintenance-related C emissions in a subtropical urban forest by re-measuring a subsample of residential permanent plots during 2009 and 2011, using regional allometric biomass equations, and surveying residential homeowners near Orlando, FL, USA. The effect of native, non-native, invasive tree species and palms on C stocks and sequestration was also quantified. Findings show 17.8 tC/ha in stocks and 1.2 tC/ha/year of net sequestration. The most important species both by frequency of C stocks and sequestration were Quercus laurifolia Michx. and Quercus virginiana Mill., accounting for 20% of all the trees measured; 60% of carbon stocks and over 75% of net C sequestration. Palms contributed to less than 1% of the total C stocks. Natives comprised two-thirds of the tree population and sequestered 90% of all C, while invasive trees and palms accounted for 5 % of net C sequestration. Overall, invasive and exotic trees had a limited contribution to total C stocks and sequestration. Annual tree-related maintenance C emissions were 0.1% of total gross C sequestration. Plot-level tree, palm, and litter cover were correlated to C stocks and net sequestration. Findings can be used to complement existing urban forest C offset accounting and monitoring protocols and to better understand the role of invasive woody plants on urban ecosystem service provision.

Prescribed fire effects on field-derived and simulated forest carbon stocks over time

Science.gov (United States)

Nicole M. Vaillant; Alicia L. Reiner; Erin K. Noonan-Wright

2013-01-01

To better understand the impact of prescribed fire on carbon stocks, we quantified aboveground and belowground carbon stocks within five pools (live trees and coarse roots, dead trees and coarse roots, live understory vegetation, down woody debris, and litter and duff) and potential carbon emissions from a simulated wildfire before and up to 8 years after prescribed...

Global carbon stocks and potential emissions due to mangrove deforestation from 2000 to 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Stuart E.; Friess, Daniel A.

2018-03-01

Mangrove forests store high densities of organic carbon, which, when coupled with high rates of deforestation, means that mangroves have the potential to contribute substantially to carbon emissions. Consequently, mangroves are strong candidates for inclusion in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and payments for ecosystem services (PES) programmes that financially incentivize the conservation of forested carbon stocks. This study quantifies annual mangrove carbon stocks from 2000 to 2012 at the global, national and sub-national levels, and global carbon emissions resulting from deforestation over the same time period. Globally, mangroves stored 4.19 Pg of carbon in 2012, with Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea accounting for more than 50% of the global stock. 2.96 Pg of the global carbon stock is contained within the soil and 1.23 Pg in the living biomass. Two percent of global mangrove carbon was lost between 2000 and 2012, equivalent to a maximum potential of 316,996,250 t of CO2 emissions.

Influence of multiple global change drivers on terrestrial carbon storage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yue, Kai; Fornara, Dario A; Yang, Wanqin

2017-01-01

The interactive effects of multiple global change drivers on terrestrial carbon (C) storage remain poorly understood. Here, we synthesise data from 633 published studies to show how the interactive effects of multiple drivers are generally additive (i.e. not differing from the sum of their indivi......The interactive effects of multiple global change drivers on terrestrial carbon (C) storage remain poorly understood. Here, we synthesise data from 633 published studies to show how the interactive effects of multiple drivers are generally additive (i.e. not differing from the sum...... additive effects of multiple global change drivers into future assessments of the C storage ability of terrestrial ecosystems....

Soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in forests along an altitudinal gradient in the eastern Himalayas and a meta-analysis of global data.

Science.gov (United States)

Tashi, Sonam; Singh, Balwant; Keitel, Claudia; Adams, Mark

2016-06-01

High-altitude soils potentially store a large pool of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). The assessment of total C and N stocks in soils is vital to understanding the C and N dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we examined effects of altitude and forest composition on soil C and N along a transect from 317 to 3300 m a.s.l. in the eastern Himalayas. We used meta-analysis to establish the context for our results on the effects of altitude on soil C, including variation with depth. Total C and N contents of soils significantly increased with altitude, but decreased with soil depth. Carbon and N were similarly correlated with altitude and temperature, and temperature was seemingly the main driver of soil C along the altitudinal gradient. Altitude accounted for 73% of the variation in C and 47% of the variation in N stocks. Soil pH and cation exchange capacity were correlated with both soil C and N stocks. Increases in soil C and N stocks were related to forest composition, forest basal area as well as quantity of leaf litter that were in turn influenced by altitude and temperature. Concentrations of C in foliage increased by 2.1% for every 1000 m rise in altitude, while that in leaf litter increased by 2.3%. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Carbon stocks in tree biomass and soils of German forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wellbrock Nicole

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Close to one third of Germany is forested. Forests are able to store significant quantities of carbon (C in the biomass and in the soil. Coordinated by the Thünen Institute, the German National Forest Inventory (NFI and the National Forest Soil Inventory (NFSI have generated data to estimate the carbon storage capacity of forests. The second NFI started in 2002 and had been repeated in 2012. The reporting time for the NFSI was 1990 to 2006. Living forest biomass, deadwood, litter and soils up to a depth of 90 cm have stored 2500 t of carbon within the reporting time. Over all 224 t C ha-1 in aboveground and belowground biomass, deadwood and soil are stored in forests. Specifically, 46% stored in above-ground and below-ground biomass, 1% in dead wood and 53% in the organic layer together with soil up to 90 cm. Carbon stocks in mineral soils up to 30 cm mineral soil increase about 0.4 t C ha-1 yr-1 stocks between the inventories while the carbon pool in the organic layers declined slightly. In the living biomass carbon stocks increased about 1.0 t C ha-1 yr-1. In Germany, approximately 58 mill. tonnes of CO2 were sequestered in 2012 (NIR 2017.

Effects of land use on soil inorganic carbon stocks in the Russian Chernozem.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikhailova, Elena A; Post, Christopher J

2006-01-01

Little is known about changes in soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stocks with depth and with land use in grassland ecosystems. This study was conducted to determine SIC stocks under different management regimes in the Mollisol, one of the typical soils in grasslands. Four sites were sampled: a native grassland field (not cultivated for at least 300 yr), an adjacent 50-yr continuous fallow field, a yearly cut hay field in the V.V. Alekhin Central-Chernozem Biosphere State Reserve in the Kursk region of Russia, and a continuously cropped field in the Experimental Station of the Kursk Institute of Agronomy and Soil Erosion Control. All sampled soils were classified as fine-silty, mixed, frigid Pachic Hapludolls. Significant differences occurred in SIC stocks between cultivated and grassland soil. The inorganic carbon stocks in the top 2 m were 107 Mg ha(-1) for the native grassland, 91 Mg ha(-1) for the yearly cut hay field, 242 Mg ha(-1) for the continuously cropped field, and 196 Mg ha(-1) for the 50-yr continuous fallow. The SIC was in the form of calcium carbonate and was mostly stored below the 1-m depth. The largest difference between inorganic carbon stocks was observed between the continuously cropped field and native grassland. The increase in inorganic carbon in the continuously cropped field and continuous fallow was attributed to initial cultivation and fertilization. Soil inorganic carbon in Mollisols is not accounted for in the current global carbon estimates.

Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yi, Chuixiang; Ricciuto, Daniel; Li, Runze

2010-01-01

Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate–carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships betwe...

Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yi, C.; Ricciuto, D.; Li, R.; Hendriks, D.M.D.; Moors, E.J.; Valentini, R.

2010-01-01

Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between

Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yi, C.; Jacobs, C.M.J.; Moors, E.J.; Elbers, J.A.

2010-01-01

Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate–carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between

Ecosystem carbon stocks and sequestration potential of federal lands across the conterminous United States

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Zhengxi; Liu, Shuguang; Sohl, Terry L.; Wu, Yiping; Young, Claudia J.

2015-01-01

Federal lands across the conterminous United States (CONUS) account for 23.5% of the CONUS terrestrial area but have received no systematic studies on their ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics and contribution to the national C budgets. The methodology for US Congress-mandated national biological C sequestration potential assessment was used to evaluate ecosystem C dynamics in CONUS federal lands at present and in the future under three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios (IPCC SRES) A1B, A2, and B1. The total ecosystem C stock was estimated as 11,613 Tg C in 2005 and projected to be 13,965 Tg C in 2050, an average increase of 19.4% from the baseline. The projected annual C sequestration rate (in kilograms of carbon per hectare per year) from 2006 to 2050 would be sinks of 620 and 228 for forests and grasslands, respectively, and C sources of 13 for shrublands. The federal lands’ contribution to the national ecosystem C budget could decrease from 23.3% in 2005 to 20.8% in 2050. The C sequestration potential in the future depends not only on the footprint of individual ecosystems but also on each federal agency’s land use and management. The results presented here update our current knowledge about the baseline ecosystem C stock and sequestration potential of federal lands, which would be useful for federal agencies to decide management practices to achieve the national greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation goal.

Ecosystem carbon stocks and sequestration potential of federal lands across the conterminous United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Zhengxi; Liu, Shuguang; Sohl, Terry L; Wu, Yiping; Young, Claudia J

2015-10-13

Federal lands across the conterminous United States (CONUS) account for 23.5% of the CONUS terrestrial area but have received no systematic studies on their ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics and contribution to the national C budgets. The methodology for US Congress-mandated national biological C sequestration potential assessment was used to evaluate ecosystem C dynamics in CONUS federal lands at present and in the future under three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios (IPCC SRES) A1B, A2, and B1. The total ecosystem C stock was estimated as 11,613 Tg C in 2005 and projected to be 13,965 Tg C in 2050, an average increase of 19.4% from the baseline. The projected annual C sequestration rate (in kilograms of carbon per hectare per year) from 2006 to 2050 would be sinks of 620 and 228 for forests and grasslands, respectively, and C sources of 13 for shrublands. The federal lands' contribution to the national ecosystem C budget could decrease from 23.3% in 2005 to 20.8% in 2050. The C sequestration potential in the future depends not only on the footprint of individual ecosystems but also on each federal agency's land use and management. The results presented here update our current knowledge about the baseline ecosystem C stock and sequestration potential of federal lands, which would be useful for federal agencies to decide management practices to achieve the national greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation goal.

Climatic regions as an indicator of forest coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liknes Greg C

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Coarse and fine woody debris are substantial forest ecosystem carbon stocks; however, there is a lack of understanding how these detrital carbon stocks vary across forested landscapes. Because forest woody detritus production and decay rates may partially depend on climatic conditions, the accumulation of coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks in forests may be correlated with climate. This study used a nationwide inventory of coarse and fine woody debris in the United States to examine how these carbon stocks vary by climatic regions and variables. Results Mean coarse and fine woody debris forest carbon stocks vary by Köppen's climatic regions across the United States. The highest carbon stocks were found in regions with cool summers while the lowest carbon stocks were found in arid desert/steppes or temperate humid regions. Coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks were found to be positively correlated with available moisture and negatively correlated with maximum temperature. Conclusion It was concluded with only medium confidence that coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks may be at risk of becoming net emitter of carbon under a global climate warming scenario as increases in coarse or fine woody debris production (sinks may be more than offset by increases in forest woody detritus decay rates (emission. Given the preliminary results of this study and the rather tenuous status of coarse and fine woody debris carbon stocks as either a source or sink of CO2, further research is suggested in the areas of forest detritus decay and production.

Carbon stock of oil palm plantations and tropical forests in Malaysia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kho, Lip Khoon; Jepsen, Martin Rudbeck

2015-01-01

cultivation (fallow forests) and 3) oil palm plantations. The forest ecosystems are classified by successional stage and edaphic conditions and represent samples along a forest succession continuum spanning pioneer species in shifting cultivation fallows to climax vegetation in old-growth forests. Total......In Malaysia, the main land change process is the establishment of oil palm plantations on logged-over forests and areas used for shifting cultivation, which is the traditional farming system. While standing carbon stocks of old-growth forest have been the focus of many studies, this is less...... the case for Malaysian fallow systems and oil palm plantations. Here, we collate and analyse Malaysian datasets on total carbon stocks for both above- and below-ground biomass. We review the current knowledge on standing carbon stocks of 1) different forest ecosystems, 2) areas subject to shifting...

ForC: a global database of forest carbon stocks and fluxes.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J; Wang, Maria M H; McGarvey, Jennifer C; Herrmann, Valentine; Tepley, Alan J; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; LeBauer, David S

2018-06-01

Forests play an influential role in the global carbon (C) cycle, storing roughly half of terrestrial C and annually exchanging with the atmosphere more than five times the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emitted by anthropogenic activities. Yet, scaling up from field-based measurements of forest C stocks and fluxes to understand global scale C cycling and its climate sensitivity remains an important challenge. Tens of thousands of forest C measurements have been made, but these data have yet to be integrated into a single database that makes them accessible for integrated analyses. Here we present an open-access global Forest Carbon database (ForC) containing previously published records of field-based measurements of ecosystem-level C stocks and annual fluxes, along with disturbance history and methodological information. ForC expands upon the previously published tropical portion of this database, TropForC (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t516f), now including 17,367 records (previously 3,568) representing 2,731 plots (previously 845) in 826 geographically distinct areas. The database covers all forested biogeographic and climate zones, represents forest stands of all ages, and currently includes data collected between 1934 and 2015. We expect that ForC will prove useful for macroecological analyses of forest C cycling, for evaluation of model predictions or remote sensing products, for quantifying the contribution of forests to the global C cycle, and for supporting international efforts to inventory forest carbon and greenhouse gas exchange. A dynamic version of ForC is maintained at on GitHub (https://GitHub.com/forc-db), and we encourage the research community to collaborate in updating, correcting, expanding, and utilizing this database. ForC is an open access database, and we encourage use of the data for scientific research and education purposes. Data may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission of the database PI. Any publications using For

Dynamics Analysis Of Land-Based Carbon Stock In The Region Of Samarinda East Kalimantan Province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zikri Azham

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study aims to determine the potential dynamics of carbon stocks in various land cover classes in the city of Samarinda in the calculation of carbon stocks land cover only devided into three 3 Class Land Cover CLC is a secondary forest CLC CLC thickets and CLC shrubs. Research results show that the above ground carbon AGC stocks on Secondary Forest Land Cover Class average of 71.93 tonnesha the land cover classes thickets of 32.34 tonnes hectares and shrubs land cover classes of 19.66 tonnes hectare. The carbon stocks in 2009 amounted to 2589929 tonnes in 2012 there were 2347477 tons and in 2015 there were 2201005 tonnes. Estimated decrease in land-based stock carbon in the city of Samarinda during the period 2009-2015 amounted to 388943 tonnes or an average of 70170 tonnes per year or approximately 2.73year or the emissions in the field of land amounting to 254538 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Digital Mapping of Soil Organic Carbon Contents and Stocks in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adhikari, Kabindra; Hartemink, Alfred E.; Minasny, Budiman

2014-01-01

Estimation of carbon contents and stocks are important for carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and national carbon balance inventories. For Denmark, we modeled the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and bulk density, and mapped its spatial distribution at five standard ...

Effects of Deforestation and Forest Degradation on Forest Carbon Stocks in Collaborative Forests, Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ram Asheshwar MANDAL

2012-12-01

Full Text Available There are some key drivers that favor deforestation and forest degradation. Consequently, levels of carbon stock are affected in different parts of same forest types. But the problem lies in exploring the extent of the effects on level of carbon stocking. This paper highlights the variations in levels of carbon stocks in three different collaborative forests of same forest type i.e. tropical sal (Shorea robusta forest in Mahottari district of the central Terai in Nepal. Three collaborative forests namely Gadhanta-Bardibas Collaborative Forest (CFM, Tuteshwarnath CFM and Banke- Maraha CFM were selected for research site. Interview and workshops were organized with the key informants that include staffs, members and representatives of CFMs to collect the socio-economic data and stratified random sampling was applied to collect the bio-physical data to calculate the carbon stocks. Analysis was carried out using statistical tools. It was found five major drivers namely grazing, fire, logging, growth of invasive species and encroachment. It was found highest carbon 269.36 ton per ha in Gadhanta- Bardibash CFM. The findings showed that the levels of carbon stocks in the three studied CFMs are different depending on how the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation influence over them.

Scotland's forgotten carbon: a national assessment of mid-latitude fjord sedimentary carbon stocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Smeaton

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Fjords are recognised as hotspots for the burial and long-term storage of carbon (C and potentially provide a significant climate regulation service over multiple timescales. Understanding the magnitude of marine sedimentary C stores and the processes which govern their development is fundamental to understanding the role of the coastal ocean in the global C cycle. In this study, we use the mid-latitude fjords of Scotland as a natural laboratory to further develop methods to quantify these marine sedimentary C stores on both the individual fjord and national scale. Targeted geophysical and geochemical analysis has allowed the quantification of sedimentary C stocks for a number of mid-latitude fjords and, coupled with upscaling techniques based on fjord classification, has generated the first full national sedimentary C inventory for a fjordic system. The sediments within these mid-latitude fjords hold 640.7 ± 46 Mt of C split between 295.6 ± 52 and 345.1 ± 39 Mt of organic and inorganic C, respectively. When compared, these marine mid-latitude sedimentary C stores are of similar magnitude to their terrestrial equivalents, with the exception of the Scottish peatlands, which hold significantly more C. However, when area-normalised comparisons are made, these mid-latitude fjords are significantly more effective as C stores than their terrestrial counterparts, including Scottish peatlands. The C held within Scotland's coastal marine sediments has been largely overlooked as a significant component of the nation's natural capital; such coastal C stores are likely to be key to understanding and constraining improved global C budgets.

Developing Cost-Effective Field Assessments of Carbon Stocks in Human-Modified Tropical Forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Berenguer, Erika; Gardner, Toby A; Ferreira, Joice; Aragão, Luiz E O C; Camargo, Plínio B; Cerri, Carlos E; Durigan, Mariana; Oliveira Junior, Raimundo C; Vieira, Ima C G; Barlow, Jos

2015-01-01

Across the tropics, there is a growing financial investment in activities that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, such as REDD+. However, most tropical countries lack on-the-ground capacity to conduct reliable and replicable assessments of forest carbon stocks, undermining their ability to secure long-term carbon finance for forest conservation programs. Clear guidance on how to reduce the monetary and time costs of field assessments of forest carbon can help tropical countries to overcome this capacity gap. Here we provide such guidance for cost-effective one-off field assessments of forest carbon stocks. We sampled a total of eight components from four different carbon pools (i.e. aboveground, dead wood, litter and soil) in 224 study plots distributed across two regions of eastern Amazon. For each component we estimated survey costs, contribution to total forest carbon stocks and sensitivity to disturbance. Sampling costs varied thirty-one-fold between the most expensive component, soil, and the least, leaf litter. Large live stems (≥10 cm DBH), which represented only 15% of the overall sampling costs, was by far the most important component to be assessed, as it stores the largest amount of carbon and is highly sensitive to disturbance. If large stems are not taxonomically identified, costs can be reduced by a further 51%, while incurring an error in aboveground carbon estimates of only 5% in primary forests, but 31% in secondary forests. For rapid assessments, necessary to help prioritize locations for carbon- conservation activities, sampling of stems ≥20cm DBH without taxonomic identification can predict with confidence (R2 = 0.85) whether an area is relatively carbon-rich or carbon-poor-an approach that is 74% cheaper than sampling and identifying all the stems ≥10cm DBH. We use these results to evaluate the reliability of forest carbon stock estimates provided by the IPCC and FAO when applied to human-modified forests

Developing Cost-Effective Field Assessments of Carbon Stocks in Human-Modified Tropical Forests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erika Berenguer

Full Text Available Across the tropics, there is a growing financial investment in activities that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, such as REDD+. However, most tropical countries lack on-the-ground capacity to conduct reliable and replicable assessments of forest carbon stocks, undermining their ability to secure long-term carbon finance for forest conservation programs. Clear guidance on how to reduce the monetary and time costs of field assessments of forest carbon can help tropical countries to overcome this capacity gap. Here we provide such guidance for cost-effective one-off field assessments of forest carbon stocks. We sampled a total of eight components from four different carbon pools (i.e. aboveground, dead wood, litter and soil in 224 study plots distributed across two regions of eastern Amazon. For each component we estimated survey costs, contribution to total forest carbon stocks and sensitivity to disturbance. Sampling costs varied thirty-one-fold between the most expensive component, soil, and the least, leaf litter. Large live stems (≥10 cm DBH, which represented only 15% of the overall sampling costs, was by far the most important component to be assessed, as it stores the largest amount of carbon and is highly sensitive to disturbance. If large stems are not taxonomically identified, costs can be reduced by a further 51%, while incurring an error in aboveground carbon estimates of only 5% in primary forests, but 31% in secondary forests. For rapid assessments, necessary to help prioritize locations for carbon- conservation activities, sampling of stems ≥20cm DBH without taxonomic identification can predict with confidence (R2 = 0.85 whether an area is relatively carbon-rich or carbon-poor-an approach that is 74% cheaper than sampling and identifying all the stems ≥10cm DBH. We use these results to evaluate the reliability of forest carbon stock estimates provided by the IPCC and FAO when applied to human

High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon.

Science.gov (United States)

Asner, Gregory P; Powell, George V N; Mascaro, Joseph; Knapp, David E; Clark, John K; Jacobson, James; Kennedy-Bowdoin, Ty; Balaji, Aravindh; Paez-Acosta, Guayana; Victoria, Eloy; Secada, Laura; Valqui, Michael; Hughes, R Flint

2010-09-21

Efforts to mitigate climate change through the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) depend on mapping and monitoring of tropical forest carbon stocks and emissions over large geographic areas. With a new integrated use of satellite imaging, airborne light detection and ranging, and field plots, we mapped aboveground carbon stocks and emissions at 0.1-ha resolution over 4.3 million ha of the Peruvian Amazon, an area twice that of all forests in Costa Rica, to reveal the determinants of forest carbon density and to demonstrate the feasibility of mapping carbon emissions for REDD. We discovered previously unknown variation in carbon storage at multiple scales based on geologic substrate and forest type. From 1999 to 2009, emissions from land use totaled 1.1% of the standing carbon throughout the region. Forest degradation, such as from selective logging, increased regional carbon emissions by 47% over deforestation alone, and secondary regrowth provided an 18% offset against total gross emissions. Very high-resolution monitoring reduces uncertainty in carbon emissions for REDD programs while uncovering fundamental environmental controls on forest carbon storage and their interactions with land-use change.

Multi-factor controls on terrestrial carbon dynamics in urbanized areas

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C.; Tian, H.; Pan, S.; Lockaby, G.; Chappelka, A.

2014-12-01

As urban land expands rapidly across the globe, much concern has been raised that urbanization may alter the terrestrial carbon cycle. Urbanization involves complex changes in land structure and multiple environmental factors. Little is known about the relative contribution of these individual factors and their interactions to the terrestrial carbon dynamics, however, which is essential for assessing the effectiveness of carbon sequestration policies focusing on urban development. This study developed a comprehensive analysis framework for quantifying relative contribution of individual factors (and their interactions) to terrestrial carbon dynamics in urbanized areas. We identified 15 factors belonging to five categories, and we applied a newly developed factorial analysis scheme to the southern United States (SUS), a rapidly urbanizing region. In all, 24 numeric experiments were designed to systematically isolate and quantify the relative contribution of individual factors. We found that the impact of land conversion was far larger than other factors. Urban managements and the overall interactive effects among major factors, however, created a carbon sink that compensated for 42% of the carbon loss in land conversion. Our findings provide valuable information for regional carbon management in the SUS: (1) it is preferable to preserve pre-urban carbon pools than to rely on the carbon sinks in urban ecosystems to compensate for the carbon loss in land conversion. (2) In forested areas, it is recommendable to improve landscape design (e.g., by arranging green spaces close to the city center) to maximize the urbanization-induced environmental change effect on carbon sequestration. Urbanization-induced environmental change will be less effective in shrubland regions. (3) Urban carbon sequestration can be significantly improved through changes in management practices, such as increased irrigation and fertilizer and targeted use of vehicles and machinery with least

Effects of harvesting on spatial and temporal diversity of carbon stocks in a boreal forest landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Ter-Mikaelian, Michael T; Colombo, Stephen J; Chen, Jiaxin

2013-10-01

Carbon stocks in managed forests of Ontario, Canada, and in harvested wood products originated from these forests were estimated for 2010-2100. Simulations included four future forest harvesting scenarios based on historical harvesting levels (low, average, high, and maximum available) and a no-harvest scenario. In four harvesting scenarios, forest carbon stocks in Ontario's managed forest were estimated to range from 6202 to 6227 Mt C (millions of tons of carbon) in 2010, and from 6121 to 6428 Mt C by 2100. Inclusion of carbon stored in harvested wood products in use and in landfills changed the projected range in 2100 to 6710-6742 Mt C. For the no-harvest scenario, forest carbon stocks were projected to change from 6246 Mt C in 2010 to 6680 Mt C in 2100. Spatial variation in projected forest carbon stocks was strongly related to changes in forest age (r = 0.603), but had weak correlation with harvesting rates. For all managed forests in Ontario combined, projected carbon stocks in combined forest and harvested wood products converged to within 2% difference by 2100. The results suggest that harvesting in the boreal forest, if applied within limits of sustainable forest management, will eventually have a relatively small effect on long-term combined forest and wood products carbon stocks. However, there was a large time lag to approach carbon equality, with more than 90 years with a net reduction in stored carbon in harvested forests plus wood products compared to nonharvested boreal forest which also has low rates of natural disturbance. The eventual near equivalency of carbon stocks in nonharvested forest and forest that is harvested and protected from natural disturbance reflects both the accumulation of carbon in harvested wood products and the relatively young age at which boreal forest stands undergo natural succession in the absence of disturbance.

Large Differences in Global and Regional Total Soil Carbon Stock Estimates Based on SoilGrids, HWSD, and NCSCD: Intercomparison and Evaluation Based on Field Data From USA, England, Wales, and France

Science.gov (United States)

Tifafi, Marwa; Guenet, Bertrand; Hatté, Christine

2018-01-01

Soils are the major component of the terrestrial ecosystem and the largest organic carbon reservoir on Earth. However, they are a nonrenewable natural resource and especially reactive to human disturbance and climate change. Despite its importance, soil carbon dynamics is an important source of uncertainty for future climate predictions and there is a growing need for more precise information to better understand the mechanisms controlling soil carbon dynamics and better constrain Earth system models. The aim of our work is to compare soil organic carbon stocks given by different global and regional databases that already exist. We calculated global and regional soil carbon stocks at 1 m depth given by three existing databases (SoilGrids, the Harmonized World Soil Database, and the Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database). We observed that total stocks predicted by each product differ greatly: it is estimated to be around 3,400 Pg by SoilGrids and is about 2,500 Pg according to Harmonized World Soil Database. This difference is marked in particular for boreal regions where differences can be related to high disparities in soil organic carbon concentration. Differences in other regions are more limited and may be related to differences in bulk density estimates. Finally, evaluation of the three data sets versus ground truth data shows that (i) there is a significant difference in spatial patterns between ground truth data and compared data sets and that (ii) data sets underestimate by more than 40% the soil organic carbon stock compared to field data.

Effects of rapid urban sprawl on urban forest carbon stocks: integrating remotely sensed, GIS and forest inventory data.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Yin; Yan, Jing; Wei, Xiaohua; Wang, Yajun; Yang, Yusheng; Hua, Lizhong; Xiong, Yongzhu; Niu, Xiang; Song, Xiaodong

2012-12-30

Research on the effects of urban sprawl on carbon stocks within urban forests can help support policy for sustainable urban design. This is particularly important given climate change and environmental deterioration as a result of rapid urbanization. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of urban sprawl on dynamics of forest carbon stock and density in Xiamen, a typical city experiencing rapid urbanization in China. Forest resource inventory data collected from 32,898 patches in 4 years (1972, 1988, 1996 and 2006), together with remotely sensed data (from 1988, 1996 and 2006), were used to investigate vegetation carbon densities and stocks in Xiamen, China. We classified the forests into four groups: (1) forest patches connected to construction land; (2) forest patches connected to farmland; (3) forest patches connected to both construction land and farmland and (4) close forest patches. Carbon stocks and densities of four different types of forest patches during different urbanization periods in three zones (urban core, suburb and exurb) were compared to assess the impact of human disturbance on forest carbon. In the urban core, the carbon stock and carbon density in all four forest patch types declined over the study period. In the suburbs, different urbanization processes influenced forest carbon density and carbon stock in all four forest patch types. Urban sprawl negatively affected the surrounding forests. In the exurbs, the carbon stock and carbon density in all four forest patch types tended to increase over the study period. The results revealed that human disturbance played the dominant role in influencing the carbon stock and density of forest patches close to the locations of human activities. In forest patches far away from the locations of human activities, natural forest regrowth was the dominant factor affecting carbon stock and density. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trading carbon for food: global comparison of carbon stocks vs. crop yields on agricultural land.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Paul C; Gibbs, Holly K; Monfreda, Chad; Wagner, John; Barford, Carol C; Carpenter, Stephen R; Foley, Jonathan A

2010-11-16

Expanding croplands to meet the needs of a growing population, changing diets, and biofuel production comes at the cost of reduced carbon stocks in natural vegetation and soils. Here, we present a spatially explicit global analysis of tradeoffs between carbon stocks and current crop yields. The difference among regions is striking. For example, for each unit of land cleared, the tropics lose nearly two times as much carbon (∼120 tons·ha(-1) vs. ∼63 tons·ha(-1)) and produce less than one-half the annual crop yield compared with temperate regions (1.71 tons·ha(-1)·y(-1) vs. 3.84 tons·ha(-1)·y(-1)). Therefore, newly cleared land in the tropics releases nearly 3 tons of carbon for every 1 ton of annual crop yield compared with a similar area cleared in the temperate zone. By factoring crop yield into the analysis, we specify the tradeoff between carbon stocks and crops for all areas where crops are currently grown and thereby, substantially enhance the spatial resolution relative to previous regional estimates. Particularly in the tropics, emphasis should be placed on increasing yields on existing croplands rather than clearing new lands. Our high-resolution approach can be used to determine the net effect of local land use decisions.

Soil organic carbon stocks under native vegetation - revised estimates for use with the simple assessment option of the Carbon Benefits Project system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Batjes, N.H.

2011-01-01

The Carbon Benefits Project (CBP) is developing a standardized system for sustainable land management projects to measure, model and report changes in carbon stocks and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for use at varying scales. A global framework of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks under native

Multimolecular tracers of terrestrial carbon transfer across the pan-Arctic: 14C characteristics of sedimentary carbon components and their environmental controls

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Xiaojuan; Gustafsson, Örjan; Holmes, R. Max; Vonk, Jorien E.; van Dongen, Bart E.; Semiletov, Igor P.; Dudarev, Oleg V.; Yunker, Mark B.; Macdonald, Robie W.; Wacker, Lukas; Montluçon, Daniel B.; Eglinton, Timothy I.

2015-11-01

Distinguishing the sources, ages, and fate of various terrestrial organic carbon (OC) pools mobilized from heterogeneous Arctic landscapes is key to assessing climatic impacts on the fluvial release of carbon from permafrost. Through molecular 14C measurements, including novel analyses of suberin- and/or cutin-derived diacids (DAs) and hydroxy fatty acids (FAs), we compared the radiocarbon characteristics of a comprehensive suite of terrestrial markers (including plant wax lipids, cutin, suberin, lignin, and hydroxy phenols) in the sedimentary particles from nine major arctic and subarctic rivers in order to establish a benchmark assessment of the mobilization patterns of terrestrial OC pools across the pan-Arctic. Terrestrial lipids, including suberin-derived longer-chain DAs (C24,26,28), plant wax FAs (C24,26,28), and n-alkanes (C27,29,31), incorporated significant inputs of aged carbon, presumably from deeper soil horizons. Mobilization and translocation of these "old" terrestrial carbon components was dependent on nonlinear processes associated with permafrost distributions. By contrast, shorter-chain (C16,18) DAs and lignin phenols (as well as hydroxy phenols in rivers outside eastern Eurasian Arctic) were much more enriched in 14C, suggesting incorporation of relatively young carbon supplied by runoff processes from recent vegetation debris and surface layers. Furthermore, the radiocarbon content of terrestrial markers is heavily influenced by specific OC sources and degradation status. Overall, multitracer molecular 14C analysis sheds new light on the mobilization of terrestrial OC from arctic watersheds. Our findings of distinct ages for various terrestrial carbon components may aid in elucidating fate of different terrestrial OC pools in the face of increasing arctic permafrost thaw.

Stocks of organic carbon in Estonian soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kõlli, Raimo

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The soil organic carbon (SOC stocks (Mg ha–1 ofautomorphic mineral (9 soil groups, hydromorphic mineral (7, and lowland organic soils (4 are given for the soil cover or solum layer as a whole and also for its epipedon (topsoil layer. The SOC stocks for forest, arable lands, and grasslands and for the entire Estonian soil cover were calculated on the basis of the mean SOC stock and distribution area of the respective soil type. In the Estonian soil cover (42 400 km2, a total of 593.8 ± 36.9 Tg of SOC is retained, with 64.9% (385.3 ± 27.5 Tg in the epipedon layer (O, H, and A horizons and 35.1% in the subsoil (B and E horizons. The pedo-ecological regularities of SOC retention in soils are analysed against the background of the Estonian soil ordination net.

Implications of land use change on the national terrestrial carbon budget of Georgia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olofsson Pontus

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Globally, the loss of forests now contributes almost 20% of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. There is an immediate need to reduce the current rates of forest loss, and the associated release of carbon dioxide, but for many areas of the world these rates are largely unknown. The Soviet Union contained a substantial part of the world's forests and the fate of those forests and their effect on carbon dynamics remain unknown for many areas of the former Eastern Bloc. For Georgia, the political and economic transitions following independence in 1991 have been dramatic. In this paper we quantify rates of land use changes and their effect on the terrestrial carbon budget for Georgia. A carbon book-keeping model traces changes in carbon stocks using historical and current rates of land use change. Landsat satellite images acquired circa 1990 and 2000 were analyzed to detect changes in forest cover since 1990. Results The remote sensing analysis showed that a modest forest loss occurred, with approximately 0.8% of the forest cover having disappeared after 1990. Nevertheless, growth of Georgian forests still contribute a current national sink of about 0.3 Tg of carbon per year, which corresponds to 31% of the country anthropogenic carbon emissions. Conclusions We assume that the observed forest loss is mainly a result of illegal logging, but we have not found any evidence of large-scale clear-cutting. Instead local harvesting of timber for household use is likely to be the underlying driver of the observed logging. The Georgian forests are a currently a carbon sink and will remain as such until about 2040 if the current rate of deforestation persists. Forest protection efforts, combined with economic growth, are essential for reducing the rate of deforestation and protecting the carbon sink provided by Georgian forests.

Implications of land use change on the national terrestrial carbon budget of Georgia.

Science.gov (United States)

Olofsson, Pontus; Torchinava, Paata; Woodcock, Curtis E; Baccini, Alessandro; Houghton, Richard A; Ozdogan, Mutlu; Zhao, Feng; Yang, Xiaoyuan

2010-09-13

Globally, the loss of forests now contributes almost 20% of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. There is an immediate need to reduce the current rates of forest loss, and the associated release of carbon dioxide, but for many areas of the world these rates are largely unknown. The Soviet Union contained a substantial part of the world's forests and the fate of those forests and their effect on carbon dynamics remain unknown for many areas of the former Eastern Bloc. For Georgia, the political and economic transitions following independence in 1991 have been dramatic. In this paper we quantify rates of land use changes and their effect on the terrestrial carbon budget for Georgia. A carbon book-keeping model traces changes in carbon stocks using historical and current rates of land use change. Landsat satellite images acquired circa 1990 and 2000 were analyzed to detect changes in forest cover since 1990. The remote sensing analysis showed that a modest forest loss occurred, with approximately 0.8% of the forest cover having disappeared after 1990. Nevertheless, growth of Georgian forests still contribute a current national sink of about 0.3 Tg of carbon per year, which corresponds to 31% of the country anthropogenic carbon emissions. We assume that the observed forest loss is mainly a result of illegal logging, but we have not found any evidence of large-scale clear-cutting. Instead local harvesting of timber for household use is likely to be the underlying driver of the observed logging. The Georgian forests are a currently a carbon sink and will remain as such until about 2040 if the current rate of deforestation persists. Forest protection efforts, combined with economic growth, are essential for reducing the rate of deforestation and protecting the carbon sink provided by Georgian forests.

Ecosystem carbon stocks in Pinus palustris forests

Science.gov (United States)

Lisa Samuelson; Tom Stokes; John R. Butnor; Kurt H. Johnsen; Carlos A. Gonzalez-Benecke; Pete Anderson; Jason Jackson; Lorenzo Ferrari; Tim A. Martin; Wendell P. Cropper

2014-01-01

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) restoration in the southeastern United States offers opportunities for carbon (C) sequestration. Ecosystem C stocks are not well understood in longleaf pine forests, which are typically of low density and maintained by prescribed fire. The objectives of this research were to develop allometric equations for...

Accelerator mass analyses of meteorites - carbon-14 terrestrial ages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miura, Y.; Rucklidge, J.; Beukens, R.; Fireman, E.

1988-01-01

Carbon-14 terrestrial ages of ten Antarctic meteorites have been measured by the IsoTrace accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The 14 C terrestrial age of 1 gram sample was determined from 14 C concentrations collected at melt and re-melt temperatures, compared with the 14 C concentration of the known Bruderheim chondrite. Yamato-790448 (LL3) chondrite was found to be the oldest terrestrial age of 3x10 4 years in the nine Yamato chondrites, whereas Yamato-791630 (L4) chondrite is considered to be the youngest chondrites less than thousand years. Allan Hills chondrite of ALH-77231 (L6) shows older terrestrial age than the nine Yamato chondrites. New accelerator data of the terrestrial age show higher accuracy with smaller sample than the previous counting method. (author)

Do ENSO and Coastal Development Enhance Coastal Burial of Terrestrial Carbon?

Science.gov (United States)

Macreadie, Peter I; Rolph, Timothy C; Boyd, Ron; Schröder-Adams, Claudia J; Skilbeck, Charles G

2015-01-01

Carbon cycling on the east coast of Australia has the potential to be strongly affected by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) intensification and coastal development (industrialization and urbanization). We performed paleoreconstructions of estuarine sediments from a seagrass-dominated estuary on the east coast of Australia (Tuggerah Lake, New South Wales) to test the hypothesis that millennial-scale ENSO intensification and European settlement in Australia have increased the transfer of organic carbon from land into coastal waters. Our data show that carbon accumulation rates within coastal sediments increased significantly during periods of maximum millennial-scale ENSO intensity ("super-ENSO") and coastal development. We suggest that ENSO and coastal development destabilize and liberate terrestrial soil carbon, which, during rainfall events (e.g., La Niña), washes into estuaries and becomes trapped and buried by coastal vegetation (seagrass in this case). Indeed, periods of high carbon burial were generally characterized as having rapid sedimentation rates, higher content of fine-grained sediments, and increased content of wood and charcoal fragments. These results, though preliminary, suggest that coastal development and ENSO intensification--both of which are predicted to increase over the coming century--can enhance capture and burial of terrestrial carbon by coastal ecosystems. These findings have important relevance for current efforts to build an understanding of terrestrial-marine carbon connectivity into global carbon budgets.

Biomass and Carbon Stocks of Sofala Bay Mangrove Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Almeida A. Sitoe

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Mangroves could be key ecosystems in strategies addressing the mitigation of climate changes through carbon storage. However, little is known regarding the carbon stocks of these ecosystems, particularly below-ground. This study was carried out in the mangrove forests of Sofala Bay, Central Mozambique, with the aim of quantifying carbon stocks of live and dead plant and soil components. The methods followed the procedures developed by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR for mangrove forests. In this study, we developed a general allometric equation to estimate individual tree biomass and soil carbon content (up to 100 cm depth. We estimated the carbon in the whole mangrove ecosystem of Sofala Bay, including dead trees, wood debris, herbaceous, pneumatophores, litter and soil. The general allometric equation for live trees derived was [Above-ground tree dry weight (kg = 3.254 × exp(0.065 × DBH], root mean square error (RMSE = 4.244, and coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.89. The average total carbon storage of Sofala Bay mangrove was 218.5 Mg·ha−1, of which around 73% are stored in the soil. Mangrove conservation has the potential for REDD+ programs, especially in regions like Mozambique, which contains extensive mangrove areas with high deforestation and degradation rates.

Intercomparison of terrestrial carbon fluxes and carbon use efficiency simulated by CMIP5 Earth System Models

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dongmin; Lee, Myong-In; Jeong, Su-Jong; Im, Jungho; Cha, Dong Hyun; Lee, Sanggyun

2017-12-01

This study compares historical simulations of the terrestrial carbon cycle produced by 10 Earth System Models (ESMs) that participated in the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Using MODIS satellite estimates, this study validates the simulation of gross primary production (GPP), net primary production (NPP), and carbon use efficiency (CUE), which depend on plant function types (PFTs). The models show noticeable deficiencies compared to the MODIS data in the simulation of the spatial patterns of GPP and NPP and large differences among the simulations, although the multi-model ensemble (MME) mean provides a realistic global mean value and spatial distributions. The larger model spreads in GPP and NPP compared to those of surface temperature and precipitation suggest that the differences among simulations in terms of the terrestrial carbon cycle are largely due to uncertainties in the parameterization of terrestrial carbon fluxes by vegetation. The models also exhibit large spatial differences in their simulated CUE values and at locations where the dominant PFT changes, primarily due to differences in the parameterizations. While the MME-simulated CUE values show a strong dependence on surface temperatures, the observed CUE values from MODIS show greater complexity, as well as non-linear sensitivity. This leads to the overall underestimation of CUE using most of the PFTs incorporated into current ESMs. The results of this comparison suggest that more careful and extensive validation is needed to improve the terrestrial carbon cycle in terms of ecosystem-level processes.

Eelgrass Blue Carbon-Quantification of Carbon Stocks and Sequestration Rates in Zostera Marina Beds in the Salish Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, M. D.; Rybczyk, J.; Poppe, K.; Johnson, C.; Kaminsky, M.; Lanphear, M.

2017-12-01

Seagrass meadows provide more than habitat, biodiversity support, wave abatement, and water quality improvement; they help mitigate climate change by taking up and storing (sequestering) carbon (C), reportedly at rates only surpassed worldwide by salt marsh and mangrove ecosystems. Now that their climate mitigation capacity has earned seagrass ecosystems a place in the Verified Carbon Standard voluntary greenhouse gas program, accurate ecosystem carbon accounting is essential. Though seagrasses vary in carbon storage and accumulation greatly across species and geography, the bulk of data included in calculating global averages involves tropical and subtropical seagrasses. We know little regarding carbon stocks nor sequestration rates for eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in the Pacific Northwest. The intent of our study was to quantify carbon stocks and sequestration rates in the central Salish Sea of Washington State. We gathered sediment cores over three bays, as close to 1 m in depth as possible, both on foot and while scuba diving. We measured bulk density, carbon concentration, carbon stock, grain size, and carbon accumulation rate with depth. Results from our study show lower estimated Corg concentration (mean = 0.39% C, SE=0.01, range=0.11-1.75, SE=0.01), Corg stock (mean=24.46 Mg ha-1, SE=0.00, range=16.31-49.99.70), and C sequestration rates (mean=33.96 g m-2yr-1, range=11.4-49.5) than those reported in published studies from most other locations. Zostera marina is highly productive, yet does not seem to have the capacity to store C in its sediments like seagrasses in warmer climes. These data have implications in carbon market trading, when determining appropriate seagrass restoration site dimensions to offset emissions from transportation, industry, and seagrass habitat disturbance. Awareness of lower rates could prevent underestimating the area appropriate for mitigation or restoration.

Forest Carbon Stocks in Woody Plants of Mount Zequalla Monastery ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Carbon sequestration through forestry has the potential to play a significant role in ameliorating global environmental problems such as atmospheric accumulation of GHG's and climate change.The present study was undertaken to estimate forest carbon stock along altitudinal gradient in Mount Zequalla Monastery forest.

Alaskan soil carbon stocks: spatial variability and dependence on environmental factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Mishra

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The direction and magnitude of soil organic carbon (SOC changes in response to climate change depend on the spatial and vertical distributions of SOC. We estimated spatially resolved SOC stocks from surface to C horizon, distinguishing active-layer and permafrost-layer stocks, based on geospatial analysis of 472 soil profiles and spatially referenced environmental variables for Alaska. Total Alaska state-wide SOC stock was estimated to be 77 Pg, with 61% in the active-layer, 27% in permafrost, and 12% in non-permafrost soils. Prediction accuracy was highest for the active-layer as demonstrated by highest ratio of performance to deviation (1.5. Large spatial variability was predicted, with whole-profile, active-layer, and permafrost-layer stocks ranging from 1–296 kg C m⁻², 2–166 kg m⁻², and 0–232 kg m⁻², respectively. Temperature and soil wetness were found to be primary controllers of whole-profile, active-layer, and permafrost-layer SOC stocks. Secondary controllers, in order of importance, were found to be land cover type, topographic attributes, and bedrock geology. The observed importance of soil wetness rather than precipitation on SOC stocks implies that the poor representation of high-latitude soil wetness in Earth system models may lead to large uncertainty in predicted SOC stocks under future climate change scenarios. Under strict caveats described in the text and assuming temperature changes from the A1B Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emissions scenario, our geospatial model indicates that the equilibrium average 2100 Alaska active-layer depth could deepen by 11 cm, resulting in a thawing of 13 Pg C currently in permafrost. The equilibrium SOC loss associated with this warming would be highest under continuous permafrost (31%, followed by discontinuous (28%, isolated (24.3%, and sporadic (23.6% permafrost areas. Our high-resolution mapping of soil carbon stock reveals the

High-resolution mapping of forest carbon stocks in the Colombian Amazon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. P. Asner

2012-07-01

Full Text Available High-resolution mapping of tropical forest carbon stocks can assist forest management and improve implementation of large-scale carbon retention and enhancement programs. Previous high-resolution approaches have relied on field plot and/or light detection and ranging (LiDAR samples of aboveground carbon density, which are typically upscaled to larger geographic areas using stratification maps. Such efforts often rely on detailed vegetation maps to stratify the region for sampling, but existing tropical forest maps are often too coarse and field plots too sparse for high-resolution carbon assessments. We developed a top-down approach for high-resolution carbon mapping in a 16.5 million ha region (> 40% of the Colombian Amazon – a remote landscape seldom documented. We report on three advances for large-scale carbon mapping: (i employing a universal approach to airborne LiDAR-calibration with limited field data; (ii quantifying environmental controls over carbon densities; and (iii developing stratification- and regression-based approaches for scaling up to regions outside of LiDAR coverage. We found that carbon stocks are predicted by a combination of satellite-derived elevation, fractional canopy cover and terrain ruggedness, allowing upscaling of the LiDAR samples to the full 16.5 million ha region. LiDAR-derived carbon maps have 14% uncertainty at 1 ha resolution, and the regional map based on stratification has 28% uncertainty in any given hectare. High-resolution approaches with quantifiable pixel-scale uncertainties will provide the most confidence for monitoring changes in tropical forest carbon stocks. Improved confidence will allow resource managers and decision makers to more rapidly and effectively implement actions that better conserve and utilize forests in tropical regions.

Simulating soil organic carbon stock as affected by land cover change and climate change, Hyrcanian forests (northern Iran).

Science.gov (United States)

Soleimani, Azam; Hosseini, Seyed Mohsen; Massah Bavani, Ali Reza; Jafari, Mostafa; Francaviglia, Rosa

2017-12-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) contains a considerable portion of the world's terrestrial carbon stock, and is affected by changes in land cover and climate. SOC modeling is a useful approach to assess the impact of land use, land use change and climate change on carbon (C) sequestration. This study aimed to: (i) test the performance of RothC model using data measured from different land covers in Hyrcanian forests (northern Iran); and (ii) predict changes in SOC under different climate change scenarios that may occur in the future. The following land covers were considered: Quercus castaneifolia (QC), Acer velutinum (AV), Alnus subcordata (AS), Cupressus sempervirens (CS) plantations and a natural forest (NF). For assessment of future climate change projections the Fifth Assessment IPCC report was used. These projections were generated with nine Global Climate Models (GCMs), for two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) leading to very low and high greenhouse gases concentration levels (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5 respectively), and for four 20year-periods up to 2099 (2030s, 2050s, 2070s and 2090s). Simulated values of SOC correlated well with measured data (R 2 =0.64 to 0.91) indicating a good efficiency of the RothC model. Our results showed an overall decrease in SOC stocks by 2099 under all land covers and climate change scenarios, but the extent of the decrease varied with the climate models, the emissions scenarios, time periods and land covers. Acer velutinum plantation was the most sensitive land cover to future climate change (range of decrease 8.34-21.83tCha -1 ). Results suggest that modeling techniques can be effectively applied for evaluating SOC stocks, allowing the identification of current patterns in the soil and the prediction of future conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Keith, Heather; Mackey, Brendan G; Lindenmayer, David B

2009-07-14

From analysis of published global site biomass data (n = 136) from primary forests, we discovered (i) the world's highest known total biomass carbon density (living plus dead) of 1,867 tonnes carbon per ha (average value from 13 sites) occurs in Australian temperate moist Eucalyptus regnans forests, and (ii) average values of the global site biomass data were higher for sampled temperate moist forests (n = 44) than for sampled tropical (n = 36) and boreal (n = 52) forests (n is number of sites per forest biome). Spatially averaged Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change biome default values are lower than our average site values for temperate moist forests, because the temperate biome contains a diversity of forest ecosystem types that support a range of mature carbon stocks or have a long land-use history with reduced carbon stocks. We describe a framework for identifying forests important for carbon storage based on the factors that account for high biomass carbon densities, including (i) relatively cool temperatures and moderately high precipitation producing rates of fast growth but slow decomposition, and (ii) older forests that are often multiaged and multilayered and have experienced minimal human disturbance. Our results are relevant to negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change regarding forest conservation, management, and restoration. Conserving forests with large stocks of biomass from deforestation and degradation avoids significant carbon emissions to the atmosphere, irrespective of the source country, and should be among allowable mitigation activities. Similarly, management that allows restoration of a forest's carbon sequestration potential also should be recognized.

Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forests

Science.gov (United States)

Keith, Heather; Mackey, Brendan G.; Lindenmayer, David B.

2009-01-01

From analysis of published global site biomass data (n = 136) from primary forests, we discovered (i) the world's highest known total biomass carbon density (living plus dead) of 1,867 tonnes carbon per ha (average value from 13 sites) occurs in Australian temperate moist Eucalyptus regnans forests, and (ii) average values of the global site biomass data were higher for sampled temperate moist forests (n = 44) than for sampled tropical (n = 36) and boreal (n = 52) forests (n is number of sites per forest biome). Spatially averaged Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change biome default values are lower than our average site values for temperate moist forests, because the temperate biome contains a diversity of forest ecosystem types that support a range of mature carbon stocks or have a long land-use history with reduced carbon stocks. We describe a framework for identifying forests important for carbon storage based on the factors that account for high biomass carbon densities, including (i) relatively cool temperatures and moderately high precipitation producing rates of fast growth but slow decomposition, and (ii) older forests that are often multiaged and multilayered and have experienced minimal human disturbance. Our results are relevant to negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change regarding forest conservation, management, and restoration. Conserving forests with large stocks of biomass from deforestation and degradation avoids significant carbon emissions to the atmosphere, irrespective of the source country, and should be among allowable mitigation activities. Similarly, management that allows restoration of a forest's carbon sequestration potential also should be recognized. PMID:19553199

Diagnosing and Assessing Uncertainties of the Carbon Cycle in Terrestrial Ecosystem Models from a Multi-Model Ensemble Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, W.; Dungan, J. L.; Hashimoto, H.; Michaelis, A.; Milesi, C.; Ichii, K.; Nemani, R. R.

2009-12-01

We are conducting an ensemble modeling exercise using the Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS) to characterize structural uncertainty in carbon fluxes and stocks estimates from different ecosystem models. The experiment uses public-domain versions of Biome-BGC, LPJ, TOPS-BGC, and CASA, driven by a consistent set of climate fields for North America at 8km resolution and daily/monthly time steps over the period of 1982-2006. A set of diagnostics is developed to characterize the behavior of the models in the climate (temperature-precipitation) space, and to evaluate the simulated carbon cycle in an integrated way. The key findings of this study include that: (relative) optimal primary production is generally found in climate regions where the relationship between annual temperature (T, oC) and precipitation (P, mm) is defined by P = 50*T+500; the ratios between NPP and GPP are close to 50% on average, yet can vary between models and in different climate regions; the allocation of carbon to leaf growth represents a positive feedback to the primary production, and different approaches to constrain this process have significant impacts on the simulated carbon cycle; substantial differences in biomass stocks may be induced by small differences in the tissue turnover rate and the plant mortality; the mean residence time of soil carbon pools is strongly influenced by schemes of temperature regulations; non-respiratory disturbances (e.g., fires) are the main driver for NEP, yet its magnitudes vary between models. Overall, these findings indicate that although the structures of the models are similar, the uncertainties among them can be large, highlighting the problem inherent in relying on only one modeling approach to map surface carbon fluxes or to assess vegetation-climate interactions.

Potential Applications of Gosat Based Carbon Budget Products to Refine Terrestrial Ecosystem Model

Science.gov (United States)

Kondo, M.; Ichii, K.

2011-12-01

Estimation of carbon exchange in terrestrial ecosystem associates with difficulties due to complex entanglement of physical and biological processes: thus, the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) estimated from simulation often differs among process-based terrestrial ecosystem models. In addition to complexity of the system, validation can only be conducted in a point scale since reliable observation is only available from ground observations. With a lack of large spatial data, extension of model simulation to a global scale results in significant uncertainty in the future carbon balance and climate change. Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT), launched by the Japanese space agency (JAXA) in January, 2009, is the 1st operational satellite promised to deliver the net land-atmosphere carbon budget to the terrestrial biosphere research community. Using that information, the model reproducibility of carbon budget is expected to improve: hence, gives a better estimation of the future climate change. This initial analysis is to seek and evaluate the potential applications of GOSAT observation toward the sophistication of terrestrial ecosystem model. The present study was conducted in two processes: site-based analysis using eddy covariance observation data to assess the potential use of terrestrial carbon fluxes (GPP, RE, and NEP) to refine the model, and extension of the point scale analysis to spatial using Carbon Tracker product as a prototype of GOSAT product. In the first phase of the experiment, it was verified that an optimization routine adapted to a terrestrial model, Biome-BGC, yielded the improved result with respect to eddy covariance observation data from AsiaFlux Network. Spatial data sets used in the second phase were consists of GPP from empirical algorithm (e.g. support vector machine), NEP from Carbon Tracker, and RE from the combination of these. These spatial carbon flux estimations was used to refine the model applying the exactly same

Ecosystem carbon stocks of micronesian mangrove forests

Science.gov (United States)

J. Boone Kauffman; Chris Heider; Thomas G. Cole; Kathleen A. Dwire; Daniel C. Donato

2011-01-01

Among the least studied ecosystem services of mangroves is their value as global carbon (C) stocks. This is significant as mangroves are subject to rapid rates of deforestation and therefore could be significant sources of atmospheric emissions. Mangroves could be key ecosystems in strategies addressing the mitigation of climate change though reduced deforestation. We...

Organic carbon stocks and sequestration rates of forest soils in Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Grüneberg, Erik; Ziche, Daniel; Wellbrock, Nicole

2014-08-01

The National Forest Soil Inventory (NFSI) provides the Greenhouse Gas Reporting in Germany with a quantitative assessment of organic carbon (C) stocks and changes in forest soils. Carbon stocks of the organic layer and the mineral topsoil (30 cm) were estimated on the basis of ca. 1.800 plots sampled from 1987 to 1992 and resampled from 2006 to 2008 on a nationwide grid of 8 × 8 km. Organic layer C stock estimates were attributed to surveyed forest stands and CORINE land cover data. Mineral soil C stock estimates were linked with the distribution of dominant soil types according to the Soil Map of Germany (1 : 1 000 000) and subsequently related to the forest area. It appears that the C pool of the organic layer was largely depending on tree species and parent material, whereas the C pool of the mineral soil varied among soil groups. We identified the organic layer C pool as stable although C was significantly sequestered under coniferous forest at lowland sites. The mineral soils, however, sequestered 0.41 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) . Carbon pool changes were supposed to depend on stand age and forest transformation as well as an enhanced biomass input. Carbon stock changes were clearly attributed to parent material and soil groups as sandy soils sequestered higher amounts of C, whereas clayey and calcareous soils showed small gains and in some cases even losses of soil C. We further showed that the largest part of the overall sample variance was not explained by fine-earth stock variances, rather by the C concentrations variance. The applied uncertainty analyses in this study link the variability of strata with measurement errors. In accordance to other studies for Central Europe, the results showed that the applied method enabled a reliable nationwide quantification of the soil C pool development for a certain period. © 2014 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Deep soil carbon stock in Chinese Loess Plateau and its turnover

Science.gov (United States)

Song, C.; Han, G.; Yingchun, S.; Liu, C. Q.

2017-12-01

The loess plateau in northwestern China has been regarded as a huge carbon stock in China. However, so far, the mechanisms of carbon cycle in deep loess is still not well known. Hence, we established a field experiment site of carbon cycle in deep loess at Qiushe village, Lingtai county, Gansu province, and observed: (1) the hydro-chemical composition, DIC (Dissolved Inorganic Carbon), DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon), and POC (Particulate Organic Carbon) in spring water discharging from loess section in Qiushe village, Lingtai county, Gansu province of Northwestern China; and (2) soil CO2 concentration and its lateral fluxes in loess section. The results showed that: (i) The DIC and DOC concentration in groundwater of loess area is 5.25 5.45mmol/L, and 0.59 0.62 mg/L, respectively, while POC concentration is high due to the mixture of loess particle matter. According to the ion balance of carbonate weathering reaction, the 2.82 mmol CO2 can be absorbed by carbonate weathering when 1 L rainfall can infiltrate into the loess until below the zero flux plane. (2) CO2 concentration in loess is higher than in atmosphere and reaches the maximum of 4180 μmol·mol-1 in S14, different loess/paleosol fails to display an instinct trend. The δ13C value of CO2 ranged from -21.31 ‰ to -15.37 ‰, and had a positive relationship with 1/[CO2] (r = 0.74), suggesting that CO2 in loess is not only relative to decomposed organic carbon by microbe, and also to the balance system among CaCO3-H2O-CO2 in the interface between saturated and unsaturated zone. The comparison between the lateral flux of CO2 in loess profile and the vertical CO2 flux in ground surface reveal that ignoring the lateral flux of CO2 may lead to a severe underestimation of soil carbon emission in mountainous area. So the geomorphological surficial area should be used instead of acreage in relative models to avoid the underestimation during estimating the soil carbon emission. (3) At the annual scale, the carbon

Carbon stocks and dynamics under improved tropical pasture and silvopastoral

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mosquera Vidal, O.; Buurman, P.; Ramirez, B.L.; Amezquita, M.C.

2012-01-01

To evaluate the effect of land use change on soil organic carbon, the carbon contents and stocks of primary forest, degraded pasture, and four improved pasture systems in Colombian Amazonia were compared in a flat and a sloping landscape. The improved pastures were Brachiaria humidicola, and

Climate change mitigation by carbon stock - the case of semi-arid West Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Lykke, A. M.; Barfod, A. S.; Tinggaard Svendsen, G.; Greve, M.; Svenning, J.-C.

2009-11-01

Semi-arid West Africa has not been integrated into the afforestation/reforestation (AR) carbon market. Most projects implemented under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) have focused on carbon emission reductions from industry and energy consumption, whereas only few (only one in West Africa) have been certified for AR carbon sequestration. A proposed mechanism, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) to be discussed under COP15 aims to reduce emissions by conserving already existing forests. REDD has high potential for carbon stocking at low costs, but focuses primarily on rain forest countries and excludes semi-arid West Africa from the preliminary setup. African savannas have potential to store carbon in the present situation with degrading ecosystems and relatively low revenues from crops and cattle, especially if it is possible to combine carbon stocking with promotion of secondary crops such as food resources and traditional medicines harvested on a sustainable basis. Methods for modelling and mapping of potential carbon biomass are being developed, but are still in a preliminary state. Although economic benefits from the sale of carbon credits are likely to be limited, carbon stocking is an interesting option if additional benefits are considered such as improved food security and protection of biodiversity.

Climate change mitigation by carbon stock - the case of semi-arid West Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lykke, A M; Barfod, A S; Greve, M; Svenning, J-C; Svendsen, G Tinggaard

2009-01-01

Semi-arid West Africa has not been integrated into the afforestation/reforestation (AR) carbon market. Most projects implemented under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) have focused on carbon emission reductions from industry and energy consumption, whereas only few (only one in West Africa) have been certified for AR carbon sequestration. A proposed mechanism, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) to be discussed under COP15 aims to reduce emissions by conserving already existing forests. REDD has high potential for carbon stocking at low costs, but focuses primarily on rain forest countries and excludes semi-arid West Africa from the preliminary setup. African savannas have potential to store carbon in the present situation with degrading ecosystems and relatively low revenues from crops and cattle, especially if it is possible to combine carbon stocking with promotion of secondary crops such as food resources and traditional medicines harvested on a sustainable basis. Methods for modelling and mapping of potential carbon biomass are being developed, but are still in a preliminary state. Although economic benefits from the sale of carbon credits are likely to be limited, carbon stocking is an interesting option if additional benefits are considered such as improved food security and protection of biodiversity.

Terrestrial biological carbon sequestration: science for enhancement and implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Wilfred M. Post; James E. Amonette; Richard Birdsey; Charles T. Jr. Garten; R. Cesar Izaurralde; Philip Jardine; Julie Jastrow; Rattan Lal; Gregg. Marland

2009-01-01

The purpose of this chapter is to review terrestrial biological carbon sequestration and evaluate the potential carbon storage capacity if present and new techniques are more aggressively utilized. Photosynthetic CO2 capture from the atmosphere and storage of the C in aboveground and belowground biomass and in soil organic and inorganic forms can...

The Global Influence of Cloud Optical Thickness on Terrestrial Carbon Uptake

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, P.; Cheng, S. J.; Keppel-Aleks, G.; Butterfield, Z.; Steiner, A. L.

2016-12-01

Clouds play a critical role in regulating Earth's climate. One important way is by changing the type and intensity of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, which impacts plant photosynthesis. Specifically, the presence of clouds modifies photosynthesis rates by influencing the amount of diffuse radiation as well as the spectral distribution of solar radiation. Satellite-derived cloud optical thickness (COT) may provide the observational constraint necessary to assess the role of clouds on ecosystems and terrestrial carbon uptake across the globe. Previous studies using ground-based observations at individual sites suggest that below a COT of 7, there is a greater increase in light use efficiency than at higher COT values, providing evidence for higher carbon uptake rates than expected given the reduction in radiation by clouds. However, the strength of the COT-terrestrial carbon uptake correlation across the globe remains unknown. In this study, we investigate the influence of COT on terrestrial carbon uptake on a global scale, which may provide insights into cloud conditions favorable for plant photosynthesis and improve our estimates of the land carbon sink. Global satellite-derived MODIS data show that tropical and subtropical regions tend to have COT values around or below the threshold during growing seasons. We find weak correlations between COT and GPP with Fluxnet MTE global GPP data, which may be due to the uncertainty of upscaling GPP from individual site measurements. Analysis with solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) as a proxy for GPP is also evaluated. Overall, this work constructs a global picture of the role of COT on terrestrial carbon uptake, including its temporal and spatial variations.

Soil carbon management in large-scale Earth system modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olin, S.; Lindeskog, M.; Pugh, T. A. M.

2015-01-01

, carbon sequestration and nitrogen leaching from croplands are evaluated and discussed. Compared to the version of LPJ-GUESS that does not include land-use dynamics, estimates of soil carbon stocks and nitrogen leaching from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems were improved. Our model experiments allow us...

National inventories of down and dead woody material forest carbon stocks in the United States: Challenges and opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

C.W. Woodall; L.S. Heath; J.E. Smith

2008-01-01

Concerns over the effect of greenhouse gases and consequent international agreements and regional/national programs have spurred the need for comprehensive assessments of forest ecosystem carbon stocks. Down and dead woody (DDW) materials are a substantial component of forest carbon stocks; however, few surveys of DDW carbon stocks have been conducted at national-...

Estimating forest carbon stocks in tropical dry forests of Zimbabwe ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Estimation and mapping of forest dendrometric characteristics such as carbon stocks using remote sensing techniques is fundamental for improved understanding of the role of forests in the carbon cycle and climate change. In this study, we tested whether and to what extent spectral transforms, i.e. vegetation indices ...

A framework for assessing global change risks to forest carbon stocks in the United States.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher W Woodall

Full Text Available Among terrestrial environments, forests are not only the largest long-term sink of atmospheric carbon (C, but are also susceptible to global change themselves, with potential consequences including alterations of C cycles and potential C emission. To inform global change risk assessment of forest C across large spatial/temporal scales, this study constructed and evaluated a basic risk framework which combined the magnitude of C stocks and their associated probability of stock change in the context of global change across the US. For the purposes of this analysis, forest C was divided into five pools, two live (aboveground and belowground biomass and three dead (dead wood, soil organic matter, and forest floor with a risk framework parameterized using the US's national greenhouse gas inventory and associated forest inventory data across current and projected future Köppen-Geiger climate zones (A1F1 scenario. Results suggest that an initial forest C risk matrix may be constructed to focus attention on short- and long-term risks to forest C stocks (as opposed to implementation in decision making using inventory-based estimates of total stocks and associated estimates of variability (i.e., coefficient of variation among climate zones. The empirical parameterization of such a risk matrix highlighted numerous knowledge gaps: 1 robust measures of the likelihood of forest C stock change under climate change scenarios, 2 projections of forest C stocks given unforeseen socioeconomic conditions (i.e., land-use change, and 3 appropriate social responses to global change events for which there is no contemporary climate/disturbance analog (e.g., severe droughts in the Lake States. Coupling these current technical/social limits of developing a risk matrix to the biological processes of forest ecosystems (i.e., disturbance events and interaction among diverse forest C pools, potential positive feedbacks, and forest resiliency/recovery suggests an operational

Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Status Report on R and D Progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobs, G.K.

2001-01-01

Sequestration of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems is a low-cost option that may be available in the near-term to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO(sub 2) concentrations, while providing additional benefits. Storing carbon in terrestrial ecosystems can be achieved through maintenance of standing aboveground biomass, utilization of aboveground biomass in long-lived products, or protection of carbon (organic and inorganic) compounds present in soils. There are potential co-benefits from efforts to sequester carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. For example, long-lived valuable products (wood) are produced, erosion would be reduced, soil productivity could be improved through increased capacity to retain water and nutrients, and marginal lands could be improved and riparian ecosystems restored. Another unique feature of the terrestrial sequestration option is that it is the only option that is ''reversible'' should it become desirable or permissible. For example, forests that are created are thus investments which could be harvested should CO(sub 2) emissions be reduced in other ways to acceptable levels 50-100 years from now

Trade-offs between forest carbon stocks and harvests in a steady state - A multi-criteria analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pingoud, Kim; Ekholm, Tommi; Sievänen, Risto; Huuskonen, Saija; Hynynen, Jari

2018-03-15

This paper provides a perspective for comparing trade-offs between harvested wood flows and forest carbon stocks with different forest management regimes. A constant management regime applied to a forest area with an even age-class distribution leads to a steady state, in which the annual harvest and carbon stocks remain constant over time. As both are desirable - carbon stocks for mitigating climate change and harvests for the economic use of wood and displacing fossil fuels - an ideal strategy should be chosen from a set of management regimes that are Pareto-optimal in the sense of multi-criteria decision-making. When choosing between Pareto-optimal alternatives, the trade-off between carbon stock and harvests is unavoidable. This trade-off can be described e.g. in terms of carbon payback times or carbon returns. As numerical examples, we present steady-state harvest levels and carbon stocks in a Finnish boreal forest region for different rotation periods, thinning intensities and collection patterns for harvest residues. In the set of simulated management practices, harvest residue collection presents the most favorable trade-off with payback times around 30-40 years; while Pareto-optimal changes in rotation or thinnings exhibited payback times over 100 years, or alternatively carbon returns below 1%. By extending the rotation period and using less-intensive thinnings compared to current practices, the steady-state carbon stocks could be increased by half while maintaining current harvest levels. Additional cases with longer rotation periods should be also considered, but were here excluded due to the lack of reliable data on older forest stands. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soil carbon stocks along an altitudinal gradient in different land-use categories in Lesser Himalayan foothills of Kashmir

Science.gov (United States)

Shaheen, H.; Saeed, Y.; Abbasi, M. K.; Khaliq, A.

2017-04-01

The carbon sequestration potential of soils plays an important role in mitigating the effect of climate change, because soils serve as sinks for atmospheric carbon. The present study was conducted to estimate the carbon stocks and their variation with altitudinal gradient in the Lesser Himalayan foothills of Kashmir. The carbon stocks were estimated in different land use categories, namely: closed canopy forests, open forests, disturbed forests, and agricultural lands within the altitudinal range from 900 to 2500 m. The soil carbon content was determined by the Walkley-Black titration method. The average soil carbon stock was found to be 2.59 kg m-2. The average soil carbon stocks in closed canopy forests, open forests, and disturbed forests were 3.39, 2.06, and 2.86 kg m-2, respectively. The average soil carbon stock in the agricultural soils was 2.03 kg m-2. The carbon stocks showed a significant decreasing trend with the altitudinal gradient with maximum values of 4.13 kg m-2 at 900-1200 m a.s.l. and minimum value of 1.55 kg m-2 at 2100-2400 m a.s.l. The agricultural soil showed the least carbon content values indicating negative impacts of soil plowing, overgrazing, and soil degradation. Lower carbon values at higher altitudes attest to the immature character of forest stands, as well as to degradation due to immense fuel wood extraction, timber extraction, and harsh climatic conditions. The study indicates that immediate attention is required for the conservation of rapidly declining carbon stocks in agricultural soils, as well as in the soils of higher altitudes.

Impact of deforestation on soil carbon stock and its spatial distribution in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Kucuker, Mehmet Ali; Guney, Mert; Oral, H Volkan; Copty, Nadim K; Onay, Turgut T

2015-01-01

Land use management is one of the most critical factors influencing soil carbon storage and the global carbon cycle. This study evaluates the impact of land use change on the soil carbon stock in the Karasu region of Turkey which in the last two decades has undergone substantial deforestation to expand hazelnut plantations. Analysis of seasonal soil data indicated that the carbon content decreased rapidly with depth for both land uses. Statistical analyses indicated that the difference between the surface carbon stock (defined over 0-5 cm depth) in agricultural and forested areas is statistically significant (Agricultural = 1.74 kg/m(2), Forested = 2.09 kg/m(2), p = 0.014). On the other hand, the average carbon stocks estimated over the 0-1 m depth were 12.36 and 12.12 kg/m(2) in forested and agricultural soils, respectively. The carbon stock (defined over 1 m depth) in the two land uses were not significantly different which is attributed in part to the negative correlation between carbon stock and bulk density (-0.353, p < 0.01). The soil carbon stock over the entire study area was mapped using a conditional kriging approach which jointly uses the collected soil carbon data and satellite-based land use images. Based on the kriging map, the spatially soil carbon stock (0-1 m dept) ranged about 2 kg/m(2) in highly developed areas to more than 23 kg/m(2) in intensively cultivated areas as well as the averaged soil carbon stock (0-1 m depth) was estimated as 10.4 kg/m(2). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How accurately can soil organic carbon stocks and stock changes be quantified by soil inventories?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Schrumpf

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Precise determination of changes in organic carbon (OC stocks is prerequisite to understand the role of soils in the global cycling of carbon and to verify changes in stocks due to management. A large dataset was collected to form base to repeated soil inventories at 12 CarboEurope sites under different climate and land-use, and with different soil types. Concentration of OC, bulk density (BD, and fine earth fraction were determined to 60 cm depth at 100 sampling points per site. We investigated (1 time needed to detect changes in soil OC, assuming future re-sampling of 100 cores; (2 the contribution of different sources of uncertainties to OC stocks; (3 the effect of OC stock calculation on mass rather than volume base for change detection; and (4 the potential use of pedotransfer functions (PTF for estimating BD in repeated inventories.

The period of time needed for soil OC stocks to change strongly enough to be detectable depends on the spatial variability of soil properties, the depth increment considered, and the rate of change. Cropland sites, having small spatial variability, had lower minimum detectable differences (MDD with 100 sampling points (105 ± 28 gC m⁻² for the upper 10 cm of the soil than grassland and forest sites (206 ± 64 and 246 ± 64 gC m⁻² for 0–10 cm, respectively. Expected general trends in soil OC indicate that changes could be detectable after 2–15 yr with 100 samples if changes occurred in the upper 10 cm of stone-poor soils. Error propagation analyses showed that in undisturbed soils with low stone contents, OC concentrations contributed most to OC stock variability while BD and fine earth fraction were more important in upper soil layers of croplands and in stone rich soils. Though the calculation of OC stocks based on equivalent soil masses slightly decreases the chance to detect changes with time at most sites except for the croplands, it is still recommended to

Estimating Terrestrial Wood Biomass from Observed Concentrations of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaefer, K. M.; Peters, W.; Carvalhais, N.; van der Werf, G.; Miller, J.

2008-01-01

We estimate terrestrial disequilibrium state and wood biomass from observed concentrations of atmospheric CO2 using the CarbonTracker system coupled to the SiBCASA biophysical model. Starting with a priori estimates of carbon flux from the land, ocean, and fossil fuels, CarbonTracker estimates net

Carbon stock and carbon turnover in boreal and temperate forests - Integration of remote sensing data and global vegetation models

Science.gov (United States)

Thurner, Martin; Beer, Christian; Carvalhais, Nuno; Forkel, Matthias; Tito Rademacher, Tim; Santoro, Maurizio; Tum, Markus; Schmullius, Christiane

2016-04-01

Long-term vegetation dynamics are one of the key uncertainties of the carbon cycle. There are large differences in simulated vegetation carbon stocks and fluxes including productivity, respiration and carbon turnover between global vegetation models. Especially the implementation of climate-related mortality processes, for instance drought, fire, frost or insect effects, is often lacking or insufficient in current models and their importance at global scale is highly uncertain. These shortcomings have been due to the lack of spatially extensive information on vegetation carbon stocks, which cannot be provided by inventory data alone. Instead, we recently have been able to estimate northern boreal and temperate forest carbon stocks based on radar remote sensing data. Our spatially explicit product (0.01° resolution) shows strong agreement to inventory-based estimates at a regional scale and allows for a spatial evaluation of carbon stocks and dynamics simulated by global vegetation models. By combining this state-of-the-art biomass product and NPP datasets originating from remote sensing, we are able to study the relation between carbon turnover rate and a set of climate indices in northern boreal and temperate forests along spatial gradients. We observe an increasing turnover rate with colder winter temperatures and longer winters in boreal forests, suggesting frost damage and the trade-off between frost adaptation and growth being important mortality processes in this ecosystem. In contrast, turnover rate increases with climatic conditions favouring drought and insect outbreaks in temperate forests. Investigated global vegetation models from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), including HYBRID4, JeDi, JULES, LPJml, ORCHIDEE, SDGVM, and VISIT, are able to reproduce observation-based spatial climate - turnover rate relationships only to a limited extent. While most of the models compare relatively well in terms of NPP, simulated

Carbon stock of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forests along a latitude gradient in the subtropical region of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Mengjie; Ji, Haibao; Zhuang, Shunyao

2018-01-01

Latitude is an important factor that influences the carbon stock of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forests. Accurate estimation of the carbon stock of Moso bamboo forest can contribute to sufficient evaluation of forests in carbon sequestration worldwide. Nevertheless, the effect of latitude on the carbon stock of Moso bamboo remains unclear. In this study, a field survey with 36 plots of Moso bamboo forests along a latitude gradient was conducted to investigate carbon stock. Results showed that the diameter at breast height (DBH) of Moso bamboo culms increased from 8.37 cm to 10.12 cm that well fitted by Weibull model, whereas the bamboo culm density decreased from 4722 culm ha-1 to 3400 culm ha-1 with increasing latitude. The bamboo biomass carbon decreased from 60.58 Mg C ha-1 to 48.31 Mg C ha-1 from north to south. The total carbon stock of Moso bamboo forests, which comprises soil and biomass carbon, ranged from 87.83 Mg C ha-1 to 119.5 Mg C ha-1 and linearly increased with latitude. As a fast-growing plant, Moso bamboo could be harvested amounts of 6.0 Mg C ha-1 to 7.6 Mg C ha-1 annually, which indicates a high potential of this species for carbon sequestration. Parameters obtained in this study can be used to accurately estimate the carbon stock of Moso bamboo forest to establish models of the global carbon balance.

Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Yi, C.; Ricciuto, D.; Marek, Michal V.

2010-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 3 (2010), s. 034007 ISSN 1748-9326 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : NEE * climate control * terrestrial carbon sequestration * temperature * dryness * eddy flux * biomes * photosynthesis * respiration * global carbon cycle Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 3.049, year: 2010

How does soil erosion influence the terrestrial carbon cycle and the impacts of land use and land cover change?

Science.gov (United States)

Naipal, V.; Wang, Y.; Ciais, P.; Guenet, B.; Lauerwald, R.

2017-12-01

The onset of agriculture has accelerated soil erosion rates significantly, mobilizing vast quantities of soil organic carbon (SOC) globally. Studies show that at timescales of decennia to millennia this mobilized SOC can significantly alter previously estimated carbon emissions from land use and land cover change (LULCC). However, a full understanding of the impact of soil erosion on land-atmosphere carbon exchange is still missing. The aim of our study is to better constrain the terrestrial carbon fluxes by developing methods, which are compatible with earth system models (ESMs), and explicitly represent the links between soil erosion and carbon dynamics. For this we use an emulator that represents the carbon cycle of ORCHIDEE, which is the land component of the IPSL ESM, in combination with an adjusted version of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. We applied this modeling framework at the global scale to evaluate how soil erosion influenced the terrestrial carbon cycle in the presence of elevated CO2, regional climate change and land use change. Here, we focus on the effects of soil detachment by erosion only and do not consider sediment transport and deposition. We found that including soil erosion in the SOC dynamics-scheme resulted in two times more SOC being lost during the historical period (1850-2005 AD). LULCC is the main contributor to this SOC loss, whose impact on the SOC stocks is significantly amplified by erosion. Regionally, the influence of soil erosion varies significantly, depending on the magnitude of the perturbations to the carbon cycle and the effects of LULCC and climate change on soil erosion rates. We conclude that it is necessary to include soil erosion in assessments of LULCC, and to explicitly consider the effects of elevated CO2 and climate change on the carbon cycle and on soil erosion, for better quantification of past, present, and future LULCC carbon emissions.

Greenness and Carbon Stocks of Mangroves: A climate-driven Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Lule, A. V.; Colditz, R. R.; Herrera-Silveira, J.; Guevara, M.; Rodriguez-Zuniga, M. T.; Cruz, I.; Ressl, R.; Vargas, R.

2017-12-01

Mangroves cover less than 1% of the earth's surface and are one o­­­f the most productive ecosystems of the world. They are highly vulnerable to climate variability due to their sensitivity to environmental changes; therefore, there are scientific and societal needs to designed frameworks to assess mangrove's vulnerability. We study the relationship between climate drivers, canopy greenness and carbon stocks to quantify a potential climate-driven effect on mangrove carbon dynamics. We identify greenness trends and their relationships with climate drivers and carbon stocks throughout 15 years (2001-2015) across mangrove forests of Mexico. We defined several categories for mangroves: a) Arid mangroves with superficial water input (ARsw); b) Humid mangroves with interior or underground water input (HUiw); and c) Humid mangroves with superficial water input (HUsw). We found a positive significant trend of greenness for ARsw and HUsw categories (pmangrove's categories (pmangrove categories showed higher greenness values during winter; which is likely driven by temperature with a lag of -3 to -5 months (r2 > 0.69). Precipitation and temperature drive canopy greenness only across HUsw. Regarding carbon stocks, the HUiw shows the lower amount of aboveground carbon (AGC; 12.7 Mg C ha-1) and the higher belowground carbon (BGC; 219 Mg C ha-1). The HUsw shows the higher amount of AGC (169.5 Mg C ha-1) and the ARsw the lower of BGC (92.4 Mg C ha-1). Climate drivers are better related with canopy greenness and AGC for both humid mangrove categories (r2 > 0.48), while the relationship of BGC and canopy greenness is lower for all categories (r2 mangrove's ecosystem function and environmental services, as well as their potential vulnerability to climate variability.

Comparison of regression coefficient and GIS-based methodologies for regional estimates of forest soil carbon stocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott Campbell, J.; Moen, Jeremie C.; Ney, Richard A.; Schnoor, Jerald L.

2008-01-01

Estimates of forest soil organic carbon (SOC) have applications in carbon science, soil quality studies, carbon sequestration technologies, and carbon trading. Forest SOC has been modeled using a regression coefficient methodology that applies mean SOC densities (mass/area) to broad forest regions. A higher resolution model is based on an approach that employs a geographic information system (GIS) with soil databases and satellite-derived landcover images. Despite this advancement, the regression approach remains the basis of current state and federal level greenhouse gas inventories. Both approaches are analyzed in detail for Wisconsin forest soils from 1983 to 2001, applying rigorous error-fixing algorithms to soil databases. Resulting SOC stock estimates are 20% larger when determined using the GIS method rather than the regression approach. Average annual rates of increase in SOC stocks are 3.6 and 1.0 million metric tons of carbon per year for the GIS and regression approaches respectively. - Large differences in estimates of soil organic carbon stocks and annual changes in stocks for Wisconsin forestlands indicate a need for validation from forthcoming forest surveys

Ignoring detailed fast-changing dynamics of land use overestimates regional terrestrial carbon sequestration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Q. Zhao

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Land use change is critical in determining the distribution, magnitude and mechanisms of terrestrial carbon budgets at the local to global scales. To date, almost all regional to global carbon cycle studies are driven by a static land use map or land use change statistics with decadal time intervals. The biases in quantifying carbon exchange between the terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere caused by using such land use change information have not been investigated. Here, we used the General Ensemble biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS, along with consistent and spatially explicit land use change scenarios with different intervals (1 yr, 5 yrs, 10 yrs and static, respectively, to evaluate the impacts of land use change data frequency on estimating regional carbon sequestration in the southeastern United States. Our results indicate that ignoring the detailed fast-changing dynamics of land use can lead to a significant overestimation of carbon uptake by the terrestrial ecosystem. Regional carbon sequestration increased from 0.27 to 0.69, 0.80 and 0.97 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ when land use change data frequency shifting from 1 year to 5 years, 10 years interval and static land use information, respectively. Carbon removal by forest harvesting and prolonged cumulative impacts of historical land use change on carbon cycle accounted for the differences in carbon sequestration between static and dynamic land use change scenarios. The results suggest that it is critical to incorporate the detailed dynamics of land use change into local to global carbon cycle studies. Otherwise, it is impossible to accurately quantify the geographic distributions, magnitudes, and mechanisms of terrestrial carbon sequestration at the local to global scales.

Multi-model analysis of terrestrial carbon cycles in Japan: reducing uncertainties in model outputs among different terrestrial biosphere models using flux observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ichii, K.; Suzuki, T.; Kato, T.; Ito, A.; Hajima, T.; Ueyama, M.; Sasai, T.; Hirata, R.; Saigusa, N.; Ohtani, Y.; Takagi, K.

2009-08-01

Terrestrial biosphere models show large uncertainties when simulating carbon and water cycles, and reducing these uncertainties is a priority for developing more accurate estimates of both terrestrial ecosystem statuses and future climate changes. To reduce uncertainties and improve the understanding of these carbon budgets, we investigated the ability of flux datasets to improve model simulations and reduce variabilities among multi-model outputs of terrestrial biosphere models in Japan. Using 9 terrestrial biosphere models (Support Vector Machine-based regressions, TOPS, CASA, VISIT, Biome-BGC, DAYCENT, SEIB, LPJ, and TRIFFID), we conducted two simulations: (1) point simulations at four flux sites in Japan and (2) spatial simulations for Japan with a default model (based on original settings) and an improved model (based on calibration using flux observations). Generally, models using default model settings showed large deviations in model outputs from observation with large model-by-model variability. However, after we calibrated the model parameters using flux observations (GPP, RE and NEP), most models successfully simulated seasonal variations in the carbon cycle, with less variability among models. We also found that interannual variations in the carbon cycle are mostly consistent among models and observations. Spatial analysis also showed a large reduction in the variability among model outputs, and model calibration using flux observations significantly improved the model outputs. These results show that to reduce uncertainties among terrestrial biosphere models, we need to conduct careful validation and calibration with available flux observations. Flux observation data significantly improved terrestrial biosphere models, not only on a point scale but also on spatial scales.

Organic carbon stocks in the soils of Brazil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Batjes, N.H.

2005-01-01

Soil organic carbon stocks to 1 m for Brazil, calculated using an updated Soil and Terrain (SOTER) database and simulation of phenoforms, are 65.9-67.5 Pg C, of which 65% is in the Amazonian region of Brazil. Other researchers have obtained similar gross results, despite very different spatial

Global patterns in mangrove soil carbon stocks and losses

KAUST Repository

Atwood, Trisha B.

2017-06-26

Mangrove soils represent a large sink for otherwise rapidly recycled carbon (C). However, widespread deforestation threatens the preservation of this important C stock. It is therefore imperative that global patterns in mangrove soil C stocks and their susceptibility to remineralization are understood. Here, we present patterns in mangrove soil C stocks across hemispheres, latitudes, countries and mangrove community compositions, and estimate potential annual CO2 emissions for countries where mangroves occur. Global potential CO2 emissions from soils as a result of mangrove loss were estimated to be ~7.0 Tg CO2e yr−1. Countries with the highest potential CO2 emissions from soils are Indonesia (3,410 Gg CO2e yr−1) and Malaysia (1,288 Gg CO2e yr−1). The patterns described serve as a baseline by which countries can assess their mangrove soil C stocks and potential emissions from mangrove deforestation.

Photodegradation alleviates the lignin bottleneck for carbon turnover in terrestrial ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Amy T; Méndez, M Soledad; Ballaré, Carlos L

2016-04-19

A mechanistic understanding of the controls on carbon storage and losses is essential for our capacity to predict and mitigate human impacts on the global carbon cycle. Plant litter decomposition is an important first step for carbon and nutrient turnover, and litter inputs and losses are essential in determining soil organic matter pools and the carbon balance in terrestrial ecosystems. Photodegradation, the photochemical mineralization of organic matter, has been recently identified as a mechanism for previously unexplained high rates of litter mass loss in arid lands; however, the global significance of this process as a control on carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems is not known. Here we show that, across a wide range of plant species, photodegradation enhanced subsequent biotic degradation of leaf litter. Moreover, we demonstrate that the mechanism for this enhancement involves increased accessibility to plant litter carbohydrates for microbial enzymes. Photodegradation of plant litter, driven by UV radiation, and especially visible (blue-green) light, reduced the structural and chemical bottleneck imposed by lignin in secondary cell walls. In leaf litter from woody species, specific interactions with UV radiation obscured facilitative effects of solar radiation on biotic decomposition. The generalized effect of sunlight exposure on subsequent microbial activity, mediated by increased accessibility to cell wall polysaccharides, suggests that photodegradation is quantitatively important in determining rates of mass loss, nutrient release, and the carbon balance in a broad range of terrestrial ecosystems.

Effects of stand and inter-specific stocking on maximizing standing tree carbon stocks in the eastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher W. Woodall; Anthony W. D' Amato; John B. Bradford; Andrew O. Finley

2011-01-01

There is expanding interest in management strategies that maximize forest carbon (C) storage to mitigate increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. The tremendous tree species diversity and range of stand stocking found across the eastern United States presents a challenge for determining optimal combinations for the maximization of standing tree C storage. Using a...

Terrestrial carbon cycle affected by non-uniform climate warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jianyang Xia; Yiqi Luo; Jiquan Chen; Shilong Piao; Ciais, Philippe; Shiqiang Wan

2014-01-01

Feedbacks between the terrestrial carbon cycle and climate change could affect many ecosystem functions and services, such as food production, carbon sequestration and climate regulation. The rate of climate warming varies on diurnal and seasonal timescales. A synthesis of global air temperature data reveals a greater rate of warming in winter than in summer in northern mid and high latitudes, and the inverse pattern in some tropical regions. The data also reveal a decline in the diurnal temperature range over 51% of the global land area and an increase over only 13%, because night-time temperatures in most locations have risen faster than daytime temperatures. Analyses of satellite data, model simulations and in situ observations suggest that the impact of seasonal warming varies between regions. For example, spring warming has largely stimulated ecosystem productivity at latitudes between 30 degrees and 90 degrees N, but suppressed productivity in other regions. Contrasting impacts of day- and night-time warming on plant carbon gain and loss are apparent in many regions. We argue that ascertaining the effects of non-uniform climate warming on terrestrial ecosystems is a key challenge in carbon cycle research. (authors)

Competitiveness of terrestrial greenhouse gas offsets. Are they a bridge to the future?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCarl, B.A.; Sands, R.D.

2007-01-01

Activities to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by biological soil or forest carbon sequestration predominantly utilize currently known, readily implementable technologies. Many other greenhouse gas emission reduction options require future technological development or must wait for turnover of capital stock. Carbon sequestration options in soils and forests, while ready to go now, generally have a finite life, allowing use until other strategies are developed. This paper reports on an investigation of the competitiveness of biological carbon sequestration from a dynamic and multiple strategy viewpoint. Key factors affecting the competitiveness of terrestrial mitigation options are land availability and cost effectiveness relative to other options including CO2 capture and storage, energy efficiency improvements, fuel switching, and non-CO2 greenhouse gas emission reductions. The analysis results show that, at lower CO2 prices and in the near term, soil carbon and other agricultural/forestry options can be important bridges to the future, initially providing a substantial portion of attainable reductions in net greenhouse gas emissions, but with a limited role in later years. At higher CO2 prices, afforestation and biofuels are more dominant among terrestrial options to offset greenhouse gas emissions. But in the longer run, allowing for capital stock turnover, options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy system and biofuels provide an increasing share of potential reductions in total US greenhouse gas emissions

Impact of atmospheric and terrestrial CO2 feedbacks on fertilization-induced marine carbon uptake

Science.gov (United States)

Oschlies, A.

2009-08-01

The sensitivity of oceanic CO2 uptake to alterations in the marine biological carbon pump, such as brought about by natural or purposeful ocean fertilization, has repeatedly been investigated by studies employing numerical biogeochemical ocean models. It is shown here that the results of such ocean-centered studies are very sensitive to the assumption made about the response of the carbon reservoirs on the atmospheric side of the sea surface. Assumptions made include prescribed atmospheric pCO2, an interactive atmospheric CO2 pool exchanging carbon with the ocean but not with the terrestrial biosphere, and an interactive atmosphere that exchanges carbon with both oceanic and terrestrial carbon pools. The impact of these assumptions on simulated annual to millennial oceanic carbon uptake is investigated for a hypothetical increase in the C:N ratio of the biological pump and for an idealized enhancement of phytoplankton growth. Compared to simulations with interactive atmosphere, using prescribed atmospheric pCO2 overestimates the sensitivity of the oceanic CO2 uptake to changes in the biological pump, by about 2%, 25%, 100%, and >500% on annual, decadal, centennial, and millennial timescales, respectively. The smaller efficiency of the oceanic carbon uptake under an interactive atmosphere is due to the back flux of CO2 that occurs when atmospheric CO2 is reduced. Adding an interactive terrestrial carbon pool to the atmosphere-ocean model system has a small effect on annual timescales, but increases the simulated fertilization-induced oceanic carbon uptake by about 4%, 50%, and 100% on decadal, centennial, and millennial timescales, respectively, for pCO2 sensitivities of the terrestrial carbon storage in the middle range of the C4MIP models (Friedlingstein et al., 2006). For such sensitivities, a substantial fraction of oceanic carbon uptake induced by natural or purposeful ocean fertilization originates, on timescales longer than decades, not from the atmosphere

Nested atmospheric inversion for the terrestrial carbon sources and sinks in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Jiang

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In this study, we establish a nested atmospheric inversion system with a focus on China using the Bayesian method. The global surface is separated into 43 regions based on the 22 TransCom large regions, with 13 small regions in China. Monthly CO2 concentrations from 130 GlobalView sites and 3 additional China sites are used in this system. The core component of this system is an atmospheric transport matrix, which is created using the TM5 model with a horizontal resolution of 3° × 2°. The net carbon fluxes over the 43 global land and ocean regions are inverted for the period from 2002 to 2008. The inverted global terrestrial carbon sinks mainly occur in boreal Asia, South and Southeast Asia, eastern America and southern South America. Most China areas appear to be carbon sinks, with strongest carbon sinks located in Northeast China. From 2002 to 2008, the global terrestrial carbon sink has an increasing trend, with the lowest carbon sink in 2002. The inter-annual variation (IAV of the land sinks shows remarkable correlation with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO. The terrestrial carbon sinks in China also show an increasing trend. However, the IAV in China is not the same as that of the globe. There is relatively stronger land sink in 2002, lowest sink in 2006, and strongest sink in 2007 in China. This IAV could be reasonably explained with the IAVs of temperature and precipitation in China. The mean global and China terrestrial carbon sinks over the period 2002–2008 are −3.20 ± 0.63 and −0.28 ± 0.18 PgC yr−1, respectively. Considering the carbon emissions in the form of reactive biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs and from the import of wood and food, we further estimate that China's land sink is about −0.31 PgC yr−1.

[Tree above-ground biomass allometries for carbon stocks estimation in the Caribbean mangroves in Colombia].

Science.gov (United States)

Yepes, Adriana; Zapata, Mauricio; Bolivar, Jhoanata; Monsalve, Alejandra; Espinosa, Sandra Milena; Sierra-Correa, Paula Cristina; Sierra, Andrés

2016-06-01

The distribution of carbon in “Blue Carbon” ecosystems such as mangroves is little known, when compared with the highly known terrestrial forests, despite its particular and recognized high productivity and carbon storage capacity. The objective of this study was to analyze the above ground biomass (AGB) of the species Rhizophora mangle and Avicennia germinans from the Marine Protected Area of Distrito de Manejo Integrado (DMI), Cispatá-Tinajones-La Balsa, Caribbean Colombian coast. With official authorization, we harvested and studied 30 individuals of each species, and built allometric models in order to estimate AGB. Our AGB results indicated that the studied mangrove forests of the DMI Colombian Caribbean was of 129.69 ± 20.24 Mg/ha, equivalent to 64.85 ± 10.12 MgC/ha. The DMI has an area of 8 570.9 ha in mangrove forests, and we estimated that the total carbon potential stored was about 555 795.93 Mg C. The equations generated in this study can be considered as an alternative for the assessment of carbon stocks in AGB of mangrove forests in Colombia; as other available AGB allometric models do not discriminate mangrove forests, despite being particular ecosystems. They can be used for analysis at a more detailed scale and are considered useful to determine the carbon storage potential of mangrove forests, as a country alternative to support forest conservation and emission reduction strategies. In general, the potential of carbon storage from Colombian Caribbean mangrove forests is important and could promote the country leadership of the “blue carbon” stored.

Carbon stock loss from deforestation through 2013 in Brazilian Amazonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nogueira, Euler Melo; Yanai, Aurora M; Fonseca, Frederico O R; Fearnside, Philip Martin

2015-03-01

The largest carbon stock in tropical vegetation is in Brazilian Amazonia. In this ~5 million km(2) area, over 750,000 km(2) of forest and ~240,000 km(2) of nonforest vegetation types had been cleared through 2013. We estimate current carbon stocks and cumulative gross carbon loss from clearing of premodern vegetation in Brazil's 'Legal Amazonia' and 'Amazonia biome' regions. Biomass of 'premodern' vegetation (prior to major increases in disturbance beginning in the 1970s) was estimated by matching vegetation classes mapped at a scale of 1 : 250,000 and 29 biomass means from 41 published studies for vegetation types classified as forest (2317 1-ha plots) and as either nonforest or contact zones (1830 plots and subplots of varied size). Total biomass (above and below-ground, dry weight) underwent a gross reduction of 18.3% in Legal Amazonia (13.1 Pg C) and 16.7% in the Amazonia biome (11.2 Pg C) through 2013, excluding carbon loss from the effects of fragmentation, selective logging, fires, mortality induced by recent droughts and clearing of forest regrowth. In spite of the loss of carbon from clearing, large amounts of carbon were stored in stands of remaining vegetation in 2013, equivalent to 149 Mg C ha(-1) when weighted by the total area covered by each vegetation type in Legal Amazonia. Native vegetation in Legal Amazonia in 2013 originally contained 58.6 Pg C, while that in the Amazonia biome contained 56 Pg C. Emissions per unit area from clearing could potentially be larger in the future because previously cleared areas were mainly covered by vegetation with lower mean biomass than the remaining vegetation. Estimates of original biomass are essential for estimating losses to forest degradation. This study offers estimates of cumulative biomass loss, as well as estimates of premodern carbon stocks that have not been represented in recent estimates of deforestation impacts. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Understanding and Projecting Climate and Human Impacts on Terrestrial-Coastal Carbon and Nutrient Fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Lohrenz, S. E.; Cai, W. J.; Tian, H.; He, R.; Fennel, K.

2017-12-01

Changing climate and land use practices have the potential to dramatically alter coupled hydrologic-biogeochemical processes and associated movement of water, carbon and nutrients through various terrestrial reservoirs into rivers, estuaries, and coastal ocean waters. Consequences of climate- and land use-related changes will be particularly evident in large river basins and their associated coastal outflow regions. Here, we describe a NASA Carbon Monitoring System project that employs an integrated suite of models in conjunction with remotely sensed as well as targeted in situ observations with the objectives of describing processes controlling fluxes on land and their coupling to riverine, estuarine and ocean ecosystems. The nature of our approach, coupling models of terrestrial and ocean ecosystem dynamics and associated carbon processes, allows for assessment of how societal and human-related land use, land use change and forestry and climate-related change affect terrestrial carbon transport as well as export of materials through watersheds to the coastal margins. Our objectives include the following: 1) Provide representation of carbon processes in the terrestrial ecosystem to understand how changes in land use and climatic conditions influence the export of materials to the coastal ocean, 2) Couple the terrestrial exports of carbon, nutrients and freshwater to a coastal biogeochemical model and examine how different climate and land use scenarios influence fluxes across the land-ocean interface, and 3) Project future changes under different scenarios of climate and human impact, and support user needs related to carbon management and other activities (e.g., water quality, hypoxia, ocean acidification). This research is providing information that will contribute to determining an overall carbon balance in North America as well as describing and predicting how human- and climate-related changes impact coastal water quality including possible effects of coastal

A blue carbon soil database: Tidal wetland stocks for the US National Greenhouse Gas Inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Feagin, R. A.; Eriksson, M.; Hinson, A.; Najjar, R. G.; Kroeger, K. D.; Herrmann, M.; Holmquist, J. R.; Windham-Myers, L.; MacDonald, G. M.; Brown, L. N.; Bianchi, T. S.

2015-12-01

Coastal wetlands contain large reservoirs of carbon, and in 2015 the US National Greenhouse Gas Inventory began the work of placing blue carbon within the national regulatory context. The potential value of a wetland carbon stock, in relation to its location, soon could be influential in determining governmental policy and management activities, or in stimulating market-based CO2 sequestration projects. To meet the national need for high-resolution maps, a blue carbon stock database was developed linking National Wetlands Inventory datasets with the USDA Soil Survey Geographic Database. Users of the database can identify the economic potential for carbon conservation or restoration projects within specific estuarine basins, states, wetland types, physical parameters, and land management activities. The database is geared towards both national-level assessments and local-level inquiries. Spatial analysis of the stocks show high variance within individual estuarine basins, largely dependent on geomorphic position on the landscape, though there are continental scale trends to the carbon distribution as well. Future plans including linking this database with a sedimentary accretion database to predict carbon flux in US tidal wetlands.

Effects of vegetation's degradation on carbon stock, morphological ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study was conducted to assess the capacity of mangroves soils to stock carbon and how degradation can influence its various properties. Transect method was performed. So, two transects of 100 m length and 10 m wide were established according to the degradation level. Total of 18 Soil samples were taken to be ...

Effects of vegetation's degradation on carbon stock, morphological ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ndema

This study was conducted to assess the capacity of mangroves soils to stock carbon and how degradation can influence its various properties. Transect method was performed. So, two transects of. 100 m length and 10 m wide were established according to the degradation level. Total of 18 Soil samples were taken to be ...

Massive carbon addition to an organic-rich Andosol increased the subsoil but not the topsoil carbon stock

Science.gov (United States)

Zieger, Antonia; Kaiser, Klaus; Ríos Guayasamín, Pedro; Kaupenjohann, Martin

2018-05-01

Andosols are among the most carbon-rich soils, with an average of 254 Mg ha-1 organic carbon (OC) in the upper 100 cm. A current theory proposes an upper limit for OC stocks independent of increasing carbon input, because of finite binding capacities of the soil mineral phase. We tested the possible limits in OC stocks for Andosols with already large OC concentrations and stocks (212 g kg-1 in the first horizon, 301 Mg ha-1 in the upper 100 cm). The soils received large inputs of 1800 Mg OC ha-1 as sawdust within a time period of 20 years. Adjacent soils without sawdust application served as controls. We determined total OC stocks as well as the storage forms of organic matter (OM) of five horizons down to 100 cm depth. Storage forms considered were pyrogenic carbon, OM of 2.0 g cm-3. The two fractions > 1.6 g cm-3 were also analysed for aluminium-organic matter complexes (Al-OM complexes) and imogolite-type phases using ammonium-oxalate-oxalic-acid extraction and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Pyrogenic organic carbon represented only up to 5 wt % of OC, and thus contributed little to soil OM. In the two topsoil horizons, the fraction between 1.6 and 2.0 g cm-3 had 65-86 wt % of bulk soil OC and was dominated by Al-OM complexes. In deeper horizons, the fraction > 2.0 g cm-3 contained 80-97 wt % of the bulk soil's total OC and was characterized by a mixture of Al-OM complexes and imogolite-type phases, with proportions of imogolite-type phases increasing with depth. In response to the sawdust application, only the OC stock at 25-50 cm depth increased significantly (α = 0.05, 1 - β = 0.8). The increase was entirely due to increased OC in the two fractions > 1.6 g cm-3. However, there was no significant increase in the total OC stocks within the upper 100 cm. The results suggest that long-term large OC inputs cannot be taken up by the obviously OC-saturated topsoil but induce downward migration and gradually increasing storage of OC in subsurface soil layers. The small

Influence of land use changes on soil carbon stock and soil carbon erosion in a Mediterranean catchment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boix-Fayos, C.; Martinez-Mena, M.; Vente, J. de; Albaladejo, J.

2009-07-01

The effect of changing land uses on the organic soil carbon (C) stock and the soil C transported by water erosion and buried in depositions wedges behring check-dams was estimated in a Mediterranean catchment in SE Spin. the 57% decrease in agricultural areas and 1.5-fold increase of the total forest cover between 1956 and 1997 induced an accumulation rate of total organic carbon (TOC) in the soil of 10.73 g m{sup -}2 yr{sup -}1. The mineral-associated organic carbon (MOC) represented the 70% of the soil carbon pool, the particulate organic carbon (POC) represented a 30% of the soil carbon pool. The average sediments/soil enrichment ratio at the sub catchment scale (8-125 ha) was 0.59{+-}0.43 g kg{sup -}1. Eroded soil C accounted for between 2% to 78% of the soil c stock in the first 5 cm of the soil in the subcatchments. the C erosion rate varied between 0.008 and 0.2 t ha{sup -}1 yr{sup -}1. (Author) 20 refs.

Influence of land use changes on soil carbon stock and soil carbon erosion in a Mediterranean catchment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boix-Fayos, C.; Martinez-Mena, M.; Vente, J. de; Albaladejo, J.

2009-01-01

The effect of changing land uses on the organic soil carbon (C) stock and the soil C transported by water erosion and buried in depositions wedges behring check-dams was estimated in a Mediterranean catchment in SE Spin. the 57% decrease in agricultural areas and 1.5-fold increase of the total forest cover between 1956 and 1997 induced an accumulation rate of total organic carbon (TOC) in the soil of 10.73 g m - 2 yr - 1. The mineral-associated organic carbon (MOC) represented the 70% of the soil carbon pool, the particulate organic carbon (POC) represented a 30% of the soil carbon pool. The average sediments/soil enrichment ratio at the sub catchment scale (8-125 ha) was 0.59±0.43 g kg - 1. Eroded soil C accounted for between 2% to 78% of the soil c stock in the first 5 cm of the soil in the subcatchments. the C erosion rate varied between 0.008 and 0.2 t ha - 1 yr - 1. (Author) 20 refs.

329 Diversité végétale urbaine et estimation du stock de carbone ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

TOSHIBA

Diversité végétale urbaine et estimation du stock de carbone : cas de la commune du Plateau ... Urban plants diversity and carbon stock estimation: the case of Plateau district. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire ..... [15] - R. HOME; C. KELLER; P. NAGEL; N. BAUER et M. HUNZIKER, Selection criteria for flagship species by conservation ...

A marine heatwave drives massive losses from the world’s largest seagrass carbon stocks

KAUST Repository

Arias-Ortiz, Ariane; Serrano, Oscar; Masqué , Pere; Lavery, P. S.; Mueller, U.; Kendrick, G. A.; Rozaimi, M.; Esteban, A.; Fourqurean, J. W.; Marbà , N.; Mateo, M. A.; Murray, K.; Rule, M. J.; Duarte, Carlos M.

2018-01-01

Seagrass ecosystems contain globally significant organic carbon (C) stocks. However, climate change and increasing frequency of extreme events threaten their preservation. Shark Bay, Western Australia, has the largest C stock reported for a seagrass

Factoring out natural and indirect human effects on terrestrial carbon sources and sinks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Canadell, J.G. [Global Carbon Project, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, GPO Box 3023, Canberra, ACT 2601 (Australia); Kirschbaum, M.U.F. [Environmental Biology Group, RSBS, Australian National University, GPO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601 (Australia); Kurz, W.A. [Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5 (Canada); Sanz, M.J. [Fundacion CEAM, Parque Tecnologico, Charles H. Darwin 14, 46980 Paterna, Valencia (Spain); Schlamadinger, B. [Joanneum Research, Elisabethstrasse 11, Graz A-8010 (Austria); Yamagata, Y. [Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute of Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8506 (Japan)

2007-06-15

The capacity to partition natural, indirect, and direct human-induced effects on terrestrial carbon (C) sources and sinks is necessary to be able to predict future terrestrial C dynamics and thus their influence on atmospheric CO2 growth. However, it will take a number of years before we can better attribute quantitative estimates of the contribution of various C processes to the net C balance. In a policy context, factoring out natural and indirect human-induced effects on C sources and sinks from the direct human-induced influences, is seen as a requirement of a C accounting approach that establishes a clear and unambiguous connection between human activities and the assignment of C credits and debits. We present options for factoring out various groups of influences including climate variability, CO2 and N fertilization, and legacies from forest management. These are: (1) selecting longer accounting or measurement periods to reduce the effects of inter-annual variability; (2) correction of national inventories for inter-annual variability; (3) use of activity-based accounting and C response curves; (4) use of baseline scenarios or benchmarks at the national level; (5) stratification of the landscape into units with distinct average C stocks. Other, more sophisticated modeling approaches (e.g., demographic models in combination with forest inventories; process-based models) are possible options for future C accounting systems but their complexity and data requirements make their present adoption more difficult in an inclusive international C accounting system.

Factoring out natural and indirect human effects on terrestrial carbon sources and sinks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canadell, J.G.; Kirschbaum, M.U.F.; Kurz, W.A.; Sanz, M.J.; Schlamadinger, B.; Yamagata, Y.

2007-01-01

The capacity to partition natural, indirect, and direct human-induced effects on terrestrial carbon (C) sources and sinks is necessary to be able to predict future terrestrial C dynamics and thus their influence on atmospheric CO2 growth. However, it will take a number of years before we can better attribute quantitative estimates of the contribution of various C processes to the net C balance. In a policy context, factoring out natural and indirect human-induced effects on C sources and sinks from the direct human-induced influences, is seen as a requirement of a C accounting approach that establishes a clear and unambiguous connection between human activities and the assignment of C credits and debits. We present options for factoring out various groups of influences including climate variability, CO2 and N fertilization, and legacies from forest management. These are: (1) selecting longer accounting or measurement periods to reduce the effects of inter-annual variability; (2) correction of national inventories for inter-annual variability; (3) use of activity-based accounting and C response curves; (4) use of baseline scenarios or benchmarks at the national level; (5) stratification of the landscape into units with distinct average C stocks. Other, more sophisticated modeling approaches (e.g., demographic models in combination with forest inventories; process-based models) are possible options for future C accounting systems but their complexity and data requirements make their present adoption more difficult in an inclusive international C accounting system

Sources and characteristics of terrestrial carbon in Holocene-scale sediments of the East Siberian Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Keskitalo, Kirsi; Tesi, Tommaso; Bröder, Lisa; Andersson, August; Pearce, Christof; Sköld, Martin; Semiletov, Igor P.; Dudarev, Oleg V.; Gustafsson, Örjan

2017-09-01

Thawing of permafrost carbon (PF-C) due to climate warming can remobilise considerable amounts of terrestrial carbon from its long-term storage to the marine environment. PF-C can be then be buried in sediments or remineralised to CO2 with implications for the carbon-climate feedback. Studying historical sediment records during past natural climate changes can help us to understand the response of permafrost to current climate warming. In this study, two sediment cores collected from the East Siberian Sea were used to study terrestrial organic carbon sources, composition and degradation during the past ˜ 9500 cal yrs BP. CuO-derived lignin and cutin products (i.e., compounds solely biosynthesised in terrestrial plants) combined with δ13C suggest that there was a higher input of terrestrial organic carbon to the East Siberian Sea between ˜ 9500 and 8200 cal yrs BP than in all later periods. This high input was likely caused by marine transgression and permafrost destabilisation in the early Holocene climatic optimum. Based on source apportionment modelling using dual-carbon isotope (Δ14C, δ13C) data, coastal erosion releasing old Pleistocene permafrost carbon was identified as a significant source of organic matter translocated to the East Siberian Sea during the Holocene.

Vegetation Structure and Carbon Stocks of Two Protected Areas within the South-Sudanian Savannas of Burkina Faso

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Qasim

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Savannas and adjacent vegetation types like gallery forests are highly valuable ecosystems contributing to several ecosystem services including carbon budgeting. Financial mechanisms such as REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation can provide an opportunity for developing countries to alleviate poverty through conservation of its forestry resources. However, for availing such opportunities carbon stock assessments are essential. Therefore, a research study for this purpose was conducted at two protected areas (Nazinga Game Ranch and Bontioli Nature Reserve in Burkina Faso. Similarly, analysis of various vegetation parameters was also conducted to understand the overall vegetation structure of these two protected areas. For estimating above ground biomass, existing allometric equations for dry tropical woody vegetation types were used. Compositional structure was described by applying tree species and family importance indices. The results show that both sites collectively contain a mean carbon stock of 3.41 ± 4.98 Mg·C·ha−1. Among different savanna vegetation types, gallery forests recorded the highest mean carbon stock of 9.38 ± 6.90 Mg·C·ha−1. This study was an attempt at addressing the knowledge gap particularly on carbon stocks of protected savannas—it can serve as a baseline for carbon stocks for future initiatives such as REDD+ within these areas.

Forest Carbon Stocks in Woody Plants of Arba Minch Ground Water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The role of forests in mitigating the effect of climate change depends on the carbon sequestration potential and management. This study was conducted to estimate the carbon stock and its variation along environmental gradients in Arba Minch Ground Water Forest. The data was collected from the field by measuring plants ...

Carbon stocks quantification in agricultural systems employing succession and rotation of crops in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Michele K. C.; Marinho, Mara de A.; Denardin, José E.; Zullo, Jurandir, Jr.; Paz-González, Antonio

2013-04-01

Soil and vegetation constitute respectively the third and the fourth terrestrial reservoirs of Carbon (C) on Earth. C sequestration in these reservoirs includes the capture of the CO2 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and its storage as organic C. Consequently, changes in land use and agricultural practices affect directly the emissions of the greenhouse gases and the C sequestration. Several studies have already demonstrated that conservation agriculture, and particularly zero tillage (ZT), has a positive effect on soil C sequestration. The Brazilian federal program ABC (Agriculture of Low Carbon Emission) was conceived to promote agricultural production with environmental protection and represents an instrument to achieve voluntary targets to mitigate emissions or NAMAS (National Appropriated Mitigation Actions). With financial resources of about US 1.0 billion until 2020 the ABC Program has a target of expand ZT in 8 million hectares of land, with reduction of 16 to 20 million of CO2eq. Our objective was to quantify the C stocks in soil, plants and litter of representative grain crops systems under ZT in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Two treatments of a long term experimental essay (> 20 years) were evaluated: 1) Crop succession with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)/soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merril); 2) Crop rotation with wheat/soybean (1st year), vetch (Vicia sativa L.)/soybean (2nd year), and white oat (Avena sativa L.)/sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) (3rd year). C quantification in plants and in litter was performed using the direct method of biomass quantification. The soil type evaluated was a Humic Rhodic Hapludox, and C quantification was executed employing the method referred by "C mass by unit area". Results showed that soybean plants under crop succession presented greater C stock (4.31MgC ha-1) comparing with soybean plants cultivated under crop rotation (3.59 MgC ha-1). For wheat, however, greater C stock was quantified in plants under rotation

What are the effects of agricultural management on soil organic carbon in boreo-temperate systems?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haddaway, Neal R.; Hedlund, Katarina; Jackson, Louise E.

2015-01-01

Background Soils contain the largest stock of organic carbon (C) in terrestrial ecosystems and changes in soil C stocks may significantly affect atmospheric CO2. A significant part of soil C is present in cultivated soils that occupy about 35 % of the global land surface. Agricultural intensifica...

Inverse modeling of the terrestrial carbon flux in China with flux covariance among inverted regions

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, H.; Jiang, F.; Chen, J. M.; Ju, W.; Wang, H.

2011-12-01

Quantitative understanding of the role of ocean and terrestrial biosphere in the global carbon cycle, their response and feedback to climate change is required for the future projection of the global climate. China has the largest amount of anthropogenic CO2 emission, diverse terrestrial ecosystems and an unprecedented rate of urbanization. Thus information on spatial and temporal distributions of the terrestrial carbon flux in China is of great importance in understanding the global carbon cycle. We developed a nested inversion with focus in China. Based on Transcom 22 regions for the globe, we divide China and its neighboring countries into 17 regions, making 39 regions in total for the globe. A Bayesian synthesis inversion is made to estimate the terrestrial carbon flux based on GlobalView CO2 data. In the inversion, GEOS-Chem is used as the transport model to develop the transport matrix. A terrestrial ecosystem model named BEPS is used to produce the prior surface flux to constrain the inversion. However, the sparseness of available observation stations in Asia poses a challenge to the inversion for the 17 small regions. To obtain additional constraint on the inversion, a prior flux covariance matrix is constructed using the BEPS model through analyzing the correlation in the net carbon flux among regions under variable climate conditions. The use of the covariance among different regions in the inversion effectively extends the information content of CO2 observations to more regions. The carbon flux over the 39 land and ocean regions are inverted for the period from 2004 to 2009. In order to investigate the impact of introducing the covariance matrix with non-zero off-diagonal values to the inversion, the inverted terrestrial carbon flux over China is evaluated against ChinaFlux eddy-covariance observations after applying an upscaling methodology.

Clay content drives carbon stocks in soils under a plantation of Eucalyptus saligna Labill. in southern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanise Luisa Sausen

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Soil carbon accumulation is largely dependent on net primary productivity. To our knowledge, there have been no studies investigating the dynamics of carbon accumulation in weathered subtropical soils, especially in managed eucalyptus plantations. We quantified the seasonal input of leaf litter, the leaf decomposition rate and soil carbon stocks in an commercial plantation of Eucalyptus saligna Labill. in southern Brazil. Our goal was to evaluate, through multiple linear regression, the influence that certain chemical characteristics of litter, as well as chemical and physical characteristics of soil, have on carbon accumulation in soil organic matter fractions. Variables related to the chemical composition of litter were not associated with the soil carbon stock in the particulate and mineral fractions. However, certain soil characteristics were significantly associated with the carbon stock in both fractions. The concentrations of nutrients associated with plant growth and productivity, such as phosphorus, sulfur, copper and zinc, were associated with variations in the labile carbon pool (particulate fraction. Clay content was strongly associated with the carbon stock in the mineral fraction. The carbon accumulation and stabilization in weathered subtropical Ultisol seems to be mainly associated with the intrinsic characteristics of the soil, particularly clay content, rather than with the quantity, chemical composition or decomposition rate of the litter.

Assessment of Soil Organic Carbon Stock of Temperate Coniferous Forests in Northern Kashmir

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davood A. Dar

2015-02-01

Full Text Available  Soil organic carbon (SOC estimation in temperate forests of the Himalaya is important to estimate their contribution to regional, national and global carbon stocks. Physico chemical properties of soil were quantified to assess soil organic carbon density (SOC and SOC CO2 mitigation density at two soil depths (0-10 and 10-20 cms under temperate forest in the Northern region of Kashmir Himalayas India. The results indicate that conductance, moisture content, organic carbon and organic matter were significantly higher while as pH and bulk density were lower at Gulmarg forest site. SOC % was ranging from 2.31± 0.96 at Gulmarg meadow site to 2.31 ± 0.26 in Gulmarg forest site. SOC stocks in these temperate forests were from 36.39 ±15.40 to 50.09 ± 15.51 Mg C ha-1. The present study reveals that natural vegetation is the main contributor of soil quality as it maintained the soil organic carbon stock. In addition, organic matter is an important indicator of soil quality and environmental parameters such as soil moisture and soil biological activity change soil carbon sequestration potential in temperate forest ecosystems.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v4i1.12186International Journal of Environment Volume-4, Issue-1, Dec-Feb 2014/15; page: 161-178

Spatial optimization of carbon-stocking projects across Africa integrating stocking potential with co-benefits and feasibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greve, Michelle; Reyers, Belinda; Lykke, Anne Mette

2013-01-01

Carbon (C) offset projects through forestation are employed within the emissions trading framework to store C. Yet, information about the potential of landscapes to stock C, essential to the design of offset projects, is often lacking. Based on data on vegetation C, climate and soil we quantified...... the potential for C storage in woody vegetation across tropical Africa. The ability for offset projects to produce co-benefits for ecosystems and local communities was also investigated. When co-benefits such as biodiversity conservation were considered, the top-ranked sites were often different to sites...... selected purely for their C stocking potential, but they still possessed 68% of the latter’s C stocking potential. This work provides the first continental-scale assessment of which areas may provide the greatest direct and indirect benefits from C storage reforestation projects at the smallest costs...

Forest biomass carbon stocks and variation in Tibet's carbon-dense forests from 2001 to 2050.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiangyang; Wang, Genxu; Huang, Mei; Chang, Ruiying; Ran, Fei

2016-10-05

Tibet's forests, in contrast to China's other forests, are characterized by primary forests, high carbon (C) density and less anthropogenic disturbance, and they function as an important carbon pool in China. Using the biomass C density data from 413 forest inventory sites and a spatial forest age map, we developed an allometric equation for the forest biomass C density and forest age to assess the spatial biomass C stocks and variation in Tibet's forests from 2001 to 2050. The results indicated that the forest biomass C stock would increase from 831.1 Tg C in 2001 to 969.4 Tg C in 2050, with a net C gain of 3.6 Tg C yr -1 between 2001 and 2010 and a decrease of 1.9 Tg C yr -1 between 2040 and 2050. Carbon tends to allocate more in the roots of fir forests and less in the roots of spruce and pine forests with increasing stand age. The increase of the biomass carbon pool does not promote significant augmentation of the soil carbon pool. Our findings suggest that Tibet's mature forests will remain a persistent C sink until 2050. However, afforestation or reforestation, especially with the larger carbon sink potential forest types, such as fir and spruce, should be carried out to maintain the high C sink capacity.

Past and prospective carbon stocks in forests of northern Wisconsin: a report from the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest Climate Change Response Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Richard Birdsey; Yude Pan; Maria Janowiak; Susan Stewart; Sarah Hines; Linda Parker; Stith Gower; Jeremy Lichstein; Kevin McCullough; Fangmin Zhang; Jing Chen; David Mladenoff; Craig Wayson; Chris. Swanston

2014-01-01

This report assesses past and prospective carbon stocks for 4.5 million ha of forest land in northern Wisconsin, including a baseline assessment and analysis of the impacts of disturbance and management on carbon stocks. Carbon density (amount of carbon stock per unit area) averages 237 megagrams (Mg) per ha, with the National Forest lands having slightly higher carbon...

Simulation of carbon isotope discrimination of the terrestrial biosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Suits, N. S.; Denning, A. S.; Berry, J. A.; Still, C. J.; Kaduk, J.; Miller, J. B.; Baker, I. T.

2005-03-01

We introduce a multistage model of carbon isotope discrimination during C3 photosynthesis and global maps of C3/C4 plant ratios to an ecophysiological model of the terrestrial biosphere (SiB2) in order to predict the carbon isotope ratios of terrestrial plant carbon globally at a 1° resolution. The model is driven by observed meteorology from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), constrained by satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and run for the years 1983-1993. Modeled mean annual C3 discrimination during this period is 19.2‰; total mean annual discrimination by the terrestrial biosphere (C3 and C4 plants) is 15.9‰. We test simulation results in three ways. First, we compare the modeled response of C3 discrimination to changes in physiological stress, including daily variations in vapor pressure deficit (vpd) and monthly variations in precipitation, to observed changes in discrimination inferred from Keeling plot intercepts. Second, we compare mean δ13C ratios from selected biomes (Broadleaf, Temperate Broadleaf, Temperate Conifer, and Boreal) to the observed values from Keeling plots at these biomes. Third, we compare simulated zonal δ13C ratios in the Northern Hemisphere (20°N to 60°N) to values predicted from high-frequency variations in measured atmospheric CO2 and δ13C from terrestrially dominated sites within the NOAA-Globalview flask network. The modeled response to changes in vapor pressure deficit compares favorably to observations. Simulated discrimination in tropical forests of the Amazon basin is less sensitive to changes in monthly precipitation than is suggested by some observations. Mean model δ13C ratios for Broadleaf, Temperate Broadleaf, Temperate Conifer, and Boreal biomes compare well with the few measurements available; however, there is more variability in observations than in the simulation, and modeled δ13C values for tropical forests are heavy relative to observations

Effects of Successive Rotation Regimes on Carbon Stocks in Eucalyptus Plantations in Subtropical China Measured over a Full Rotation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaoqiong; Ye, Duo; Liang, Hongwen; Zhu, Hongguang; Qin, Lin; Zhu, Yuling; Wen, Yuanguang

2015-01-01

Plantations play an important role in carbon sequestration and the global carbon cycle. However, there is a dilemma in that most plantations are managed on short rotations, and the carbon sequestration capacities of these short-rotation plantations remain understudied. Eucalyptus has been widely planted in the tropics and subtropics due to its rapid growth, high adaptability, and large economic return. Eucalyptus plantations are primarily planted in successive rotations with a short rotation length of 6~8 years. In order to estimate the carbon-stock potential of eucalyptus plantations over successive rotations, we chose a first rotation (FR) and a second rotation (SR) stand and monitored the carbon stock dynamics over a full rotation from 1998 to 2005. Our results showed that carbon stock in eucalyptus trees (TC) did not significantly differ between rotations, while understory vegetation (UC) and soil organic matter (SOC) stored less carbon in the SR (1.01 vs. 2.76 Mg.ha(-1) and 70.68 vs. 81.08 Mg. ha(-1), respectively) and forest floor carbon (FFC) conversely stored more (2.80 vs. 2.34 Mg. ha(-1)). The lower UC and SOC stocks in the SR stand resulted in 1.13 times lower overall ecosystem carbon stock. Mineral soils and overstory trees were the two dominant carbon pools in eucalyptus plantations, accounting for 73.77%~75.06% and 20.50%~22.39%, respectively, of the ecosystem carbon pool. However, the relative contribution (to the ecosystem pool) of FFC stocks increased 1.38 times and that of UC decreased 2.30 times in the SR versus FR stand. These carbon pool changes over successive rotations were attributed to intensive successive rotation regimes of eucalyptus plantations. Our eight year study suggests that for the sustainable development of short-rotation plantations, a sound silvicultural strategy is required to achieve the best combination of high wood yield and carbon stock potential.

Effects of Successive Rotation Regimes on Carbon Stocks in Eucalyptus Plantations in Subtropical China Measured over a Full Rotation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoqiong Li

Full Text Available Plantations play an important role in carbon sequestration and the global carbon cycle. However, there is a dilemma in that most plantations are managed on short rotations, and the carbon sequestration capacities of these short-rotation plantations remain understudied. Eucalyptus has been widely planted in the tropics and subtropics due to its rapid growth, high adaptability, and large economic return. Eucalyptus plantations are primarily planted in successive rotations with a short rotation length of 6~8 years. In order to estimate the carbon-stock potential of eucalyptus plantations over successive rotations, we chose a first rotation (FR and a second rotation (SR stand and monitored the carbon stock dynamics over a full rotation from 1998 to 2005. Our results showed that carbon stock in eucalyptus trees (TC did not significantly differ between rotations, while understory vegetation (UC and soil organic matter (SOC stored less carbon in the SR (1.01 vs. 2.76 Mg.ha(-1 and 70.68 vs. 81.08 Mg. ha(-1, respectively and forest floor carbon (FFC conversely stored more (2.80 vs. 2.34 Mg. ha(-1. The lower UC and SOC stocks in the SR stand resulted in 1.13 times lower overall ecosystem carbon stock. Mineral soils and overstory trees were the two dominant carbon pools in eucalyptus plantations, accounting for 73.77%~75.06% and 20.50%~22.39%, respectively, of the ecosystem carbon pool. However, the relative contribution (to the ecosystem pool of FFC stocks increased 1.38 times and that of UC decreased 2.30 times in the SR versus FR stand. These carbon pool changes over successive rotations were attributed to intensive successive rotation regimes of eucalyptus plantations. Our eight year study suggests that for the sustainable development of short-rotation plantations, a sound silvicultural strategy is required to achieve the best combination of high wood yield and carbon stock potential.

A method for assessing carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of the United States under present conditions and future scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Bergamaschi, Brian A.; Bernknopf, Richard; Clow, David; Dye, Dennis; Faulkner, Stephen; Forney, William; Gleason, Robert; Hawbaker, Todd; Liu, Jinxun; Liu, Shu-Guang; Prisley, Stephen; Reed, Bradley; Reeves, Matthew; Rollins, Matthew; Sleeter, Benjamin; Sohl, Terry; Stackpoole, Sarah; Stehman, Stephen; Striegl, Robert G.; Wein, Anne; Zhu, Zhi-Liang; Zhu, Zhi-Liang

2010-01-01

he Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Section 712, mandates the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a methodology and conduct an assessment of the Nation’s ecosystems, focusing on carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and emissions of three greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The major requirements include (1) an assessment of all ecosystems (terrestrial systems, such as forests, croplands, wetlands, grasslands/shrublands; and aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and estuaries); (2) an estimate of the annual potential capacities of ecosystems to increase carbon sequestration and reduce net GHG emissions in the context of mitigation strategies (including management and restoration activities); and (3) an evaluation of the effects of controlling processes, such as climate change, land-use and land-cover change, and disturbances such as wildfires.The concepts of ecosystems, carbon pools, and GHG fluxes follow conventional definitions in use by major national and international assessment or inventory efforts. In order to estimate current ecosystem carbon stocks and GHG fluxes and to understand the potential capacity and effects of mitigation strategies, the method will use two time periods for the assessment: 2001 through 2010, which establishes a current ecosystem carbon and GHG baseline and will be used to validate the models; and 2011 through 2050, which will be used to assess potential capacities based on a set of scenarios. The scenario framework will be constructed using storylines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES), along with both reference and enhanced land-use and land-cover (LULC) and land-management parameters. Additional LULC and land-management mitigation scenarios will be constructed for each storyline to increase carbon sequestration and reduce GHG fluxes in ecosystems. Input from regional experts and stakeholders will be

Assessing net ecosystem carbon exchange of U S terrestrial ecosystems by integrating eddy covariance flux measurements and satellite observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhuang, Qianlai [Purdue University; Law, Beverly E. [Oregon State University; Baldocchi, Dennis [University of California, Berkeley; Ma, Siyan [University of California, Berkeley; Chen, Jiquan [University of Toledo, Toledo, OH; Richardson, Andrew [Harvard University; Melillo, Jerry [Marine Biological Laboratory; Davis, Ken J. [Pennsylvania State University; Hollinger, D. [USDA Forest Service; Wharton, Sonia [University of California, Davis; Falk, Matthias [University of California, Davis; Paw, U. Kyaw Tha [University of California, Davis; Oren, Ram [Duke University; Katulk, Gabriel G. [Duke University; Noormets, Asko [North Carolina State University; Fischer, Marc [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL); Verma, Shashi [University of Nebraska; Suyker, A. E. [University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Cook, David R. [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Sun, G. [USDA Forest Service; McNulty, Steven G. [USDA Forest Service; Wofsy, Steve [Harvard University; Bolstad, Paul V [University of Minnesota; Burns, Sean [University of Colorado, Boulder; Monson, Russell K. [University of Colorado, Boulder; Curtis, Peter [Ohio State University, The, Columbus; Drake, Bert G. [Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD; Foster, David R. [Harvard University; Gu, Lianhong [ORNL; Hadley, Julian L. [Harvard University; Litvak, Marcy [University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Martin, Timothy A. [University of Florida, Gainesville; Matamala, Roser [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Meyers, Tilden [NOAA, Oak Ridge, TN; Oechel, Walter C. [San Diego State University; Schmid, H. P. [Indiana University; Scott, Russell L. [USDA ARS; Torn, Margaret S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

2011-01-01

More accurate projections of future carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and associated climate change depend on improved scientific understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Despite the consensus that U.S. terrestrial ecosystems provide a carbon sink, the size, distribution, and interannual variability of this sink remain uncertain. Here we report a terrestrial carbon sink in the conterminous U.S. at 0.63 pg C yr 1 with the majority of the sink in regions dominated by evergreen and deciduous forests and savannas. This estimate is based on our continuous estimates of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) with high spatial (1 km) and temporal (8-day) resolutions derived from NEE measurements from eddy covariance flux towers and wall-to-wall satellite observations from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We find that the U.S. terrestrial ecosystems could offset a maximum of 40% of the fossil-fuel carbon emissions. Our results show that the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink varied between 0.51 and 0.70 pg C yr 1 over the period 2001 2006. The dominant sources of interannual variation of the carbon sink included extreme climate events and disturbances. Droughts in 2002 and 2006 reduced the U.S. carbon sink by 20% relative to a normal year. Disturbances including wildfires and hurricanes reduced carbon uptake or resulted in carbon release at regional scales. Our results provide an alternative, independent, and novel constraint to the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink.

Estimation of Global 1km-grid Terrestrial Carbon Exchange Part I: Developing Inputs and Modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Sasai, T.; Murakami, K.; Kato, S.; Matsunaga, T.; Saigusa, N.; Hiraki, K.

2015-12-01

Global terrestrial carbon cycle largely depends on a spatial pattern in land cover type, which is heterogeneously-distributed over regional and global scales. However, most studies, which aimed at the estimation of carbon exchanges between ecosystem and atmosphere, remained within several tens of kilometers grid spatial resolution, and the results have not been enough to understand the detailed pattern of carbon exchanges based on ecological community. Improving the sophistication of spatial resolution is obviously necessary to enhance the accuracy of carbon exchanges. Moreover, the improvement may contribute to global warming awareness, policy makers and other social activities. In this study, we show global terrestrial carbon exchanges (net ecosystem production, net primary production, and gross primary production) with 1km-grid resolution. As methodology for computing the exchanges, we 1) developed a global 1km-grid climate and satellite dataset based on the approach in Setoyama and Sasai (2013); 2) used the satellite-driven biosphere model (Biosphere model integrating Eco-physiological And Mechanistic approaches using Satellite data: BEAMS) (Sasai et al., 2005, 2007, 2011); 3) simulated the carbon exchanges by using the new dataset and BEAMS by the use of a supercomputer that includes 1280 CPU and 320 GPGPU cores (GOSAT RCF of NIES). As a result, we could develop a global uniform system for realistically estimating terrestrial carbon exchange, and evaluate net ecosystem production in each community level; leading to obtain highly detailed understanding of terrestrial carbon exchanges.

Utilizing Forest Inventory and Analysis Data, Remote Sensing, and Ecosystem Models for National Forest System Carbon Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Alexa J. Dugan; Richard A. Birdsey; Sean P. Healey; Christopher Woodall; Fangmin Zhang; Jing M. Chen; Alexander Hernandez; James B. McCarter

2015-01-01

Forested lands, representing the largest terrestrial carbon sink in the United States, offset 16% of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions through carbon sequestration. Meanwhile, this carbon sink is threatened by deforestation, climate change and natural disturbances. As a result, U.S. Forest Service policies require that National Forests assess baseline carbon stocks...

A tree-ring perspective on the terrestrial carbon cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babst, F.; Alexander, M.R.; Szejner, P.; Trouet, V.; Alexander, M.R.; Moore, D.J.P.; Bouriaud, O.; Klesse, S.; Frank, D.; Roden, J.; Ciais, P.; Poulter, B.

2014-01-01

Tree-ring records can provide valuable information to advance our understanding of contemporary terrestrial carbon cycling and to reconstruct key metrics in the decades preceding monitoring data. The growing use of tree rings in carbon-cycle research is being facilitated by increasing recognition of reciprocal benefits among research communities. Yet, basic questions persist regarding what tree rings represent at the ecosystem level, how to optimally integrate them with other data streams, and what related challenges need to be overcome. It is also apparent that considerable unexplored potential exists for tree rings to refine assessments of terrestrial carbon cycling across a range of temporal and spatial domains. Here, we summarize recent advances and highlight promising paths of investigation with respect to (1) growth phenology, (2) forest productivity trends and variability, (3) CO 2 fertilization and water-use efficiency, (4) forest disturbances, and (5) comparisons between observational and computational forest productivity estimates. We encourage the integration of tree-ring data: with eddy-covariance measurements to investigate carbon allocation patterns and water-use efficiency; with remotely sensed observations to distinguish the timing of cambial growth and leaf phenology; and with forest inventories to develop continuous, annually resolved and long-term carbon budgets. In addition, we note the potential of tree-ring records and derivatives thereof to help evaluate the performance of earth system models regarding the simulated magnitude and dynamics of forest carbon uptake, and inform these models about growth responses to (non-)climatic drivers. Such efforts are expected to improve our understanding of forest carbon cycling and place current developments into a long-term perspective. (authors)

Impacts of large-scale climatic disturbances on the terrestrial carbon cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucht Wolfgang

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere steadily increases as a consequence of anthropogenic emissions but with large interannual variability caused by the terrestrial biosphere. These variations in the CO2 growth rate are caused by large-scale climate anomalies but the relative contributions of vegetation growth and soil decomposition is uncertain. We use a biogeochemical model of the terrestrial biosphere to differentiate the effects of temperature and precipitation on net primary production (NPP and heterotrophic respiration (Rh during the two largest anomalies in atmospheric CO2 increase during the last 25 years. One of these, the smallest atmospheric year-to-year increase (largest land carbon uptake in that period, was caused by global cooling in 1992/93 after the Pinatubo volcanic eruption. The other, the largest atmospheric increase on record (largest land carbon release, was caused by the strong El Niño event of 1997/98. Results We find that the LPJ model correctly simulates the magnitude of terrestrial modulation of atmospheric carbon anomalies for these two extreme disturbances. The response of soil respiration to changes in temperature and precipitation explains most of the modelled anomalous CO2 flux. Conclusion Observed and modelled NEE anomalies are in good agreement, therefore we suggest that the temporal variability of heterotrophic respiration produced by our model is reasonably realistic. We therefore conclude that during the last 25 years the two largest disturbances of the global carbon cycle were strongly controlled by soil processes rather then the response of vegetation to these large-scale climatic events.

A cost-efficient method to assess carbon stocks in tropical peat soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. W. Warren

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Estimation of belowground carbon stocks in tropical wetland forests requires funding for laboratory analyses and suitable facilities, which are often lacking in developing nations where most tropical wetlands are found. It is therefore beneficial to develop simple analytical tools to assist belowground carbon estimation where financial and technical limitations are common. Here we use published and original data to describe soil carbon density (kgC m⁻³; C_d as a function of bulk density (gC cm⁻³; B_d, which can be used to rapidly estimate belowground carbon storage using B_d measurements only. Predicted carbon densities and stocks are compared with those obtained from direct carbon analysis for ten peat swamp forest stands in three national parks of Indonesia. Analysis of soil carbon density and bulk density from the literature indicated a strong linear relationship (C_d = B_d × 495.14 + 5.41, R² = 0.93, n = 151 for soils with organic C content > 40%. As organic C content decreases, the relationship between C_d and B_d becomes less predictable as soil texture becomes an important determinant of C_d. The equation predicted belowground C stocks to within 0.92% to 9.57% of observed values. Average bulk density of collected peat samples was 0.127 g cm⁻³, which is in the upper range of previous reports for Southeast Asian peatlands. When original data were included, the revised equation C_d = B_d × 468.76 + 5.82, with R² = 0.95 and n = 712, was slightly below the lower 95% confidence interval of the original equation, and tended to decrease C_d estimates. We recommend this last equation for a rapid estimation of soil C stocks for well-developed peat soils where C content > 40%.

Biodiversity, carbon stocks and community monitoring in traditional agroforestry practices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartoyo, Adisti Permatasari Putri; Siregar, Iskandar Z.; Supriyanto

2016-01-01

Traditional agroforestry practices in Berau, East Kalimantan, are suitable land use types to conserve that potentially support the implementation of REDD+. The objectives of this research are to assess biodiversity and carbon stock in various traditional agroforestry practices, also to determine...

Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yi Chuixiang; Wolbeck, John; Xu Xiyan [School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Queens College, City University of New York, NY 11367 (United States); Ricciuto, Daniel [Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Li Runze [Department of Statistics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Nilsson, Mats [Department of Forest Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeaa (Sweden); Aires, Luis [CESAM and Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (Portugal); Albertson, John D [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 22708-0287 (United States); Ammann, Christof [Federal Research Station Agroscope Reckenholz-Taenikon, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zuerich (Switzerland); Arain, M Altaf [School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1 (Canada); De Araujo, Alessandro C [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Programa LBA, Campus-II, Manaus-Amazonas 69060 (Brazil); Aubinet, Marc [University of Liege, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Unit of Biosystem Physics, 2 Passage des Deportes, 5030 Gembloux (Belgium); Aurela, Mika [Finnish Meteorological Institute, Climate Change Research, FI-00101 Helsinki (Finland); Barcza, Zoltan [Department of Meteorology, Eoetvoes Lorand University, H-1117 Budapest, Pazmany setany 1/A (Hungary); Barr, Alan [Climate Research Division, Environment Canada, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5 (Canada); Berbigier, Paul [INRA, UR1263 EPHYSE, Villenave d' Ornon F-33883 (France); Beringer, Jason [School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800 (Australia); Bernhofer, Christian [Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology, Dresden University of Technology, Pienner Strasse 23, D-01737, Tharandt (Germany)

2010-07-15

Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between climate and terrestrial CO{sub 2} exchange with the atmosphere across biomes and continents are lacking. Here we present data describing the relationships between net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) and climate factors as measured using the eddy covariance method at 125 unique sites in various ecosystems over six continents with a total of 559 site-years. We find that NEE observed at eddy covariance sites is (1) a strong function of mean annual temperature at mid- and high-latitudes, (2) a strong function of dryness at mid- and low-latitudes, and (3) a function of both temperature and dryness around the mid-latitudinal belt (45 deg. N). The sensitivity of NEE to mean annual temperature breaks down at {approx} 16 deg. C (a threshold value of mean annual temperature), above which no further increase of CO{sub 2} uptake with temperature was observed and dryness influence overrules temperature influence.

Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi Chuixiang; Wolbeck, John; Xu Xiyan; Ricciuto, Daniel; Li Runze; Nilsson, Mats; Aires, Luis; Albertson, John D; Ammann, Christof; Arain, M Altaf; De Araujo, Alessandro C; Aubinet, Marc; Aurela, Mika; Barcza, Zoltan; Barr, Alan; Berbigier, Paul; Beringer, Jason; Bernhofer, Christian

2010-01-01

Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between climate and terrestrial CO 2 exchange with the atmosphere across biomes and continents are lacking. Here we present data describing the relationships between net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) and climate factors as measured using the eddy covariance method at 125 unique sites in various ecosystems over six continents with a total of 559 site-years. We find that NEE observed at eddy covariance sites is (1) a strong function of mean annual temperature at mid- and high-latitudes, (2) a strong function of dryness at mid- and low-latitudes, and (3) a function of both temperature and dryness around the mid-latitudinal belt (45 deg. N). The sensitivity of NEE to mean annual temperature breaks down at ∼ 16 deg. C (a threshold value of mean annual temperature), above which no further increase of CO 2 uptake with temperature was observed and dryness influence overrules temperature influence.

The effect of long-term changes in plant inputs on soil carbon stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Georgiou, K.; Li, Z.; Torn, M. S.

2017-12-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest actively-cycling terrestrial reservoir of C and an integral component of thriving natural and managed ecosystems. C input interventions (e.g., litter removal or organic amendments) are common in managed landscapes and present an important decision for maintaining healthy soils in sustainable agriculture and forestry. Furthermore, climate and land-cover change can also affect the amount of plant C inputs that enter the soil through changes in plant productivity, allocation, and rooting depth. Yet, the processes that dictate the response of SOC to such changes in C inputs are poorly understood and inadequately represented in predictive models. Long-term litter manipulations are an invaluable resource for exploring key controls of SOC storage and validating model representations. Here we explore the response of SOC to long-term changes in plant C inputs across a range of biomes and soil types. We synthesize and analyze data from long-term litter manipulation field experiments, and focus our meta-analysis on changes to total SOC stocks, microbial biomass carbon, and mineral-associated (`protected') carbon pools and explore the relative contribution of above- versus below-ground C inputs. Our cross-site data comparison reveals that divergent SOC responses are observed between forest sites, particularly for treatments that increase C inputs to the soil. We explore trends among key variables (e.g., microbial biomass to SOC ratios) that inform soil C model representations. The assembled dataset is an important benchmark for evaluating process-based hypotheses and validating divergent model formulations.

Maximizing carbon storage in the Appalachians: A method for considering the risk of disturbance events

Science.gov (United States)

Michael R. Vanderberg; Kevin Boston; John. Bailey

2011-01-01

Accounting for the probability of loss due to disturbance events can influence the prediction of carbon flux over a planning horizon, and can affect the determination of optimal silvicultural regimes to maximize terrestrial carbon storage. A preliminary model that includes forest disturbance-related carbon loss was developed to maximize expected values of carbon stocks...

Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Variability [version 1; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis Baldocchi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A growing literature is reporting on how the terrestrial carbon cycle is experiencing year-to-year variability because of climate anomalies and trends caused by global change. As CO2 concentration records in the atmosphere exceed 50 years and as satellite records reach over 30 years in length, we are becoming better able to address carbon cycle variability and trends. Here we review how variable the carbon cycle is, how large the trends in its gross and net fluxes are, and how well the signal can be separated from noise. We explore mechanisms that explain year-to-year variability and trends by deconstructing the global carbon budget. The CO2 concentration record is detecting a significant increase in the seasonal amplitude between 1958 and now. Inferential methods provide a variety of explanations for this result, but a conclusive attribution remains elusive. Scientists have reported that this trend is a consequence of the greening of the biosphere, stronger northern latitude photosynthesis, more photosynthesis by semi-arid ecosystems, agriculture and the green revolution, tropical temperature anomalies, or increased winter respiration. At the global scale, variability in the terrestrial carbon cycle can be due to changes in constituent fluxes, gross primary productivity, plant respiration and heterotrophic (microbial respiration, and losses due to fire, land use change, soil erosion, or harvesting. It remains controversial whether or not there is a significant trend in global primary productivity (due to rising CO2, temperature, nitrogen deposition, changing land use, and preponderance of wet and dry regions. The degree to which year-to-year variability in temperature and precipitation anomalies affect global primary productivity also remains uncertain. For perspective, interannual variability in global gross primary productivity is relatively small (on the order of 2 Pg-C y-1 with respect to a large and uncertain background (123 +/- 4 Pg-C y-1

Contributions of secondary forest and nitrogen dynamics to terrestrial carbon uptake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Yang

2010-10-01

Full Text Available We use a terrestrial carbon-nitrogen cycle component of the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM to investigate the impacts of nitrogen dynamics on regrowing secondary forests over the 20th century. We further examine what the impacts of nitrogen deposition and land use change history are on terrestrial carbon uptake since preindustrial time. Our results suggest that global total net land use emissions for the 1990s associated with changes in cropland, pastureland, and wood harvest are 1.22 GtC/yr. Without considering the secondary forest regrowth, the estimated net global total land use emissions are 1.58 GtC/yr or about 0.36 GtC/yr higher than if secondary forest regrowth is considered. Results also show that without considering the nitrogen dynamics and deposition, the estimated global total secondary forest sink for the 1990s is 0.90 GtC/yr or about 0.54 GtC/yr higher than estimates that include the impacts of nitrogen dynamics and deposition. Nitrogen deposition alone is responsible for about 0.13 GtC/yr of the total secondary forest sink. While nitrogen is not a limiting nutrient in the intact primary forests in tropical regions, our study suggests that nitrogen becomes a limiting nutrient for regrowing secondary forests of the tropical regions, in particular Latin America and Tropical Africa. This is because land use change activities, especially wood harvest, removes large amounts of nitrogen from the system when slash is burnt or wood is removed for harvest. However, our model results show that carbon uptake is enhanced in the tropical secondary forests of the Indian region. We argue that this may be due to enhanced nitrogen mineralization and increased nitrogen availability following land use change in the Indian tropical forest ecosystems. Results also demonstrate that there is a significant amount of carbon accumulating in the Northern Hemisphere where most land use changes and forest regrowth has occurred in recent decades

Carbon stock projection in North Sumatera using multi objective land allocation approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ichwani, S. N.; Wulandari, R.; Ramachandra, A.

2018-05-01

Nowadays, GHG emission is a critical issue for environmental management due to the large scale of land cover change, especially forest cover. This study provides a protection development strategy for North Sumatera as one way to manage the area. By using Multi Objective Land Allocation (MOLA), we evaluated two GHG emission scenarios, including a Business As Usual (BAU) scenario and Protection scenario. The result shows that the province will lose the carbon stock up to 24 million tons in the year of 2035 by using a BAU scenario. On the other hand, by implementing the Protection scenario, total carbon stock that is lost in the same period is about 5 millions tons solely. It proves that protection scenario is a good scenario and effective to reduce the carbon loss. Furthermore, this scenario can be an alternative for North Sumatera spatial plan.

Earth system model simulations show different feedback strengths of the terrestrial carbon cycle under glacial and interglacial conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Adloff, Markus; Reick, Christian H.; Claussen, Martin

2018-04-01

In simulations with the MPI Earth System Model, we study the feedback between the terrestrial carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2 concentrations under ice age and interglacial conditions. We find different sensitivities of terrestrial carbon storage to rising CO2 concentrations in the two settings. This result is obtained by comparing the transient response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to a fast and strong atmospheric CO2 concentration increase (roughly 900 ppm) in Coupled Climate Carbon Cycle Model Intercomparison Project (C4MIP)-type simulations starting from climates representing the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and pre-industrial times (PI). In this set-up we disentangle terrestrial contributions to the feedback from the carbon-concentration effect, acting biogeochemically via enhanced photosynthetic productivity when CO2 concentrations increase, and the carbon-climate effect, which affects the carbon cycle via greenhouse warming. We find that the carbon-concentration effect is larger under LGM than PI conditions because photosynthetic productivity is more sensitive when starting from the lower, glacial CO2 concentration and CO2 fertilization saturates later. This leads to a larger productivity increase in the LGM experiment. Concerning the carbon-climate effect, it is the PI experiment in which land carbon responds more sensitively to the warming under rising CO2 because at the already initially higher temperatures, tropical plant productivity deteriorates more strongly and extratropical carbon is respired more effectively. Consequently, land carbon losses increase faster in the PI than in the LGM case. Separating the carbon-climate and carbon-concentration effects, we find that they are almost additive for our model set-up; i.e. their synergy is small in the global sum of carbon changes. Together, the two effects result in an overall strength of the terrestrial carbon cycle feedback that is almost twice as large in the LGM experiment as in the PI experiment

Carbon stocks of tropical coastal wetlands within the karstic landscape of the Mexican Caribbean.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Fernanda Adame

Full Text Available Coastal wetlands can have exceptionally large carbon (C stocks and their protection and restoration would constitute an effective mitigation strategy to climate change. Inclusion of coastal ecosystems in mitigation strategies requires quantification of carbon stocks in order to calculate emissions or sequestration through time. In this study, we quantified the ecosystem C stocks of coastal wetlands of the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (SKBR in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. We stratified the SKBR into different vegetation types (tall, medium and dwarf mangroves, and marshes, and examined relationships of environmental variables with C stocks. At nine sites within SKBR, we quantified ecosystem C stocks through measurement of above and belowground biomass, downed wood, and soil C. Additionally, we measured nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P from the soil and interstitial salinity. Tall mangroves had the highest C stocks (987±338 Mg ha(-1 followed by medium mangroves (623±41 Mg ha(-1, dwarf mangroves (381±52 Mg ha(-1 and marshes (177±73 Mg ha(-1. At all sites, soil C comprised the majority of the ecosystem C stocks (78-99%. Highest C stocks were measured in soils that were relatively low in salinity, high in P and low in N∶P, suggesting that P limits C sequestration and accumulation potential. In this karstic area, coastal wetlands, especially mangroves, are important C stocks. At the landscape scale, the coastal wetlands of Sian Ka'an covering ≈172,176 ha may store 43.2 to 58.0 million Mg of C.

Global variation of carbon use efficiency in terrestrial ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xiaolu; Carvalhais, Nuno; Moura, Catarina; Reichstein, Markus

2017-04-01

Carbon use efficiency (CUE), defined as the ratio between net primary production (NPP) and gross primary production (GPP), is an emergent property of vegetation that describes its effectiveness in storing carbon (C) and is of significance for understanding C biosphere-atmosphere exchange dynamics. A constant CUE value of 0.5 has been widely used in terrestrial C-cycle models, such as the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford-Approach model, or the Marine Biological Laboratory/Soil Plant-Atmosphere Canopy Model, for regional or global modeling purposes. However, increasing evidence argues that CUE is not constant, but varies with ecosystem types, site fertility, climate, site management and forest age. Hence, the assumption of a constant CUE of 0.5 can produce great uncertainty in estimating global carbon dynamics between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Here, in order to analyze the global variations in CUE and understand how CUE varies with environmental variables, a global database was constructed based on published data for crops, forests, grasslands, wetlands and tundra ecosystems. In addition to CUE data, were also collected: GPP and NPP; site variables (e.g. climate zone, site management and plant function type); climate variables (e.g. temperature and precipitation); additional carbon fluxes (e.g. soil respiration, autotrophic respiration and heterotrophic respiration); and carbon pools (e.g. stem, leaf and root biomass). Different climate metrics were derived to diagnose seasonal temperature (mean annual temperature, MAT, and maximum temperature, Tmax) and water availability proxies (mean annual precipitation, MAP, and Palmer Drought Severity Index), in order to improve the local representation of environmental variables. Additionally were also included vegetation phenology dynamics as observed by different vegetation indices from the MODIS satellite. The mean CUE of all terrestrial ecosystems was 0.45, 10% lower than the previous assumed constant CUE of 0

Altitudinal variation of soil organic carbon stocks in temperate forests of Kashmir Himalayas, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad Dar, Javid; Somaiah, Sundarapandian

2015-02-01

Soil organic carbon stocks were measured at three depths (0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm) in seven altitudes dominated by different forest types viz. Populus deltoides, 1550-1800 m; Juglans regia, 1800-2000 m; Cedrus deodara, 2050-2300 m; Pinus wallichiana, 2000-2300 m; mixed type, 2200-2400 m; Abies pindrow, 2300-2800 m; and Betula utilis, 2800-3200 m in temperate mountains of Kashmir Himalayas. The mean range of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks varied from 39.07 to 91.39 Mg C ha(-1) in J. regia and B. utilis forests at 0-30 cm depth, respectively. Among the forest types, the lowest mean range of SOC at three depths (0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm) was observed in J. regia (18.55, 11.31, and 8.91 Mg C ha(-1), respectively) forest type, and the highest was observed in B. utilis (54.10, 21.68, and 15.60 Mg C ha(-1), respectively) forest type. SOC stocks showed significantly (R (2) = 0.67, P = 0.001) an increasing trend with increase in altitude. On average, the percentages of SOC at 0-10-, 10-20-, and 20-30-cm depths were 53.2, 26.5, and 20.3 %, respectively. Bulk density increased significantly with increase in soil depth and decreased with increase in altitude. Our results suggest that SOC stocks in temperate forests of Kashmir Himalaya vary greatly with forest type and altitude. The present study reveals that SOC stocks increased with increase in altitude at high mountainous regions. Climate change in these high mountainous regions will alter the carbon sequestration potential, which would affect the global carbon cycle.

What are the effects of agricultural management on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Söderström, Bo; Hedlund, Katarina; Jackson, Louise E.

2014-01-01

the physical and biological properties of the soil. Intensification of agriculture and land-use change from grasslands to croplands are generally known to deplete SOC stocks. The depletion is exacerbated through agricultural practices with low return of organic material and various mechanisms......Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks significantly influence the atmospheric C concentration. Agricultural management practices that increase SOC stocks thus may have profound effects on climate mitigation. Additional benefits include higher soil fertility since increased SOC stocks improve......, such as oxidation/mineralization, leaching and erosion. However, a systematic review comparing the efficacy of different agricultural management practices to increase SOC stocks has not yet been produced. Since there are diverging views on this matter, a systematic review would be timely for framing policies...

Forest biomass carbon stocks and variation in Tibet’s carbon-dense forests from 2001 to 2050

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiangyang; Wang, Genxu; Huang, Mei; Chang, Ruiying; Ran, Fei

2016-01-01

Tibet’s forests, in contrast to China’s other forests, are characterized by primary forests, high carbon (C) density and less anthropogenic disturbance, and they function as an important carbon pool in China. Using the biomass C density data from 413 forest inventory sites and a spatial forest age map, we developed an allometric equation for the forest biomass C density and forest age to assess the spatial biomass C stocks and variation in Tibet’s forests from 2001 to 2050. The results indicated that the forest biomass C stock would increase from 831.1 Tg C in 2001 to 969.4 Tg C in 2050, with a net C gain of 3.6 Tg C yr−1 between 2001 and 2010 and a decrease of 1.9 Tg C yr−1 between 2040 and 2050. Carbon tends to allocate more in the roots of fir forests and less in the roots of spruce and pine forests with increasing stand age. The increase of the biomass carbon pool does not promote significant augmentation of the soil carbon pool. Our findings suggest that Tibet’s mature forests will remain a persistent C sink until 2050. However, afforestation or reforestation, especially with the larger carbon sink potential forest types, such as fir and spruce, should be carried out to maintain the high C sink capacity. PMID:27703215

Ecosystem carbon stocks of mangroves across broad environmental gradients in West-Central Africa: Global and regional comparisons.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J Boone Kauffman

Full Text Available Globally, it is recognized that blue carbon ecosystems, especially mangroves, often sequester large quantities of carbon and are of interest for inclusion in climate change mitigation strategies. While 19% of the world's mangroves are in Africa, they are among the least investigated of all blue carbon ecosystems. We quantified total ecosystem carbon stocks in 33 different mangrove stands along the Atlantic coast of West-Central Africa from Senegal to Southern Gabon spanning large gradients of latitude, soil properties, porewater salinity, and precipitation. Mangrove structure ranged from low and dense stands that were 35,000 trees ha-1 to tall and open stands >40m in height and 1,000 Mg C ha-1. The lowest carbon stocks were found in the low mangroves of the semiarid region of Senegal (463 Mg C ha-1 and in mangroves on coarse-textured soils in Gabon South (541 Mg C ha-1. At the scale of the entirety of West-Central Africa, total ecosystem carbon stocks were poorly correlated to aboveground ecosystem carbon pools, precipitation, latitude and soil salinity (r2 = ≤0.07 for all parameters. Based upon a sample of 158 sites from Africa, Asia and Latin America that were sampled in a similar manner to this study, the global mean of carbon stocks for mangroves is 885 Mg C ha-1. The ecosystem carbon stocks of mangroves for West-Central Africa are slightly lower than those of Latin America (940 Mg C ha-1 and Asia (1049 Mg C ha-1 but substantially higher than the default Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC values for mangroves (511 Mg C ha-1. This study provides an improved estimation of default estimates (Tier 1 values of mangroves for Asia, Latin America, and West Central Africa.

Modelling the Carbon Stocks Estimation of the Tropical Lowland Dipterocarp Forest Using LIDAR and Remotely Sensed Data

Science.gov (United States)

Zaki, N. A. M.; Latif, Z. A.; Suratman, M. N.; Zainal, M. Z.

2016-06-01

Tropical forest embraces a large stock of carbon in the global carbon cycle and contributes to the enormous amount of above and below ground biomass. The carbon kept in the aboveground living biomass of trees is typically the largest pool and the most directly impacted by the anthropogenic factor such as deforestation and forest degradation. However, fewer studies had been proposed to model the carbon for tropical rain forest and the quantification still remain uncertainties. A multiple linear regression (MLR) is one of the methods to define the relationship between the field inventory measurements and the statistical extracted from the remotely sensed data which is LiDAR and WorldView-3 imagery (WV-3). This paper highlight the model development from fusion of multispectral WV-3 with the LIDAR metrics to model the carbon estimation of the tropical lowland Dipterocarp forest of the study area. The result shown the over segmentation and under segmentation value for this output is 0.19 and 0.11 respectively, thus D-value for the classification is 0.19 which is 81%. Overall, this study produce a significant correlation coefficient (r) between Crown projection area (CPA) and Carbon stocks (CS); height from LiDAR (H_LDR) and Carbon stocks (CS); and Crown projection area (CPA) and height from LiDAR (H_LDR) were shown 0.671, 0.709 and 0.549 respectively. The CPA of the segmentation found to be representative spatially with higher correlation of relationship between diameter at the breast height (DBH) and carbon stocks which is Pearson Correlation p = 0.000 (p using multiple linear regression method. The study concluded that the integration of WV-3 imagery with the CHM raster based LiDAR were useful in order to quantify the AGB and carbon stocks for a larger sample area of the Lowland Dipterocarp forest.

The importance of terrestrial carbon in supporting molluscs in the wetlands of Poyang Lake

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Huan; Yu, Xiubo; Wang, Yuyu; Xu, Jun

2017-07-01

Allochthonous organic matter plays an important role in nutrient cycling and energy mobilization in freshwater ecosystems. However, the subsidies of this carbon source in floodplain ecosystems have not yet well understood. We used a Bayesian mixing model and stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) of primary food resources and dominant molluscs species, to estimate the relative importance of allochthonous carbon sources for consumers in a representative sub-lake of Poyang Lake during a prolonged dry season. Our study inferred that terrestrial-derived carbon from Carex spp. could be the primary contributor to snails and mussels in Dahuchi Lake. The mean percentage of allochthonous food resources accounted for 35%-50% of the C incorporated by these consumers. Seston was another important energy sources for benthic consumers. However, during the winter and low water-level period, benthic algae and submerged vegetation contributed less carbon to benthic consumers. Our data highlighted the importance of terrestrial organic carbon to benthic consumers in the wetlands of Poyang Lake during the prolonged dry period. Further, our results provided a perspective that linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems might be facilitated by wintering geese via their droppings.

Asia-MIP: Multi Model-data Synthesis of Terrestrial Carbon Cycles in Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Ichii, K.; Kondo, M.; Ito, A.; Kang, M.; Sasai, T.; SATO, H.; Ueyama, M.; Kobayashi, H.; Saigusa, N.; Kim, J.

2013-12-01

Asia, which is characterized by monsoon climate and intense human activities, is one of the prominent understudied regions in terms of terrestrial carbon budgets and mechanisms of carbon exchange. To better understand terrestrial carbon cycle in Asia, we initiated multi-model and data intercomparison project in Asia (Asia-MIP). We analyzed outputs from multiple approaches: satellite-based observations (AVHRR and MODIS) and related products, empirically upscaled estimations (Support Vector Regression) using eddy-covariance observation network in Asia (AsiaFlux, CarboEastAsia, FLUXNET), ~10 terrestrial biosphere models (e.g. BEAMS, Biome-BGC, LPJ, SEIB-DGVM, TRIFFID, VISIT models), and atmospheric inversion analysis (e.g. TransCom models). We focused on the two difference temporal coverage: long-term (30 years; 1982-2011) and decadal (10 years; 2001-2010; data intensive period) scales. The regions of covering Siberia, Far East Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia (60-80E, 10S-80N), was analyzed in this study for assessing the magnitudes, interannual variability, and key driving factors of carbon cycles. We will report the progress of synthesis effort to quantify terrestrial carbon budget in Asia. First, we analyzed the recent trends in Gross Primary Productivities (GPP) using satellite-based observation (AVHRR) and multiple terrestrial biosphere models. We found both model outputs and satellite-based observation consistently show an increasing trend in GPP in most of the regions in Asia. Mechanisms of the GPP increase were analyzed using models, and changes in temperature and precipitation play dominant roles in GPP increase in boreal and temperate regions, whereas changes in atmospheric CO2 and precipitation are important in tropical regions. However, their relative contributions were different. Second, in the decadal analysis (2001-2010), we found that the negative GPP and carbon uptake anomalies in 2003 summer in Far East Asia is one of the largest

The soil classification and the subsurface carbon stock estimation with a ground-penetrating radar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onishi, K.; Rokugawa, S.; Kato, Y.

2002-01-01

One of the serious problems of the Kyoto Protocol is that we have no effective method to estimate the carbon stock of the subsurface. To solve this problem, we propose the application of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to the subsurface soil survey. As a result, it is shown that GPR can detect the soil horizons, stones and roots. The fluctuations of the soil horizons in the forest are cleanly indicated as the reflection pattern of the microwaves. Considering the fact that the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of each soil layer is almost unique, GPR results can be used to estimate the carbon stock in soil by combining with the vertical soil sample survey at one site. Then as a trial, we demonstrate to estimate the carbon content fixed in soil layers based on the soil samples and GPR survey data. we also compare this result with the carbon stock for the flat horizon case. The advantages of GPR usage for this object are not only the reduction of uncertainty and the cost, but also the environmental friendliness of survey manner. Finally, we summarize the adaptabilities of various antennas having different predominant frequencies for the shallow subsurface zone. (author)

Biomasse et stocks de carbone des forêts tropicales africaines (synthèse bibliographique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loubota Panzou, GJ.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Biomass and carbon stocks of tropical African forests. A review. Introduction. Quantifying the biomass and carbon stocks contained in tropical forests has become an international priority for the implementation of the REDD+ mechanism. Forest biomass is estimated at three successive levels: the tree, the stand and the region level. This paper reviews the state of the art regarding the estimation of biomass and carbon stocks in tropical African forests. Literature. This review highlights the fact that very few allometric equations, equations used for estimating the biomass of the tree using non-destructive measurements (diameter, height, have been established for tropical African forests. At the stand level, the review highlights the spatial and temporal variations in biomass between forest types in Central and Eastern Africa. While biomass recovery after a disturbance (logging, for instance is rather quick, a great deal of uncertainty still remains regarding the spatial variation in biomass, and there is no consensus on a regional biomass map. The quality of biomass mapping in tropical Africa strongly depends on the type of remotely-sensed data being used (optical, RADAR or LIDAR, and the allometric equation used to convert forest inventory data into biomass. Conclusions. Based on the lack of precision of the available allometric equations and forest inventory data and the large spatial scale involved, many uncertainties persist in relation to the estimation of the biomass and carbon stocks contained in African tropical forests.

Changes in Biomass Carbon and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks following the Conversion from a Secondary Coniferous Forest to a Pine Plantation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuaifeng Li

Full Text Available The objectives of this study were to estimate changes of tree carbon (C and soil organic carbon (SOC stock following a conversion in land use, an issue that has been only insufficiently addressed. For this study, we examined a chronosequence of 2 to 54-year-old Pinus kesiya var. langbianensis plantations that replaced the original secondary coniferous forest (SCF in Southwest China due to clearing. C stocks considered here consisted of tree, understory, litter, and SOC (0-1 m. The results showed that tree C stocks ranged from 0.02±0.001 Mg C ha-1 to 141.43±5.29 Mg C ha-1, and increased gradually with the stand age. Accumulation of tree C stocks occurred in 20 years after reforestaion and C stock level recoverd to SCF. The maximum of understory C stock was found in a 5-year-old stand (6.74±0.7 Mg C ha-1 with 5.8 times that of SCF, thereafter, understory C stock decreased with the growth of plantation. Litter C stock had no difference excluding effects of prescribed burning. Tree C stock exhibited a significant decline in the 2, 5-year-old stand following the conversion to plantation, but later, increased until a steady state-level in the 20, 26-year-old stand. The SOC stocks ranged from 81.08±10.13 Mg C ha-1 to 160.38±17.96 Mg C ha-1. Reforestation significantly decreased SOC stocks of plantation in the 2-year-old stand which lost 42.29 Mg C ha-1 in the 1 m soil depth compared with SCF by reason of soil disturbance from sites preparation, but then subsequently recovered to SCF level. SOC stocks of SCF had no significant difference with other plantation. The surface profile (0-0.1 m contained s higher SOC stocks than deeper soil depth. C stock associated with tree biomass represented a higher proportion than SOC stocks as stand development proceeded.

Earth system model simulations show different feedback strengths of the terrestrial carbon cycle under glacial and interglacial conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Adloff

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In simulations with the MPI Earth System Model, we study the feedback between the terrestrial carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2 concentrations under ice age and interglacial conditions. We find different sensitivities of terrestrial carbon storage to rising CO2 concentrations in the two settings. This result is obtained by comparing the transient response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to a fast and strong atmospheric CO2 concentration increase (roughly 900 ppm in Coupled Climate Carbon Cycle Model Intercomparison Project (C4MIP-type simulations starting from climates representing the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM and pre-industrial times (PI. In this set-up we disentangle terrestrial contributions to the feedback from the carbon-concentration effect, acting biogeochemically via enhanced photosynthetic productivity when CO2 concentrations increase, and the carbon–climate effect, which affects the carbon cycle via greenhouse warming. We find that the carbon-concentration effect is larger under LGM than PI conditions because photosynthetic productivity is more sensitive when starting from the lower, glacial CO2 concentration and CO2 fertilization saturates later. This leads to a larger productivity increase in the LGM experiment. Concerning the carbon–climate effect, it is the PI experiment in which land carbon responds more sensitively to the warming under rising CO2 because at the already initially higher temperatures, tropical plant productivity deteriorates more strongly and extratropical carbon is respired more effectively. Consequently, land carbon losses increase faster in the PI than in the LGM case. Separating the carbon–climate and carbon-concentration effects, we find that they are almost additive for our model set-up; i.e. their synergy is small in the global sum of carbon changes. Together, the two effects result in an overall strength of the terrestrial carbon cycle feedback that is almost twice as large in the LGM experiment

Soil carbon stocks in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Padmanabhan, E; Eswaran, H; Reich, P F

2013-11-01

The relationship between greenhouse gas emission and climate change has led to research to identify and manage the natural sources and sinks of the gases. CO2, CH4, and N2O have an anthropic source and of these CO2 is the least effective in trapping long wave radiation. Soil carbon sequestration can best be described as a process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and relocating into soils in a form that is not readily released back into the atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to estimate carbon stocks available under current conditions in Sarawak, Malaysia. SOC estimates are made for a standard depth of 100 cm unless the soil by definition is less than this depth, as in the case of lithic subgroups. Among the mineral soils, Inceptisols tend to generally have the highest carbon contents (about 25 kg m(-2) m(-1)), while Oxisols and Ultisols rate second (about 10-15 kg m(-2) m(-1)). The Oxisols store a good amount of carbon because of an appreciable time-frame to sequester carbon and possibly lower decomposition rates for the organic carbon that is found at 1m depths. Wet soils such as peatlands tend to store significant amounts of carbon. The highest values estimated for such soils are about 114 kg m(-2) m(-1). Such appreciable amounts can also be found in the Aquepts. In conclusion, it is pertinent to recognize that degradation of the carbon pool, just like desertification, is a real process and that this irreversible process must be addressed immediately. Therefore, appropriate soil management practices should be instituted to sequester large masses of soil carbon on an annual basis. This knowledge can be used effectively to formulate strategies to prevent forest fires and clearing: two processes that can quickly release sequestered carbon to the atmosphere in an almost irreversible manner. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vulnerability of permafrost carbon to global warming. Part II: sensitivity of permafrost carbon stock to global warming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khvorostyanov, D.V.; Ciais, G. (Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l' Environnement, Saclay (France)); Krinner, G. (Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de l' Environnement, St Martin d' Heres (France)). e-mail: Dimitry.Khvorostiyanov@lsce.ipsl.fr; Zimov, S.A. (Northeast Science Station, Cherskii (RU)); Corradi, C. (UNITUS, Univ. of Tuscia, Veterbo (Italy)); Guggenberger, G. (Inst. of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Martin-Luther-Univ., Halle-Wittenberg (DE))

2008-07-01

In the companion paper (Part I), we presented a model of permafrost carbon cycle to study the sensitivity of frozen carbon stocks to future climate warming. The mobilization of deep carbon stock of the frozen Pleistocene soil in the case of rapid stepwise increase of atmospheric temperature was considered. In this work, we adapted the model to be used also for floodplain tundra sites and to account for the processes in the soil active layer. The new processes taken into account are litter input and decomposition, plant-mediated transport of methane, and leaching of exudates from plant roots. The SRES-A2 transient climate warming scenario of the IPSL CM4 climate model is used to study the carbon fluxes from the carbon-rich Pleistocene soil with seasonal active-layer carbon cycling on top of it. For a point to the southwest from the western branch of Yedoma Ice Complex, where the climate warming is strong enough to trigger self-sustainable decomposition processes, about 256 kg C/m2, or 70% of the initial soil carbon stock under present-day climate conditions, are emitted to the atmosphere in about 120 yr, including 20 kg C/m2 released as methane. The total average flux of CO{sub 2} and methane emissions to the atmosphere during this time is of 2.1 kg C/m2/yr. Within the Yedoma, whose most part of the territory remains relatively cold, the emissions are much smaller: 0.2 kg C/m2/yr between 2050 and 2100 for Yakutsk area. In a test case with saturated upper-soil meter, when the runoff is insufficient to evacuate the meltwater, 0.05 kg CH{sub 4}/m2/yr on average are emitted as methane during 250 yr starting from 2050. The latter can translate to the upper bound of 1 GtC/yr in CO{sub 2} equivalent from the 1 million km2 area of the Yedoma

The limits to global-warming mitigation by terrestrial carbon removal

OpenAIRE

Boysen, L.; Lucht, W.; Gerten, D.; Heck, V.; Lenton, T.; Schellnhuber, H.

2017-01-01

Massive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction is a precondition for staying "well below 2°C" global warming as envisaged by the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, extensive terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) through managed biomass growth and subsequent carbon capture and storage is required to avoid temperature "overshoot" in most pertinent scenarios. Here, we address two major issues: First, we calculate the extent of tCDR required to "repair" delayed or insufficient emissions redu...

What Drives Carbon Isotope Fractionation by the Terrestrial Biosphere?

Science.gov (United States)

Still, Christopher; Rastogi, Bharat

2017-11-01

During photosynthesis, terrestrial plants preferentially assimilate the lighter and much more abundant form of carbon, 12C, which accounts for roughly 99% of naturally occurring forms of this element. This photosynthetic preference for lighter carbon is driven principally by differences in molecular diffusion of carbon dioxide with differing 13C/12C across stomatal pores on leaves, followed by differences in carboxylation rates by the Rubisco enzyme that is central to the process of photosynthesis. As a result of these slight preferences, which work out to about a 2% difference in the fixation rates of 12CO2 versus 13CO2 by C3 vegetation, plant tissues are depleted in the heavier form of carbon (13C) relative to atmospheric CO2. This difference has been exploited in a wide range of scientific applications, as the photosynthetic isotope signature is passed to ecosystem carbon pools and through ecological food webs. What is less appreciated is the signature that terrestrial carbon exchanges leave on atmospheric CO2, as the net uptake of carbon by land plants during their growing season not only draws down the local CO2 concentration, it also leaves behind relatively more CO2 molecules containing 13C. The converse happens outside the growing season, when autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration predominate. During these periods, atmospheric CO2 concentration increases and its corresponding carbon isotope composition becomes relatively depleted in 13C as the products of photosynthesis are respired, along with some small isotope fractionation that happen downstream of the initial photosynthetic assimilation. Similar phenomena were first observed at shorter time scales by the eminent carbon cycle scientist, Charles (Dave) Keeling. Keeling collected samples of air in glass flasks from sites along the Big Sur coast that he later measured for CO2 concentration and carbon isotope composition (δ13C) in his lab (Keeling, 1998). From these samples, Keeling observed increasing

Fire suppression and fuels treatment effects on mixed-conifer carbon stocks and emissions

Science.gov (United States)

M. North; M Hurteau; J Innes

2009-01-01

Depending on management, forests can be an important sink or source of carbon that if released as CO2 could contribute to global warming. Many forests in the western United States are being treated to reduce fuels, yet the effects of these treatments on forest carbon are not well understood. We compared the immediate effects of fuels treatments on carbon stocks and...

Whole-island carbon stocks in the tropical Pacific: implications for mangrove conservation and upland restoration.

Science.gov (United States)

Donato, D C; Kauffman, J B; Mackenzie, R A; Ainsworth, A; Pfleeger, A Z

2012-04-30

Management of forest carbon (C) stocks is an increasingly prominent land-use issue. Knowledge of carbon storage in tropical forests is improving, but regional variations are still poorly understood, and this constrains forest management and conservation efforts associated with carbon valuation mechanisms (e.g., carbon markets). This deficiency is especially pronounced in tropical islands and low-lying coastal areas where climate change impacts are expected to be among the most severe. This study presents the first field estimate of island-wide carbon storage in ecosystems of Oceania, with special attention to the regional role of coastal mangroves, which occur on islands and coastal zones throughout the tropics. On two island groups of Micronesia (Yap and Palau), we sampled all above- and belowground C pools, including soil and vegetation, in 24 sites distributed evenly among the three major vegetation structural types: mangroves, upland forests, and open savannas (generally on degraded lands formerly forested). Total C stocks were estimated to be 3.9 and 15.2 Tg C on Yap and Palau, respectively. Mangroves contained by far the largest per-hectare C pools (830-1218 Mg C ha(-1)), with deep organic-rich soils alone storing more C (631-754 Mg C ha(-1)) than all pools combined in upland systems. Despite covering just 12-13% of land area, mangroves accounted for 24-34% of total island C stocks. Savannas (156-203 Mg C ha(-1)) contained significantly lower C stocks than upland forests (375-437 Mg C ha(-1)), suggesting that reforesting savannas where appropriate has high potential for carbon-based funding to aid restoration objectives. For mangroves, these results demonstrate the key role of these systems within the broader context of C storage in island and coastal landscapes. Sustainable management of mangrove forests and their large C stocks is of high importance at the regional scale, and climate change mitigation programs such as REDD+ could play a large role in

[Remote sensing estimation of urban forest carbon stocks based on QuickBird images].

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li-Hua; Zhang, Jie-Cun; Huang, Bo; Wang, Huan-Huan; Yue, Wen-Ze

2014-10-01

Urban forest is one of the positive factors that increase urban carbon sequestration, which makes great contribution to the global carbon cycle. Based on the high spatial resolution imagery of QuickBird in the study area within the ring road in Yiwu, Zhejiang, the forests in the area were divided into four types, i. e., park-forest, shelter-forest, company-forest and others. With the carbon stock from sample plot as dependent variable, at the significance level of 0.01, the stepwise linear regression method was used to select independent variables from 50 factors such as band grayscale values, vegetation index, texture information and so on. Finally, the remote sensing based forest carbon stock estimation models for the four types of forest were established. The estimation accuracies for all the models were around 70%, with the total carbon reserve of each forest type in the area being estimated as 3623. 80, 5245.78, 5284.84, 5343.65 t, respectively. From the carbon density map, it was found that the carbon reserves were mainly in the range of 25-35 t · hm(-2). In the future, urban forest planners could further improve the ability of forest carbon sequestration through afforestation and interplanting of trees and low shrubs.

The terrestrial carbon cycle on the regional and global scale : modeling, uncertainties and policy relevance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Minnen, van J.G.

2008-01-01

Contains the chapters: The importance of three centuries of climate and land-use change for the global and regional terrestrial carbon cycle; and The terrestrial C cycle and its role in the climate change policy

Endogenous circadian regulation of carbon dioxide exchange in terrestrial ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

We tested the hypothesis that diurnal changes in terrestrial CO2 exchange are driven exclusively by the direct effect of the physical environment on plant physiology. We failed to corroborate this assumption, finding instead large diurnal fluctuations in whole ecosystem carbon assimilation across a ...

Whole-island carbon stocks in the tropical Pacific: Implications for mangrove conservation and upland restoration

Science.gov (United States)

D.C. Donato; J.B. Kauffman; R.A. Mackenzie; A. Ainsworth; A.Z. Pfleeger

2012-01-01

Management of forest carbon (C) stocks is an increasingly prominent land-use issue. Knowledge of carbon storage in tropical forests is improving, but regional variations are still poorly understood, and this constrains forest management and conservation efforts associated with carbon valuation mechanisms (e.g., carbon markets). This deficiency is especially pronounced...

Spatial patterns of soil organic carbon stocks in Estonian arable soils

Science.gov (United States)

Suuster, Elsa; Astover, Alar; Kõlli, Raimo; Roostalu, Hugo; Reintam, Endla; Penu, Priit

2010-05-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) determines ecosystem functions, influencing soil fertility, soil physical, chemical and biological properties and crop productivity. Therefore the spatial pattern of SOC stocks and its appropriate management is important at various scales. Due to climate change and the contribution of carbon store in the soils, the national estimates of soil carbon stocks should be determined. Estonian soils have been well studied and mapped at a scale 1:10,000. Previous studies have estimated SOC stocks based on combinations of large groups of Estonian soils and the mean values of the soil profile database, but were not embedded into the geo-referenced databases. These studies have estimated SOC stocks of Estonian arable soils 122.3 Tg. Despite of available soil maps and databases, this information is still very poorly used for spatial soil modelling. The aim of current study is to assess and model spatial pattern of SOC stocks of arable soils on a pilot area Tartu County (area 3089 sq km). Estonian digital soil map and soil monitoring databases are providing a good opportunity to assess SOC stocks at various scales. The qualitative nature of the initial data from a soil map prohibits any straightforward use in modelling. Thus we have used several databases to construct models and linkages between soil properties that can be integrated into soil map. First step was to reorganize the soil map database (44,046 mapping units) so it can be used as an input to modelling. Arable areas were distinguished by a field layer of Agricultural Registers and Information Board, which provides precise information of current land use as it is the basis of paying CAP subsidies. The estimates of SOC content were found by using the arable land evaluation database of Tartu from the Estonian Land Board (comprising 950 sq km and 31,226 fields), where each soil type was assessed separately and average SOC content grouped by texture was derived. SOC content of epipedon varies in

Ability of LANDSAT-8 Oli Derived Texture Metrics in Estimating Aboveground Carbon Stocks of Coppice Oak Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Safari, A.; Sohrabi, H.

2016-06-01

The role of forests as a reservoir for carbon has prompted the need for timely and reliable estimation of aboveground carbon stocks. Since measurement of aboveground carbon stocks of forests is a destructive, costly and time-consuming activity, aerial and satellite remote sensing techniques have gained many attentions in this field. Despite the fact that using aerial data for predicting aboveground carbon stocks has been proved as a highly accurate method, there are challenges related to high acquisition costs, small area coverage, and limited availability of these data. These challenges are more critical for non-commercial forests located in low-income countries. Landsat program provides repetitive acquisition of high-resolution multispectral data, which are freely available. The aim of this study was to assess the potential of multispectral Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) derived texture metrics in quantifying aboveground carbon stocks of coppice Oak forests in Zagros Mountains, Iran. We used four different window sizes (3×3, 5×5, 7×7, and 9×9), and four different offsets ([0,1], [1,1], [1,0], and [1,-1]) to derive nine texture metrics (angular second moment, contrast, correlation, dissimilar, entropy, homogeneity, inverse difference, mean, and variance) from four bands (blue, green, red, and infrared). Totally, 124 sample plots in two different forests were measured and carbon was calculated using species-specific allometric models. Stepwise regression analysis was applied to estimate biomass from derived metrics. Results showed that, in general, larger size of window for deriving texture metrics resulted models with better fitting parameters. In addition, the correlation of the spectral bands for deriving texture metrics in regression models was ranked as b4>b3>b2>b5. The best offset was [1,-1]. Amongst the different metrics, mean and entropy were entered in most of the regression models. Overall, different models based on derived texture metrics

Modeling soil organic carbon with Quantile Regression: Dissecting predictors' effects on carbon stocks

KAUST Repository

Lombardo, Luigi

2017-08-13

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) estimation is crucial to manage both natural and anthropic ecosystems and has recently been put under the magnifying glass after the Paris agreement 2016 due to its relationship with greenhouse gas. Statistical applications have dominated the SOC stock mapping at regional scale so far. However, the community has hardly ever attempted to implement Quantile Regression (QR) to spatially predict the SOC distribution. In this contribution, we test QR to estimate SOC stock (0-30 $cm$ depth) in the agricultural areas of a highly variable semi-arid region (Sicily, Italy, around 25,000 $km2$) by using topographic and remotely sensed predictors. We also compare the results with those from available SOC stock measurement. The QR models produced robust performances and allowed to recognize dominant effects among the predictors with respect to the considered quantile. This information, currently lacking, suggests that QR can discern predictor influences on SOC stock at specific sub-domains of each predictors. In this work, the predictive map generated at the median shows lower errors than those of the Joint Research Centre and International Soil Reference, and Information Centre benchmarks. The results suggest the use of QR as a comprehensive and effective method to map SOC using legacy data in agro-ecosystems. The R code scripted in this study for QR is included.

Tillage and crop residue management methods had minor effects on the stock and stabilization of topsoil carbon in a 30-year field experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Pooja; Heikkinen, Jaakko; Ketoja, Elise; Nuutinen, Visa; Palojärvi, Ansa; Sheehy, Jatta; Esala, Martti; Mitra, Sudip; Alakukku, Laura; Regina, Kristiina

2015-06-15

We studied the effects of tillage and straw management on soil aggregation and soil carbon sequestration in a 30-year split-plot experiment on clay soil in southern Finland. The experimental plots were under conventional or reduced tillage with straw retained, removed or burnt. Wet sieving was done to study organic carbon and soil composition divided in four fractions: 1) large macroaggregates, 2) small macroaggregates, 3) microaggregates and 4) silt and clay. To further estimate the stability of carbon in the soil, coarse particulate organic matter, microaggregates and silt and clay were isolated from the macroaggregates. Total carbon stock in the topsoil (equivalent to 200 kg m(-2)) was slightly lower under reduced tillage (5.0 kg m(-2)) than under conventional tillage (5.2 kg m(-2)). Reduced tillage changed the soil composition by increasing the percentage of macroaggregates and decreasing the percentage of microaggregates. There was no evidence of differences in the composition of the macroaggregates or carbon content in the macroaggregate-occluded fractions. However, due to the higher total amount of macroaggregates in the soil, more carbon was bound to the macroaggregate-occluded microaggregates in reduced tillage. Compared with plowed soil, the density of deep burrowing earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) was considerably higher under reduced tillage and positively associated with the percentage of large macroaggregates. The total amount of microbial biomass carbon did not differ between the treatments. Straw management did not have discernible effects either on soil aggregation or soil carbon stock. We conclude that although reduced tillage can improve clay soil structure, generally the chances to increase topsoil carbon sequestration by reduced tillage or straw management practices appear limited in cereal monoculture systems of the boreal region. This may be related to the already high C content of soils, the precipitation level favoring decomposition and

Biological control of the terrestrial carbon sink

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, E.-D.

2006-03-01

This lecture reviews the past (since 1964 when the International Biological Program began) and the future of our understanding of terrestrial carbon fluxes with focus on photosynthesis, respiration, primary-, ecosystem-, and biome-productivity. Photosynthetic capacity is related to the nitrogen concentration of leaves, but the capacity is only rarely reached under field conditions. Average rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance are closely correlated and operate near 50% of their maximal rate, with light being the limiting factor in humid regions and air humidity and soil water the limiting factor in arid climates. Leaf area is the main factor to extrapolate from leaves to canopies, with maximum surface conductance being dependent on leaf level stomatal conductance. Additionally, gas exchange depends also on rooting depth which determines the water and nutrient availability and on mycorrhizae which regulate the nutrient status. An important anthropogenic disturbance is the nitrogen uptake from air pollutants, which is not balanced by cation uptake from roots and this may lead to damage and breakdown of the plant cover. Photosynthesis is the main carbon input into ecosystems, but it alone does not represent the ecosystem carbon balance, which is determined by respiration of various kinds. Plant respiration and photosynthesis determine growth (net primary production) and microbial respiration balances the net ecosystem flux. In a spruce forest, 30% of the assimilatory carbon gain is used for respiration of needles, 20% is used for respiration in stems. Soil respiration is about 50% the carbon gain, half of which is root respiration, half is microbial respiration. In addition, disturbances lead to carbon losses, where fire, harvest and grazing bypass the chain of respiration. In total, the carbon balance at the biome level is only about 1% of the photosynthetic carbon input, or may indeed become negative. The recent observed increase in plant growth has

Biological control of the terrestrial carbon sink

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E.-D. Schulze

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This lecture reviews the past (since 1964 when the International Biological Program began and the future of our understanding of terrestrial carbon fluxes with focus on photosynthesis, respiration, primary-, ecosystem-, and biome-productivity. Photosynthetic capacity is related to the nitrogen concentration of leaves, but the capacity is only rarely reached under field conditions. Average rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance are closely correlated and operate near 50% of their maximal rate, with light being the limiting factor in humid regions and air humidity and soil water the limiting factor in arid climates. Leaf area is the main factor to extrapolate from leaves to canopies, with maximum surface conductance being dependent on leaf level stomatal conductance. Additionally, gas exchange depends also on rooting depth which determines the water and nutrient availability and on mycorrhizae which regulate the nutrient status. An important anthropogenic disturbance is the nitrogen uptake from air pollutants, which is not balanced by cation uptake from roots and this may lead to damage and breakdown of the plant cover. Photosynthesis is the main carbon input into ecosystems, but it alone does not represent the ecosystem carbon balance, which is determined by respiration of various kinds. Plant respiration and photosynthesis determine growth (net primary production and microbial respiration balances the net ecosystem flux. In a spruce forest, 30% of the assimilatory carbon gain is used for respiration of needles, 20% is used for respiration in stems. Soil respiration is about 50% the carbon gain, half of which is root respiration, half is microbial respiration. In addition, disturbances lead to carbon losses, where fire, harvest and grazing bypass the chain of respiration. In total, the carbon balance at the biome level is only about 1% of the photosynthetic carbon input, or may indeed become negative. The recent observed increase in

Predicting future UK housing stock and carbon emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natarajan, Sukumar; Levermore, Geoffrey J.

2007-01-01

This paper presents a novel method for exploring future transformations in the UK housing stock. The method is shown to be more robust and faster than existing methods through various tests. A Java-based implementation of the method in a new model of the UK housing stock, DECarb, is examined using a back-cast scenario from 1970 to 1996. The results show an average difference of -5.4% between predicted and actual energy demand. Comparison with predicted carbon emissions from the BRE's BREHOMES model shows a difference of around -0.9% for the same period. These results suggest that DECarb is likely to be an effective tool in examining future scenarios since the same objects and processes used in back-casting in the model are also used in forecasting. The model has an open framework and could therefore significantly benefit ongoing domestic and non-domestic climate futures research. (author)

Implication of Forest-Savanna Dynamics on Biomass and Carbon Stock: Effectiveness of an Amazonian Ecological Station

Science.gov (United States)

Couto-Santos, F. R.; Luizao, F. J.

2014-12-01

The forests-savanna advancement/retraction process seems to play an important role in the global carbon cycle and in the climate-vegetation balance maintenance in the Amazon. To contribute with long term carbon dynamics and assess effectiveness of a protected area in reduce carbon emissions in Brazilian Amazon transitional areas, variations in forest-savanna mosaics biomass and carbon stock within Maraca Ecological Station (MES), Roraima/Brazil, and its outskirts non-protected areas were compared. Composite surface soil samples and indirect methods based on regression models were used to estimate aboveground tree biomass accumulation and assess vegetation and soil carbon stock along eleven 0.6 ha transects perpendicular to the forest-savanna limits. Aboveground biomass and carbon accumulation were influenced by vegetation structure, showing higher values within protected area, with great contribution of trees above 40 cm in diameter. In the savanna environments of protected areas, a higher tree density and carbon stock up to 30 m from the border confirmed a forest encroachment. This pointed that MES acts as carbon sink, even under variations in soil fertility gradient, with a potential increase of the total carbon stock from 9 to 150 Mg C ha-1. Under 20 years of fire and disturbance management, the results indicated the effectiveness of this protected area to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate greenhouse and climate change effects in a forest-savanna transitional area in Brazilian Northern Amazon. The contribution of this study in understanding rates and reasons for biomass and carbon variation, under different management strategies, should be considered the first approximation to assist policies of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) from underresearched Amazonian ecotone; despite further efforts in this direction are still needed. FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Boticário Group Foundation (Fundação Grupo Boticário); National Council for

Massive carbon addition to an organic-rich Andosol increased the subsoil but not the topsoil carbon stock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Zieger

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Andosols are among the most carbon-rich soils, with an average of 254 Mg ha−1 organic carbon (OC in the upper 100 cm. A current theory proposes an upper limit for OC stocks independent of increasing carbon input, because of finite binding capacities of the soil mineral phase. We tested the possible limits in OC stocks for Andosols with already large OC concentrations and stocks (212 g kg−1 in the first horizon, 301 Mg ha−1 in the upper 100 cm. The soils received large inputs of 1800 Mg OC ha−1 as sawdust within a time period of 20 years. Adjacent soils without sawdust application served as controls. We determined total OC stocks as well as the storage forms of organic matter (OM of five horizons down to 100 cm depth. Storage forms considered were pyrogenic carbon, OM of < 1.6 g cm−3 density and with little to no interaction with the mineral phase, and strongly mineral-bonded OM forming particles of densities between 1.6 and 2.0 g cm−3 or > 2.0 g cm−3. The two fractions > 1.6 g cm−3 were also analysed for aluminium-organic matter complexes (Al–OM complexes and imogolite-type phases using ammonium-oxalate–oxalic-acid extraction and X-ray diffraction (XRD. Pyrogenic organic carbon represented only up to 5 wt % of OC, and thus contributed little to soil OM. In the two topsoil horizons, the fraction between 1.6 and 2.0 g cm−3 had 65–86 wt % of bulk soil OC and was dominated by Al–OM complexes. In deeper horizons, the fraction > 2.0 g cm−3 contained 80–97 wt % of the bulk soil's total OC and was characterized by a mixture of Al–OM complexes and imogolite-type phases, with proportions of imogolite-type phases increasing with depth. In response to the sawdust application, only the OC stock at 25–50 cm depth increased significantly (α = 0.05, 1 − β = 0.8. The increase was entirely due to increased OC in the two fractions > 1.6�

The sensitivity of terrestrial carbon storage to historical climate variability and atmospheric CO2 in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, H.; Melillo, J. M.; Kicklighter, D. W.; McGuire, A. D.; Helfrich, J.

1999-04-01

We use the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM, Version 4.1) and the land cover data set of the international geosphere biosphere program to investigate how increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and climate variability during 1900 1994 affect the carbon storage of terrestrial ecosystems in the conterminous USA, and how carbon storage has been affected by land-use change. The estimates of TEM indicate that over the past 95years a combination of increasing atmospheric CO2 with historical temperature and precipitation variability causes a 4.2% (4.3Pg C) decrease in total carbon storage of potential vegetation in the conterminous US, with vegetation carbon decreasing by 7.2% (3.2Pg C) and soil organic carbon decreasing by 1.9% (1.1Pg C). Several dry periods including the 1930s and 1950s are responsible for the loss of carbon storage. Our factorial experiments indicate that precipitation variability alone decreases total carbon storage by 9.5%. Temperature variability alone does not significantly affect carbon storage. The effect of CO2 fertilization alone increases total carbon storage by 4.4%. The effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 and climate variability are not additive. Interactions among CO2, temperature and precipitation increase total carbon storage by 1.1%. Our study also shows substantial year-to-year variations in net carbon exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems due to climate variability. Since the 1960s, we estimate these terrestrial ecosystems have acted primarily as a sink of atmospheric CO2 as a result of wetter weather and higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations. For the 1980s, we estimate the natural terrestrial ecosystems, excluding cropland and urban areas, of the conterminous US have accumulated 78.2 Tg C yr1 because of the combined effect of increasing atmospheric CO2 and climate variability. For the conterminous US, we estimate that the conversion of natural ecosystems to cropland and urban areas has caused a 18.2% (17.7Pg C

Estimating Large Area Forest Carbon Stocks—A Pragmatic Design Based Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Haywood

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Reducing uncertainty in forest carbon estimates at local and regional scales has become increasingly important due to the centrality of the terrestrial carbon cycle in issues of climate change. In Victoria, Australia, public natural forests extend over 7.2 M ha and constitute a significant and important carbon stock. Recently, a wide range of approaches to estimate carbon stocks within these forests have been developed and applied. However, there are a number of data and estimation limitations associated with these studies. In response, over the last five years, the State of Victoria has implemented a pragmatic plot-based design consisting of pre-stratified permanent observational units located on a state-wide grid. Using the ground sampling grid, we estimated aboveground and belowground carbon stocks (including soil to 0.3 m depth in both National Parks and State Forests, across a wide range of bioregions. Estimates of carbon stocks and associated uncertainty were conducted using simple design based estimators. We detected significantly more carbon in total aboveground and belowground components in State Forests (408.9 t ha−1, 95% confidence interval 388.8–428.9 t ha−1 than National Parks (267.6 t ha−1, 251.9–283.3 t ha−1. We were also able to estimate forest carbon stocks (and associated uncertainty for 21 strata that represent all of Victoria’s bioregions and public tenures. It is anticipated that the lessons learnt from this study may support the discussion on planning and implementing low cost large area forest carbon stock sampling in other jurisdictions.

Soil and vegetation carbon stocks in Brazilian Western Amazonia: relationships and ecological implications for natural landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaefer, C E G R; do Amaral, E F; de Mendonça, B A F; Oliveira, H; Lani, J L; Costa, L M; Fernandes Filho, E I

2008-05-01

The relationships between soils attributes, soil carbon stocks and vegetation carbon stocks are poorly know in Amazonia, even at regional scale. In this paper, we used the large and reliable soil database from Western Amazonia obtained from the RADAMBRASIL project and recent estimates of vegetation biomass to investigate some environmental relationships, quantifying C stocks of intact ecosystem in Western Amazonia. The results allowed separating the western Amazonia into 6 sectors, called pedo-zones: Roraima, Rio Negro Basin, Tertiary Plateaux of the Amazon, Javari-Juruá-Purus lowland, Acre Basin and Rondonia uplands. The highest C stock for the whole soil is observed in the Acre and in the Rio Negro sectors. In the former, this is due to the high nutrient status and high clay activity, whereas in the latter, it is attributed to a downward carbon movement attributed to widespread podzolization and arenization, forming spodic horizons. The youthful nature of shallow soils of the Javari-Juruá-Purus lowlands, associated with high Al, results in a high phytomass C/soil C ratio. A similar trend was observed for the shallow soils from the Roraima and Rondonia highlands. A consistent east-west decline in biomass carbon in the Rio Negro Basin sector is associated with increasing rainfall and higher sand amounts. It is related to lesser C protection and greater C loss of sandy soils, subjected to active chemical leaching and widespread podzolization. Also, these soils possess lower cation exchangeable capacity and lower water retention capacity. Zones where deeply weathered Latosols dominate have a overall pattern of high C sequestration, and greater than the shallower soils from the upper Amazon, west of Madeira and Negro rivers. This was attributed to deeper incorporation of carbon in these clayey and highly pedo-bioturbated soils. The results highlight the urgent need for refining soil data at an appropriate scale for C stocks calculations purposes in Amazonia. There

Understanding of Coupled Terrestrial Carbon, Nitrogen and Water Dynamics—An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas C. Coops

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Coupled terrestrial carbon (C, nitrogen (N and hydrological processes play a crucial role in the climate system, providing both positive and negative feedbacks to climate change. In this review we summarize published research results to gain an increased understanding of the dynamics between vegetation and atmosphere processes. A variety of methods, including monitoring (e.g., eddy covariance flux tower, remote sensing, etc. and modeling (i.e., ecosystem, hydrology and atmospheric inversion modeling the terrestrial carbon and water budgeting, are evaluated and compared. We highlight two major research areas where additional research could be focused: (i Conceptually, the hydrological and biogeochemical processes are closely linked, however, the coupling processes between terrestrial C, N and hydrological processes are far from well understood; and (ii there are significant uncertainties in estimates of the components of the C balance, especially at landscape and regional scales. To address these two questions, a synthetic research framework is needed which includes both bottom-up and top-down approaches integrating scalable (footprint and ecosystem models and a spatially nested hierarchy of observations which include multispectral remote sensing, inventories, existing regional clusters of eddy-covariance flux towers and CO2 mixing ratio towers and chambers.

Understanding of coupled terrestrial carbon, nitrogen and water dynamics-an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Baozhang; Coops, Nicholas C

2009-01-01

Coupled terrestrial carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and hydrological processes play a crucial role in the climate system, providing both positive and negative feedbacks to climate change. In this review we summarize published research results to gain an increased understanding of the dynamics between vegetation and atmosphere processes. A variety of methods, including monitoring (e.g., eddy covariance flux tower, remote sensing, etc.) and modeling (i.e., ecosystem, hydrology and atmospheric inversion modeling) the terrestrial carbon and water budgeting, are evaluated and compared. We highlight two major research areas where additional research could be focused: (i) Conceptually, the hydrological and biogeochemical processes are closely linked, however, the coupling processes between terrestrial C, N and hydrological processes are far from well understood; and (ii) there are significant uncertainties in estimates of the components of the C balance, especially at landscape and regional scales. To address these two questions, a synthetic research framework is needed which includes both bottom-up and top-down approaches integrating scalable (footprint and ecosystem) models and a spatially nested hierarchy of observations which include multispectral remote sensing, inventories, existing regional clusters of eddy-covariance flux towers and CO(2) mixing ratio towers and chambers.

Terrestrial Carbon[Environmental Pollution: Part I, Special Issue, March 2002, Part II, Special Issue Supplement to 116/3, 2002

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mickler, Robert; McNulty, Steven

2002-01-01

These issues contain a total of forty-four peer reviewed science papers on terrestrial carbon presented at the Advances in Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Inventory, Measurements, and Monitoring Conference held in Raleigh, N.C., in October 2000

Terrestrial Carbon [Environmental Pollution: Part I, Special Issue, March 2002; Part II, Special Issue Supplement to 116/3, 2002

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mickler, Robert (ed.); McNulty, Steven (ed.)

2002-03-01

These issues contain a total of forty-four peer reviewed science papers on terrestrial carbon presented at the Advances in Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Inventory, Measurements, and Monitoring Conference held in Raleigh, N.C., in October 2000.

Unexpectedly high soil organic carbon stocks under impervious surfaces contributed by urban deep cultural layers

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, J.; Ryu, Y.

2017-12-01

The expansion of urban artificial structures has altered the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. The majority of the urban soil studies within the land-cover types, however, focused on top soils despite the potential of deep soils to store large amounts of SOC. Here, we investigate vertical distribution of SOC stocks in both impervious surfaces (n = 11) and adjacent green spaces (n = 8) to a depth of 4 m with in an apartment complex area, Seoul, Republic of Korea. We found that more than six times differences in SOC stocks were observed at 0-1 m depth between the impervious surfaces (1.90 kgC m-2) and the green spaces (12.03 kgC m-2), but no significant differences appeared when comparing them at the depth of 0-4 m. We found "cultural layers" with the largest SOC stocks at 1-2 m depth in the impervious surfaces (15.85 kgC m-2) and 2-3 m depths in urban green spaces (12.52 kgC m-2). Thus, the proportions of SOC stocks at the 0-1 m depth to the total of 0-4 m depth were 6.83% in impervious surfaces and 32.15% in urban green spaces, respectively. The 13C and 15N stable isotope data with historical aerial photographs revealed that the cropland which existed before 1978 formed the SOC in the cultural layers. Our results highlight that impervious surface could hold large amount of SOC stock which has been overlooked in urban carbon cycles. We believe this finding will help city planners and policy makers to develop carbon management programs better towards sustainable urban ecosystems.

Modeling carbon stocks in a secondary tropical dry forest in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Zhaohua Dai; Richard A. Birdsey; Kristofer D. Johnson; Juan Manuel Dupuy; Jose Luis Hernandez-Stefanoni; Karen. Richardson

2014-01-01

The carbon balance of secondary dry tropical forests of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is sensitive to human and natural disturbances and climate change. The spatially explicit process model Forest-DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) was used to estimate forest carbon dynamics in this region, including the effects of disturbance on carbon stocks. Model evaluation using...

Tree age, disturbance history, and carbon stocks and fluxes in subalpine Rocky Mountain forests

Science.gov (United States)

J.B. Bradford; R.A. Birdsey; L.A. Joyce; M.G. Ryan

2008-01-01

Forest carbon stocks and fluxes vary with forest age, and relationships with forest age are often used to estimate fluxes for regional or national carbon inventories. Two methods are commonly used to estimate forest age: observed tree age or time since a known disturbance. To clarify the relationships between tree age, time since disturbance and forest carbon storage...

Carbon Stock in Integrated Field Laboratory Faculty of Agriculture University of Lampung

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irwan Sukri Banuwa

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to determine the amount of carbon stock and CO2 plant uptake in the Integrated Field Laboratory (IFL Faculty of Agriculture University of Lampung. The research was conducted from April to November 2015. The study was arranged in a completely randomized block design (CRBD, consisting of five land units as treatment with four replications for each treatment. Biomass of woody plants was estimated using allometric equation, biomass of understorey plants was estimated using plant dry weight equation, and organic C content in plants and soils were analyzed using a Walkey and Black method. The results showed that land unit consisting of densely woody plants significantly affects total biomass of woody plants, organic C content in woody plants and total carbon content (above and below ground. The highest amount of woody plant biomass was observed in land unit 5, i.e. 1,196.88 Mg ha-1, and above ground total carbon was 437.19 Mg ha-1. IFL Faculty of Agriculture University of Lampung has a total carbon stock of 2,051.90 Mg and capacity to take up total CO2 of 6,656.88 Mg.

A terrestrial Eocene stack: tying terrestrial lake ecology to marine carbon cycling through the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum

Science.gov (United States)

Grogan, D. S.; Whiteside, J. H.; Musher, D.; Rosengard, S. Z.; Vankeuren, M. A.; Pancost, R. D.

2010-12-01

The lacustrine Green River Formation is known to span ≥15 million years through the early-middle Eocene, and recent work on radioisotopic dating has provided a framework on which to build ties to the orbitally-tuned marine Eocene record. Here we present a spliced stack of Fischer assay data from drilled cores of the Green River Formation that span both an East-West and a North-South transect of the Uinta Basin of Utah. Detailed work on two cores demonstrate that Fischer assay measurements covary with total organic carbon and bulk carbon isotopes, allowing us to use Fisher assay results as a representative carbon cycling proxy throughout the stack. We provide an age model for this core record by combining radioisotopic dates of tuff layers with frequency analysis of Fischer assay measurements. Identification of orbital frequencies tied directly to magnetochrons through radioisotopic dates allows for a direct comparison of the terrestrial to the marine Eocene record. Our analysis indicates that the marker beds used to correlate the stack cores represent periods of enhanced lake productivity and extreme carbon burial; however, unlike the hyperthermal events that are clearly marked in the marine Eocene record, the hydrocarbon-rich "Mahogany Bed" period of burial does not correspond to a clear carbon isotope excursion. This suggests that the terrestrial realm may have experienced extreme ecological responses to relatively small perturbations in the carbon cycle during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum. To investigate the ecological responses to carbon cycle perturbations through the hydrocarbon rich beds, we analyzed a suite of microbial biomarkers, finding evidence for cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, and potentially green sulfur bacteria. These taxa indicate fluctuating oxic/anoxic conditions in the lake during abrupt intervals of carbon burial, suggesting a lake biogeochemical regime with no modern analogues.

Mapping of soil organic carbon stocks for spatially explicit assessments of climate change mitigation potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vågen, Tor-Gunnar; Winowiecki, Leigh A

2013-01-01

Current methods for assessing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are generally not well suited for understanding variations in SOC stocks in landscapes. This is due to the tedious and time-consuming nature of the sampling methods most commonly used to collect bulk density cores, which limits repeatability across large areas, particularly where information is needed on the spatial dynamics of SOC stocks at scales relevant to management and for spatially explicit targeting of climate change mitigation options. In the current study, approaches were explored for (i) field-based estimates of SOC stocks and (ii) mapping of SOC stocks at moderate to high resolution on the basis of data from four widely contrasting ecosystems in East Africa. Estimated SOC stocks for 0–30 cm depth varied both within and between sites, with site averages ranging from 2 to 8 kg m −2 . The differences in SOC stocks were determined in part by rainfall, but more importantly by sand content. Results also indicate that managing soil erosion is a key strategy for reducing SOC loss and hence in mitigation of climate change in these landscapes. Further, maps were developed on the basis of satellite image reflectance data with multiple R-squared values of 0.65 for the independent validation data set, showing variations in SOC stocks across these landscapes. These maps allow for spatially explicit targeting of potential climate change mitigation efforts through soil carbon sequestration, which is one option for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Further, the maps can be used to monitor the impacts of such mitigation efforts over time. (letter)

MODELLING THE CARBON STOCKS ESTIMATION OF THE TROPICAL LOWLAND DIPTEROCARP FOREST USING LIDAR AND REMOTELY SENSED DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. M. Zaki

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Tropical forest embraces a large stock of carbon in the global carbon cycle and contributes to the enormous amount of above and below ground biomass. The carbon kept in the aboveground living biomass of trees is typically the largest pool and the most directly impacted by the anthropogenic factor such as deforestation and forest degradation. However, fewer studies had been proposed to model the carbon for tropical rain forest and the quantification still remain uncertainties. A multiple linear regression (MLR is one of the methods to define the relationship between the field inventory measurements and the statistical extracted from the remotely sensed data which is LiDAR and WorldView-3 imagery (WV-3. This paper highlight the model development from fusion of multispectral WV-3 with the LIDAR metrics to model the carbon estimation of the tropical lowland Dipterocarp forest of the study area. The result shown the over segmentation and under segmentation value for this output is 0.19 and 0.11 respectively, thus D-value for the classification is 0.19 which is 81%. Overall, this study produce a significant correlation coefficient (r between Crown projection area (CPA and Carbon stocks (CS; height from LiDAR (H_LDR and Carbon stocks (CS; and Crown projection area (CPA and height from LiDAR (H_LDR were shown 0.671, 0.709 and 0.549 respectively. The CPA of the segmentation found to be representative spatially with higher correlation of relationship between diameter at the breast height (DBH and carbon stocks which is Pearson Correlation p = 0.000 (p Dipterocarp forest.

Ages and transit times as important diagnostics of model performance for predicting carbon dynamics in terrestrial vegetation models

Science.gov (United States)

Ceballos-Núñez, Verónika; Richardson, Andrew D.; Sierra, Carlos A.

2018-03-01

The global carbon cycle is strongly controlled by the source/sink strength of vegetation as well as the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to retain this carbon. These dynamics, as well as processes such as the mixing of old and newly fixed carbon, have been studied using ecosystem models, but different assumptions regarding the carbon allocation strategies and other model structures may result in highly divergent model predictions. We assessed the influence of three different carbon allocation schemes on the C cycling in vegetation. First, we described each model with a set of ordinary differential equations. Second, we used published measurements of ecosystem C compartments from the Harvard Forest Environmental Measurement Site to find suitable parameters for the different model structures. And third, we calculated C stocks, release fluxes, radiocarbon values (based on the bomb spike), ages, and transit times. We obtained model simulations in accordance with the available data, but the time series of C in foliage and wood need to be complemented with other ecosystem compartments in order to reduce the high parameter collinearity that we observed, and reduce model equifinality. Although the simulated C stocks in ecosystem compartments were similar, the different model structures resulted in very different predictions of age and transit time distributions. In particular, the inclusion of two storage compartments resulted in the prediction of a system mean age that was 12-20 years older than in the models with one or no storage compartments. The age of carbon in the wood compartment of this model was also distributed towards older ages, whereas fast cycling compartments had an age distribution that did not exceed 5 years. As expected, models with C distributed towards older ages also had longer transit times. These results suggest that ages and transit times, which can be indirectly measured using isotope tracers, serve as important diagnostics of model structure

Underestimation of soil carbon stocks by Yasso07, Q, and CENTURY models in boreal forest linked to overlooking site fertility

Science.gov (United States)

Ťupek, Boris; Ortiz, Carina; Hashimoto, Shoji; Stendahl, Johan; Dahlgren, Jonas; Karltun, Erik; Lehtonen, Aleksi

2016-04-01

The soil organic carbon stock (SOC) changes estimated by the most process based soil carbon models (e.g. Yasso07, Q and CENTURY), needed for reporting of changes in soil carbon amounts for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and for mitigation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions by soil carbon management, can be biased if in a large mosaic of environments the models are missing a key factor driving SOC sequestration. To our knowledge soil nutrient status as a missing driver of these models was not tested in previous studies. Although, it's known that models fail to reconstruct the spatial variation and that soil nutrient status drives the ecosystem carbon use efficiency and soil carbon sequestration. We evaluated SOC stock estimates of Yasso07, Q and CENTURY process based models against the field data from Swedish Forest Soil National Inventories (3230 samples) organized by recursive partitioning method (RPART) into distinct soil groups with underlying SOC stock development linked to physicochemical conditions. These models worked for most soils with approximately average SOC stocks, but could not reproduce higher measured SOC stocks in our application. The Yasso07 and Q models that used only climate and litterfall input data and ignored soil properties generally agreed with two third of measurements. However, in comparison with measurements grouped according to the gradient of soil nutrient status we found that the models underestimated for the Swedish boreal forest soils with higher site fertility. Accounting for soil texture (clay, silt, and sand content) and structure (bulk density) in CENTURY model showed no improvement on carbon stock estimates, as CENTURY deviated in similar manner. We highlighted the mechanisms why models deviate from the measurements and the ways of considering soil nutrient status in further model development. Our analysis suggested that the models indeed lack other predominat drivers of SOC stabilization

Public Review Draft: A Method for Assessing Carbon Stocks, Carbon Sequestration, and Greenhouse-Gas Fluxes in Ecosystems of the United States Under Present Conditions and Future Scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Bergamaschi, Brian A.; Bernknopf, Richard; Clow, David; Dye, Dennis; Faulkner, Stephen; Forney, William; Gleason, Robert; Hawbaker, Todd; Liu, Jinxun; Liu, Shu-Guang; Prisley, Stephen; Reed, Bradley; Reeves, Matthew; Rollins, Matthew; Sleeter, Benjamin; Sohl, Terry; Stackpoole, Sarah; Stehman, Stephen; Striegl, Robert G.; Wein, Anne; Zhu, Zhi-Liang; Zhu, Zhi-Liang

2010-01-01

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Section 712, authorizes the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a methodology and conduct an assessment of the Nation's ecosystems focusing on carbon stocks, carbon sequestration, and emissions of three greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The major requirements include (1) an assessment of all ecosystems (terrestrial systems, such as forests, croplands, wetlands, shrub and grasslands; and aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and estuaries), (2) an estimation of annual potential capacities of ecosystems to increase carbon sequestration and reduce net GHG emissions in the context of mitigation strategies (including management and restoration activities), and (3) an evaluation of the effects of controlling processes, such as climate change, land use and land cover, and wildlfires. The purpose of this draft methodology for public review is to propose a technical plan to conduct the assessment. Within the methodology, the concepts of ecosystems, carbon pools, and GHG fluxes used for the assessment follow conventional definitions in use by major national and international assessment or inventory efforts. In order to estimate current ecosystem carbon stocks and GHG fluxes and to understand the potential capacity and effects of mitigation strategies, the method will use two time periods for the assessment: 2001 through 2010, which establishes a current ecosystem GHG baseline and will be used to validate the models; and 2011 through 2050, which will be used to assess future potential conditions based on a set of projected scenarios. The scenario framework is constructed using storylines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report Emission Scenarios (SRES), along with initial reference land-use and land-cover (LULC) and land-management scenarios. An additional three LULC and land-management mitigation scenarios will be constructed for each

Deposition and Burial Efficiency of Terrestrial Organic Carbon Exported from Small Mountainous Rivers to the Continental Margin, Southwest of Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, F.; Lin, S.; Wang, C.; Huh, C.

2007-12-01

Terrestrial organic carbon exported from small mountainous river to the continental margin may play an important role in global carbon cycle and it?|s biogeochemical process. A huge amount of suspended materials from small rivers in southwestern Taiwan (104 million tons per year) could serve as major carbon source to the adjacent ocean. However, little is know concerning fate of this terrigenous organic carbon. The purpose of this study is to calculate flux of terrigenous organic carbon deposited in the continental margin, offshore southwestern Taiwan through investigating spatial variation of organic carbon content, organic carbon isotopic compositions, organic carbon deposition rate and burial efficiency. Results show that organic carbon compositions in sediment are strongly influenced by terrestrial material exported from small rivers in the region, Kaoping River, Tseng-wen River and Er-jan Rver. In addition, a major part of the terrestrial materials exported from the Kaoping River may bypass shelf region and transport directly into the deep sea (South China Sea) through the Kaoping Canyon. Organic carbon isotopic compositions with lighter carbon isotopic values are found near the Kaoping River and Tseng-wen River mouth and rapidly change from heavier to lighter values through shelf to slope. Patches of lighter organic carbon isotopic compositions with high organic carbon content are also found in areas west of Kaoping River mouth, near the Kaoshiung city. Furthermore, terrigenous organic carbons with lighter isotopic values are found in the Kaoping canyon. A total of 0.028 Mt/yr of terrestrial organic carbon was found in the study area, which represented only about 10 percent of all terrestrial organic carbon deposited in the study area. Majority (~90 percent) of the organic carbon exported from the Kaoping River maybe directly transported into the deep sea (South China Sea) and become a major source of organic carbon in the deep sea.

Organic Carbon Stocks, Dynamics and Restoration in Relation to Soils of Agroecosystems in Ethiopia: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Getaneh Gebeyehu

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Soils represent the largest carbon pool and play important roles for carbon storage for prolonged periods in agroecosystems. A number of studies were conducted to quantify soil organic carbon (SOC worldwide. The objective of this review was to evaluate organic carbon stocks, dynamics and restoration in soils of agroecosystems in Ethiopia. Soil data from 32 different observations, representing four different agroecosystems, were analysed. The mean SOC stocks in the four agroecosystems varied and ranged from 25.66 (sub-humid agroecosystem to 113.17 (humid mid-highland agroecosystems Mg C ha-1 up to one meter depth. The trend of mean SOC followed (in descending order: humid mid-highland (113.17 Mg C ha-1 > per-humid highland (57.14 Mg C ha-1 > semi-arid (25.77 Mg C ha-1 > sub-humid (25.66 Mg C ha-1. Compared with soils of tropical countries, those in Ethiopian agroecosystems contained low SOC storage potential. This might be associated with differences in measurement and analysis methods as 53.1% of the studies employed the Walkley-Black Method, which is known to underestimate carbon stocks in addition to ecological and management effects. However, shifts of land management from rain-fed to irrigation farming systems exhibited progress in the improvement of mean SOC storage potential. The analyses showed that farming systems involving irrigation sequestered more carbon than rain-fed farm systems. The mean SOC in the various agricultural land uses followed the following trend (in descending order: agroforestry (153.57 Mg C ha-1 > grazing land (34.61 Mg C ha-1 > cereal cultivation (24.18 Mg C ha-1. Therefore, the possible solutions for improvement of organic carbon stocks would be implementation of appropriate restoration strategies based on agroecosystems.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENT Volume-6, Issue-1, Dec-Feb 2016/17, page: 1-22 

Carbon stocks and dynamics at different successional stages in an Afromontane tropical forest

Science.gov (United States)

Nyirambangutse, Brigitte; Zibera, Etienne; Uwizeye, Félicien K.; Nsabimana, Donat; Bizuru, Elias; Pleijel, Håkan; Uddling, Johan; Wallin, Göran

2017-03-01

As a result of different types of disturbance, forests are a mixture of stands at different stages of ecological succession. Successional stage is likely to influence forest productivity and carbon storage, linking the degree of forest disturbance to the global carbon cycle and climate. Although tropical montane forests are an important part of tropical forest ecosystems (ca. 8 %, elevation > 1000 m a.s.l.), there are still significant knowledge gaps regarding the carbon dynamics and stocks of these forests, and how these differ between early (ES) and late successional (LS) stages. This study examines the carbon (C) stock, relative growth rate (RGR) and net primary production (NPP) of ES and LS forest stands in an Afromontane tropical rainforest using data from inventories of quantitatively important ecosystem compartments in fifteen 0.5 ha plots in Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. The total C stock was 35 % larger in LS compared to ES plots due to significantly larger above-ground biomass (AGB; 185 and 76 Mg C ha-1 in LS and ES plots), while the soil and root C stock (down to 45 cm depth in the mineral soil) did not significantly differ between the two successional stages (178 and 204 Mg C ha-1 in LS and ES plots). The main reasons for the difference in AGB were that ES trees had significantly lower stature and wood density compared to LS trees. However, ES and LS stands had similar total NPP (canopy, wood and roots of all plots ˜ 9.4 Mg C ha-1) due to counterbalancing effects of differences in AGB (higher in LS stands) and RGR (higher in ES stands). The AGB in the LS plots was considerably higher than the average value reported for old-growth tropical montane forest of south-east Asia and Central and South America at similar elevations and temperatures, and of the same magnitude as in tropical lowland forest of these regions. The results of this study highlight the importance of accounting for disturbance regimes and differences in wood density and allometry of

Rationally Managed Pastures Stock More Carbon than No-Tillage Fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hizumi L. S. Seó

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A significant share of Greenhouse Gases (GHG produced from agriculture comes from cattle farming. The reduction in GHG emissions from ruminants fed with grains has led some researchers to recommend such a diet as a means of mitigating emissions in the sector. A more accurate balance of emissions, however, must include the carbon (C stocked by feed crops. Within the grain production system, no-tillage (NT cultivation systems have a greater capacity to increase and store soil organic carbon (SOC. Within grazing management systems, the rotation used in Voisin's Rational Grazing (VRG allows the accumulation of SOC through root growth. The objective of this study was to assess the C stock of pasture under VRG and compare soil C stock between VRG pasture and fields under no-tillage management, in two seasons over a period of 1 year. The study included five dairy farms in Santa Catarina State, Brazil. In each property, we collected soil to quantify SOC from VRG pasture and NT fields, in summer and winter. In the pasture, to determine the total stock, we also collected samples from the aerial parts of plants and the roots. Further, we estimated how efficient would be producing milk from those pastures or from those crops. The VRG pasture showed a greater capacity to stock C in the soil than the no-tillage fields (VRG = 115.0 Mg C ha−1; NT = 92.5 Mg C ha−1; p < 0.00009, with the greatest difference at a depth of 0–10 cm (VRG = 41 Mg C ha−1; NT = 32 Mg C ha−1; p < 0.00008. In VRG, 95% of C was in the soil, 1% in the aerial part of plants, and 4% in the roots. On pasture was produced 0.15 kg of milk.kg−1 of C stored, and on NT system 0.13 kg of milk.kg−1 of C stored. In this study, we conclude that independent of season, the soil in well managed pastures had a greater stock of C, produced more milk and produced more milk.kg−1 of stored C than fields under NT management. Therefore, when comparing GHG emissions of ruminants with different

Disturbance and climate effects on carbon stocks and fluxes across western Oregon USA.

Science.gov (United States)

B.E. Law; D. Turner; J. Campbell; O.J. Sun; S. Van Tuyl; W.D. Ritts; W.B. Cohen

2004-01-01

We used a spatially nested hierarchy of field and remote-sensing observations and a process model, Biome-BGC, to produce a carbon budget for the forested region of Oregon, and to determine the relative influence of differences in climate and disturbance among the ecoregions on carbon stocks and fluxes. The simulations suggest that annual net uptake (net ecosystem...

Unifying Dynamic Prognostic Phenology, Heterogeneous Soil and Vegetation Fluxes, and Ecosystem Biomass and Carbon Stocks To Predict the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle and Land-Atmosphere Exchanges in the Simple Biosphere Model (SiB4)

Science.gov (United States)

Haynes, K. D.; Baker, I. T.; Denning, S.

2016-12-01

Future climate projections require process-based models that incorporate the mechanisms and feedbacks controlling the carbon cycle. Over the past three decades, land surface models have been key contributors to Earth system models, evolving from predicting latent (LE) and sensible (SH) heat fluxes to energy and water budgets, momentum transfer, and terrestrial carbon exchange and storage. This study presents the latest version of the Simple Biosphere Model (SiB4), which builds on a compilation of previous versions and adds a new mechanistic-based scheme that fully predicts the terrestrial carbon cycle. The main SiB4 updates can be summarized as follows: (i) Incorporation of carbon pools that use new respiration and transfer methods, (ii) Creation of a new dynamic phenology scheme that uses mechanistic-based seasonal stages, and (iii) Unification of carbon pools, phenology and disturbance to close the carbon cycle. SiB4 removes the dependence on satellite-based vegetation indices, and instead uses a single mathematical framework to prognose self-consistent land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water, energy, radiation, and momentum, as well as carbon storage. Since grasslands cover 30% of land and are highly seasonal, we investigated forty grass sites. Diurnal cycles of gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (RE), net ecosystem exchange (NEE), LE and SH have third-quartile root mean squared (RMS) errors less than 2.0 µmol m-2 s-1, 1.9 µmol m-2 s-1, 2.0 µmol m-2 s-1, 42 W m-2, and 78 W m-2, respectively. On the synoptic timeframe, all sites have significant LE correlation coefficients of non-seasonal daily data; and all but one have significant SH correlations. Mean seasonal cycles for leaf area index (LAI), GPP, RE, LE, and SH have third-quartile normalized RMS errors less than 32%, 25%, 28%, 16%, and 48%, respectively. On multi-year timescales, daily correlations of LAI, GPP, RE, and LE are all statistically significant, with third-quartile RMS

The new forest carbon accounting framework for the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Domke, G. M.; Woodall, C. W.; Coulston, J.; Wear, D. N.; Healey, S. P.; Walters, B. F.

2015-12-01

The forest carbon accounting system used in recent National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (NGHGI) was developed more than a decade ago when the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis annual inventory system was in its infancy and contemporary questions regarding the terrestrial sink (e.g., attribution) did not exist. The time has come to develop a new framework that can quickly address new questions, enables forest carbon analytics, and uses all the inventory information (e.g., disturbances and land use change) while having the flexibility to engage a wider breadth of stakeholders and partner agencies. The Forest Carbon Accounting Framework (FCAF) is comprised of a forest dynamics module and a land use dynamics module. Together these modules produce data-driven estimates of carbon stocks and stock changes in forest ecosystems that are sensitive to carbon sequestration, forest aging, and disturbance effects as well as carbon stock transfers associated with afforestation and deforestation. The new accounting system was used in the 2016 NGHGI report and research is currently underway to incorporate emerging non-live tree carbon pool data, remotely sensed information, and auxiliary data (e.g., climate information) into the FCAF.

The rapid measurement of soil carbon stock using near-infrared technology

Science.gov (United States)

Kusumo, B. H.; Sukartono; Bustan

2018-03-01

As a soil pool stores carbon (C) three times higher than an atmospheric pool, the depletion of C stock in the soil will significantly increase the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, causing global warming. However, the monitoring or measurement of soil C stock using conventional procedures is time-consuming and expensive. So it requires a rapid and non-destructive technique that is simple and does not need chemical substances. This research is aimed at testing whether near-infrared (NIR) technology is able to rapidly measure C stock in the soil. Soil samples were collected from an agricultural land at the sub-district of Kayangan, North Lombok, Indonesia. The coordinates of the samples were recorded. Parts of the samples were analyzed using conventional procedure (Walkley and Black) and some other parts were scanned using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for soil spectral collection. Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR) was used to develop models from soil C data measured by conventional analysis and from spectral data scanned by NIRS. The best model was moderately successful to measure soil C stock in the study area in North Lombok. This indicates that the NIR technology can be further used to monitor the change of soil C stock in the soil.

Changes in organic carbon stocks upon land use conversion in the Brazilian Cerrado: A review. Agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Batlle-Bayer, L.; Batjes, N.H.; Bindraban, P.S.

2010-01-01

This paper reviews current knowledge on changes in carbon stocks upon land use conversion in the Brazilian Cerrado. First, we briefly characterize the savanna ecosystem and summarize the main published data on C stocks under natural conditions. The effects of increased land use pressure in the

Projected changes in terrestrial carbon storage in Europe under climate and land-use change, 1990-2100

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaehle, S.; Bondeau, A.; Cramer, W.; Erhard, M.; Sitch, S.; Smith, P.C.; Zaehle, S.; Smith, P.C.; Carter, T.R.; Erhard, M.; Prentice, C.; Prentice, C.; Reginster, I.; Rounsevell, M.D.A.; Sitch, S.; Smith, B.; Sykes, M

2007-01-01

Changes in climate and land use, caused by socio-economic changes, greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural policies and other factors, are known to affect both natural and managed ecosystems, and will likely impact on the European terrestrial carbon balance during the coming decades. This study presents a comprehensive European Union wide (EU15 plus Norway and Switzerland, EU*) assessment of potential future changes in terrestrial carbon storage considering these effects based on four illustrative IPCC-SRES story-lines (A1FI, A2, B1, B2). A process-based land vegetation model (LPJ-DGVM), adapted to include a generic representation of managed ecosystems, is forced with changing fields of land-use patterns from 1901 to 2100 to assess the effect of land-use and cover changes on the terrestrial carbon balance of Europe. The uncertainty in the future carbon balance associated with the choice of a climate change scenario is assessed by forcing LPJ-DGVM with output from four different climate models (GCMs: CGCM2, CSIRO2, HadCM3, PCM2) for the same SRES story-line. Decrease in agricultural areas and afforestation leads to simulated carbon sequestration for all land-use change scenarios with an average net uptake of 17-38 Tg C/year between 1990 and 2100, corresponding to 1.9-2.9% of the EU*s CO 2 emissions over the same period. Soil carbon losses resulting from climate warming reduce or even offset carbon sequestration resulting from growth enhancement induced by climate change and increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations in the second half of the twenty-first century. Differences in future climate change projections among GCMs are the main cause for uncertainty in the cumulative European terrestrial carbon uptake of 4.4-10.1 Pg C between 1990 and 2100. (authors)

NMR studies of stock process water and reaction pathways in hydrothermal carbonization of furfural residue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fen Yue

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC is a valuable approach to convert furfural residue (FR into carbon material. The prepared biochars are usually characterized comprehensively, while the stock process water still remains to be studied in detail. Herein, a NMR study of the main components in stock process water generated at different HTC reaction conditions was reported. Various qualitative and quantitative NMR techniques (1H and 13C NMR, 1H–1H COSY and 1H13C HSQC etc. especially 1D selective gradient total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY NMR were strategically applied in the analysis of HTC stock process water. Without separation and purification, it was demonstrated that the main detectable compounds are 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, formic acid, methanol, acetic acid, levulinic acid, glycerol, hydroxyacetone and acetaldehyde in this complicate mixture. Furthermore, the relationship between the concentration of major products and the reaction conditions (180–240 °C at 8 h, and 1–24 h at 240 °C was established. Finally, reasonable reaction pathways for hydrothermal conversion of FR were proposed based on this result and our previously obtained characteristics of biochars. The routine and challenging NMR methods utilized here would be an alternative other than HPLC or GC for biomass conversion research and can be extended to more studies. Keywords: NMR, Hydrothermal carbonization, Furfural residue, Stock process water

Soil Carbon Residence Time in the Arctic - Potential Drivers of Past and Future Change

Science.gov (United States)

Huntzinger, D. N.; Fisher, J.; Schwalm, C. R.; Hayes, D. J.; Stofferahn, E.; Hantson, W.; Schaefer, K. M.; Fang, Y.; Michalak, A. M.; Wei, Y.

2017-12-01

Carbon residence time is one of the most important factors controlling carbon cycling in ecosystems. Residence time depends on carbon allocation and conversion among various carbon pools and the rate of organic matter decomposition; all of which rely on environmental conditions, primarily temperature and soil moisture. As a result, residence time is an emergent property of models and a strong determinant of terrestrial carbon storage capacity. However, residence time is poorly constrained in process-based models due, in part, to the lack of data with which to benchmark global-scale models in order to guide model improvements and, ultimately, reduce uncertainty in model projections. Here we focus on improving the understanding of the drivers to observed and simulated carbon residence time in the Arctic-Boreal region (ABR). Carbon-cycling in the ABR represents one of the largest sources of uncertainty in historical and future projections of land-atmosphere carbon dynamics. This uncertainty is depicted in the large spread of terrestrial biospheric model (TBM) estimates of carbon flux and ecosystem carbon pool size in this region. Recent efforts, such as the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), have increased the availability of spatially explicit in-situ and remotely sensed carbon and ecosystem focused data products in the ABR. Together with simulations from Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP), we use these observations to evaluate the ability of models to capture soil carbon stocks and changes in the ABR. Specifically, we compare simulated versus observed soil carbon residence times in order to evaluate the functional response and sensitivity of modeled soil carbon stocks to changes in key environmental drivers. Understanding how simulated carbon residence time compares with observations and what drives these differences is critical for improving projections of changing carbon dynamics in the ABR and globally.

Trade-offs for food production, nature conservation and climate limit the terrestrial carbon dioxide removal potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Boysen, Lena R; Lucht, Wolfgang; Gerten, Dieter

2017-10-01

Large-scale biomass plantations (BPs) are a common factor in climate mitigation scenarios as they promise double benefits: extracting carbon from the atmosphere and providing a renewable energy source. However, their terrestrial carbon dioxide removal (tCDR) potentials depend on important factors such as land availability, efficiency of capturing biomass-derived carbon and the timing of operation. Land availability is restricted by the demands of future food production depending on yield increases and population growth, by requirements for nature conservation and, with respect to climate mitigation, avoiding unfavourable albedo changes. We integrate these factors in one spatially explicit biogeochemical simulation framework to explore the tCDR opportunity space on land available after these constraints are taken into account, starting either in 2020 or 2050, and lasting until 2100. We find that assumed future needs for nature protection and food production strongly limit tCDR potentials. BPs on abandoned crop and pasture areas (~1,300 Mha in scenarios of either 8.0 billion people and yield gap reductions of 25% until 2020 or 9.5 billion people and yield gap reductions of 50% until 2050) could, theoretically, sequester ~100 GtC in land carbon stocks and biomass harvest by 2100. However, this potential would be ~80% lower if only cropland was available or ~50% lower if albedo decreases were considered as a factor restricting land availability. Converting instead natural forest, shrubland or grassland into BPs could result in much larger tCDR potentials ̶ but at high environmental costs (e.g. biodiversity loss). The most promising avenue for effective tCDR seems to be improvement of efficient carbon utilization pathways, changes in dietary trends or the restoration of marginal lands for the implementation of tCDR. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

GRANULOMETRIC AND HUMIC FRACTIONS CARBON STOCKS OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER UNDER NO-TILLAGE SYSTEM IN UBERABA, BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Gervasio Pereira

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The cover plant use preceding grain crops in Cerrado soil can increase the carbon stocks of chemical and physical fractions of soil organic matter (SOM. The present study aimed to quantify the carbon stocks of SOM granulometric and humic fractions in a Cerrado area under no-tillage system with different cover plant, and compare the results with those from conventional tillage and fallow areas, in Uberaba, MG, Brazil. The implemented cover crops were: millet, tropical grass and sunn hemp. Furthermore, an area was used in fallow and another as a control area (conventional tillage. After cover crop removal, the areas were subdivided for the corn and soybean plantation. Soil samples were collected in the 0.0-0.025, 0.025-0.05, 0.05-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m depths, with posterior quantification of total organic carbon (TOC levels and chemical and granulometric fractionation of SOM. Humic acid carbon (C-HAF, fulvic acids (C-FAF and humin (C-HUM were quantified through these fractionations. The granulometric fractions consisted in particulate organic matter (POM and mineral organic matter (MOM. Using the carbon levels for each fraction, the respective stocks for each depth were calculated, including the 0.0-0.20 m layer. In the 0.0-0.20 m layer, TOC had the highest stocks for the millet area. The highest POM stocks were found for the corn plantation over sunn hemp and the fallow and soybean area over millet and tropical grass (0.0-0.20 m. In relation to the MOM stocks, the highest values were observed in the areas with millet, sunn hemp and tropical (palisade grass, all superior to those found in the conventional tillage and fallow areas, independent of evaluated culture (0.10-0.20 m. The highest C-HUM stocks were observed in the area with tropical grass (0.025-0.05 m and areas with tropical grass and sunn hemp (0.10-0.20 m, when compared to conventional tillage, independent of evaluated culture (corn and soybean. The highest C-FAH stocks in the depth of 0

Combined influence of sedimentation and vegetation on the soil carbon stocks of a coastal wetland in the Changjiang estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Tianyu; Chen, Huaipu; Cao, Haobing; Ge, Zhenming; Zhang, Liquan

2017-07-01

Coastal wetlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Large quantities of sediment deposited in the Changjiang (Yangtze) estuary by the Changjiang River promote the propagation of coastal wetlands, the expansion of saltmarsh vegetation, and carbon sequestration. In this study, using the Chongming Dongtan Wetland in the Changjiang estuary as the study area, the spatial and temporal distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and the influences of sedimentation and vegetation on the SOC stocks of the coastal wetland were examined in 2013. There was sediment accretion in the northern and middle areas of the wetland and in the Phragmites australis marsh in the southern area, and sediment erosion in the Scirpus mariqueter marsh and the bare mudflat in the southern area. More SOC accumulated in sediments of the vegetated marsh than in the bare mudflat. The total organic carbon (TOC) stocks increased in the above-ground biomass from spring to autumn and decreased in winter; in the below-ground biomass, they gradually increased from spring to winter. The TOC stocks were higher in the below-ground biomass than in the above-ground biomass in the P. australis and Spartina alterniflora marshes, but were lower in the below-ground biomass in S. mariqueter marsh. Stocks of SOC showed temporal variation and increased gradually in all transects from spring to winter. The SOC stocks tended to decrease from the high marsh down to the bare mudflat along the three transects in the order: P. australis marsh > S. alterniflora marsh > S. mariqueter marsh > bare mudflat. The SOC stocks of the same vegetation type were higher in the northern and middle transects than in the southern transect. These results suggest that interactions between sedimentation and vegetation regulate the SOC stocks in the coastal wetland in the Changjiang estuary.

Opportunities and Challenges for Terrestrial Carbon Offsetting and Marketing, with Some Implications for Forestry in the UK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Nijnik

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Climate change and its mitigation have become increasingly high profile issues since the late 1990s, with the potential of forestry in carbon sequestration a particular focus. The purpose of this paper is to outline the importance of socio-economic considerations in this area. Opportunities for forestry to sequester carbon and the role of terrestrial carbon uptake credits in climate change negotiations are addressed, together with the feasibility of bringing terrestrial carbon offsets into the regulatory emission trading scheme. The paper discusses whether or not significant carbon offsetting and trading will occur on a large scale in the UK or internationally. Material and Methods: The paper reviews the literature on the socio-economic aspects of climate change mitigation via forestry (including the authors’ research on this topic to assess the potential for carbon offsetting and trading, and the likely scale of action. Results and Conclusion: We conclude that the development of appropriate socio-economic framework conditions (e.g. policies, tenure rights, including forest carbon ownership, and markets and incentives for creating and trading terrestrial carbon credits are important in mitigating climate change through forestry projects, and we make suggestions for future research that would be required to support such developments.

A review on the role of organic inputs in maintaining the soil carbon pool of the terrestrial ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, Satya Sundar; Kim, Ki-Hyun; Das, Subhasish; Uchimiya, Minori; Jeon, Byong Hun; Kwon, Eilhann; Szulejko, Jan E

2016-02-01

Among the numerous sources of greenhouse gases, emissions of CO2 are considerably affected by changes in the extent and type of land use, e.g., intensive agriculture, deforestation, urbanization, soil erosion, or wetland drainage. As a feasible option to control emissions from the terrestrial ecosystems, the scientific community has explored the possibility of enhancing soil carbon (C) storage capacity. Thus, restoration of damaged lands through conservation tillage, crop rotation, cover cropping, reforestation, sub-soiling of compacted lands, sustainable water management practices, and organic manuring are the major antidotes against attenuation of soil organic C (SOC) stocks. In this research, we focused on the effect of various man-made activities on soil biotic organics (e.g., green-, farm-yard manure, and composts) to understand how C fluxes from various sources contribute to the establishment of a new equilibrium in the terrestrial ecosystems. Although such inputs substitute a portion of chemical fertilizers, they all undergo activities that augment the rate and extent of decay to deplete the SOC bank. Here, we provide perspectives on the balancing factors that control the mineralization rate of organic matter. Our arguments are placed in the background of different land use types and their impacts on forests, agriculture, urbanization, soil erosion, and wetland destruction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simple measures of climate, soil properties and plant traits predict national-scale grassland soil carbon stocks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manning, P.; de Vries, F.T.; Tallowin, J.R.B.; Smith, R.; Mortimer, S.R.; Pilgrim, E.S.; Harrison, K.A.; Wright, D.G.; Quirk, H.; Benson, J.; Shipley, B.; Cornelissen, J.H.C.; Kattge, J.; Bönisch, G.; Wirth, C.; Bardgett, R.D.

2015-01-01

Soil carbon (C) storage is a key ecosystem service. Soil C stocks play a vital role in soil fertility and climate regulation, but the factors that control these stocks at regional and national scales are unknown, particularly when their composition and stability are considered. As a result, their

Evaluation of Terrestrial Carbon Cycle with the Land Use Harmonization Dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Sasai, T.; Nemani, R. R.

2017-12-01

CO2 emission by land use and land use change (LULUC) has still had a large uncertainty (±50%). We need to more accurately reveal a role of each LULUC process on terrestrial carbon cycle, and to develop more complicated land cover change model, leading to improve our understanding of the mechanism of global warming. The existing biosphere model studies do not necessarily have enough major LULUC process in the model description (e.g., clear cutting and residual soil carbon). The issue has the potential for causing an underestimation of the effect of LULUC on the global carbon exchange. In this study, the terrestrial biosphere model was modified with several LULUC processes according to the land use harmonization data set. The global mean LULUC emission from the year 1850 to 2000 was 137.2 (PgC 151year-1), and we found the noticeable trend in tropical region. As with the case of primary production in the existing studies, our results emphasized the role of tropical forest on wood productization and residual soil organic carbon by cutting. Global mean NEP was decreased by LULUC. NEP is largely affected by decreasing leaf biomass (photosynthesis) by deforestation process and increasing plant growth rate by regrowth process. We suggested that the model description related to deforestation, residual soil decomposition, wood productization and plant regrowth is important to develop a biosphere model for estimating long-term global carbon cycle.

Compatible above-ground biomass equations and carbon stock estimation for small diameter Turkish pine (Pinus brutia Ten.).

Science.gov (United States)

Sakici, Oytun Emre; Kucuk, Omer; Ashraf, Muhammad Irfan

2018-04-15

Small trees and saplings are important for forest management, carbon stock estimation, ecological modeling, and fire management planning. Turkish pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) is a common coniferous species and comprises 25.1% of total forest area of Turkey. Turkish pine is also important due to its flammable fuel characteristics. In this study, compatible above-ground biomass equations were developed to predict needle, branch, stem wood, and above-ground total biomass, and carbon stock assessment was also described for Turkish pine which is smaller than 8 cm diameter at breast height or shorter than breast height. Compatible biomass equations are useful for biomass prediction of small diameter individuals of Turkish pine. These equations will also be helpful in determining fire behavior characteristics and calculating their carbon stock. Overall, present study will be useful for developing ecological models, forest management plans, silvicultural plans, and fire management plans.

Simulation of salinity effects on past, present, and future soil organic carbon stocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Setia, Raj; Smith, Pete; Marschner, Petra; Gottschalk, Pia; Baldock, Jeff; Verma, Vipan; Setia, Deepika; Smith, Jo

2012-02-07

Soil organic carbon (SOC) models are used to predict changes in SOC stocks and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) emissions from soils, and have been successfully validated for non-saline soils. However, SOC models have not been developed to simulate SOC turnover in saline soils. Due to the large extent of salt-affected areas in the world, it is important to correctly predict SOC dynamics in salt-affected soils. To close this knowledge gap, we modified the Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC) to simulate SOC turnover in salt-affected soils, using data from non-salt-affected and salt-affected soils in two agricultural regions in India (120 soils) and in Australia (160 soils). Recently we developed a decomposition rate modifier based on an incubation study of a subset of these soils. In the present study, we introduce a new method to estimate the past losses of SOC due to salinity and show how salinity affects future SOC stocks on a regional scale. Because salinity decreases decomposition rates, simulations using the decomposition rate modifier for salinity suggest an accumulation of SOC. However, if the plant inputs are also adjusted to reflect reduced plant growth under saline conditions, the simulations show a significant loss of soil carbon in the past due to salinization, with a higher average loss of SOC in Australian soils (55 t C ha(-1)) than in Indian soils (31 t C ha(-1)). There was a significant negative correlation (p < 0.05) between SOC loss and osmotic potential. Simulations of future SOC stocks with the decomposition rate modifier and the plant input modifier indicate a greater decrease in SOC in saline than in non-saline soils under future climate. The simulations of past losses of SOC due to salinity were repeated using either measured charcoal-C or the inert organic matter predicted by the Falloon et al. equation to determine how much deviation from the Falloon et al. equation affects the amount of plant inputs generated by the model for the soils used in this study

The effect of cassava-based bioethanol production on above-ground carbon stocks: A case study from Southern Mali

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vang Rasmussen, Laura; Rasmussen, Kjeld; Birch-Thomsen, Torben; Kristensen, Søren B.P.; Traoré, Oumar

2012-01-01

Increasing energy use and the need to mitigate climate change make production of liquid biofuels a high priority. Farmers respond worldwide to this increasing demand by converting forests and grassland into biofuel crops, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on the carbon emissions that occur when land use is changed to biofuel crops. This paper reports the results of a study on cassava-based bioethanol production undertaken in the Sikasso region in Southern Mali. The paper outlines the estimated impacts on above-ground carbon stocks when land use is changed to increase cassava production. The results show that expansion of cassava production for bioethanol will most likely lead to the conversion of fallow areas to cassava. A land use change from fallow to cassava creates a reduction in the above-ground carbon stocks in the order of 4–13 Mg C ha −1 , depending on (a) the age of the fallow, (b) the allometric equation used and (c) whether all trees are removed or the larger, useful trees are preserved. This ‘carbon debt’ associated with the above-ground biomass loss would take 8–25 years to repay if fossil fuels are replaced with cassava-based bioethanol. - Highlights: ► Demands for biofuels make production of cassava-based bioethanol a priority. ► Farmers in Southern Mali are likely to convert fallow areas to cassava production. ► Converting fallow to cassava creates reductions in above-ground carbon stocks. ► Estimates of carbon stock reductions include that farmers preserve useful trees. ► The carbon debt associated with above-ground biomass loss takes 8–25 years to repay.

Project Summary (2012-2015) – Carbon Dynamics of the Greater Everglades Watershed and Implications of Climate Change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hinkle, Ross [University of Central Florida; Benscoter, Brian [Florida Atlantic University; Comas, Xavier [Florida Atlantic University; Sumner, David [USGS; DeAngelis, Donald [USGS

2015-04-07

Carbon Dynamics of the Greater Everglades Watershed and Implications of Climate Change The objectives of this project are to: 1) quantify above- and below-ground carbon stocks of terrestrial ecosystems along a seasonal hydrologic gradient in the headwaters region of the Greater Everglades watershed; 2) develop budgets of ecosystem gaseous carbon exchange (carbon dioxide and methane) across the seasonal hydrologic gradient; 3) assess the impact of climate drivers on ecosystem carbon exchange in the Greater Everglades headwater region; and 4) integrate research findings with climate-driven terrestrial ecosystem carbon models to examine the potential influence of projected future climate change on regional carbon cycling. Note: this project receives a one-year extension past the original performance period - David Sumner (USGS) is not included in this extension.

Carbon storage and emissions offset potential in an African dry forest, the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Glenday, Julia

2008-07-01

Concerns about rapid tropical deforestation, and its contribution to rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, increase the importance of monitoring terrestrial carbon storage in changing landscapes. Emerging markets for carbon emission offsets may offer developing nations needed incentives for reforestation, rehabilitation, and avoided deforestation. However, relatively little empirical data exists regarding carbon storage in African tropical forests, particularly for those in arid or semi-arid regions. Kenya's 416 km(2) Arabuko-Sokoke Forest (ASF) is the largest remaining fragment of East African coastal dry forest and is considered a global biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000), but has been significantly altered by past commercial logging and ongoing extraction. Forest carbon storage for ASF was estimated using allometric equations for tree biomass, destructive techniques for litter and herbaceous vegetation biomass, and spectroscopy for soils. Satellite imagery was used to assess land cover changes from 1992 to 2004. Forest and thicket types (Cynometra webberi dominated, Brachystegia spiciformis dominated, and mixed species forest) had carbon densities ranging from 58 to 94 Mg C/ha. The ASF area supported a 2.8-3.0 Tg C carbon stock. Although total forested area in ASF did not change over the analyzed time period, ongoing disturbances, quantified by the basal area of cut tree stumps per sample plot, correlated with decreased carbon densities. Madunguni Forest, an adjoining forest patch, lost 86% of its forest cover and at least 76% of its terrestrial carbon stock in the time period. Improved management of wood harvesting in ASF and rehabilitation of Madunguni Forest could substantially increase terrestrial carbon sequestration in the region.

Using basal area to estimate aboveground carbon stocks in forests: La Primavera Biosphere's Reserve, Mexico

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Balderas Torres, Arturo; Lovett, Jonathan Cranidge

2012-01-01

Increasing use of woody plants for greenhouse gas mitigation has led to demand for rapid, cost-effective estimation of forest carbon stocks. Bole diameter is readily measured and basal area can be correlated to biomass and carbon through application of allometric equations. We explore different

Carbon pool densities and a first estimate of the total carbon pool in the Mongolian forest-steppe.

Science.gov (United States)

Dulamsuren, Choimaa; Klinge, Michael; Degener, Jan; Khishigjargal, Mookhor; Chenlemuge, Tselmeg; Bat-Enerel, Banzragch; Yeruult, Yolk; Saindovdon, Davaadorj; Ganbaatar, Kherlenchimeg; Tsogtbaatar, Jamsran; Leuschner, Christoph; Hauck, Markus

2016-02-01

The boreal forest biome represents one of the most important terrestrial carbon stores, which gave reason to intensive research on carbon stock densities. However, such an analysis does not yet exist for the southernmost Eurosiberian boreal forests in Inner Asia. Most of these forests are located in the Mongolian forest-steppe, which is largely dominated by Larix sibirica. We quantified the carbon stock density and total carbon pool of Mongolia's boreal forests and adjacent grasslands and draw conclusions on possible future change. Mean aboveground carbon stock density in the interior of L. sibirica forests was 66 Mg C ha(-1) , which is in the upper range of values reported from boreal forests and probably due to the comparably long growing season. The density of soil organic carbon (SOC, 108 Mg C ha(-1) ) and total belowground carbon density (149 Mg C ha(-1) ) are at the lower end of the range known from boreal forests, which might be the result of higher soil temperatures and a thinner permafrost layer than in the central and northern boreal forest belt. Land use effects are especially relevant at forest edges, where mean carbon stock density was 188 Mg C ha(-1) , compared with 215 Mg C ha(-1) in the forest interior. Carbon stock density in grasslands was 144 Mg C ha(-1) . Analysis of satellite imagery of the highly fragmented forest area in the forest-steppe zone showed that Mongolia's total boreal forest area is currently 73 818 km(2) , and 22% of this area refers to forest edges (defined as the first 30 m from the edge). The total forest carbon pool of Mongolia was estimated at ~ 1.5-1.7 Pg C, a value which is likely to decrease in future with increasing deforestation and fire frequency, and global warming. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Spatial complexities in aboveground carbon stocks of a semi-arid mangrove community: A remote sensing height-biomass-carbon approach

KAUST Repository

Hickey, S.M.; Callow, N.J.; Phinn, S.; Lovelock, C.E.; Duarte, Carlos M.

2017-01-01

Mangroves are integral to ecosystem services provided by the coastal zone, in particular carbon (C) sequestration and storage. Allometric relationships linking mangrove height to estimated biomass and C stocks have been developed from field sampling

Soil carbon and nitrogen erosion in forested catchments: implications for erosion-induced terrestrial carbon sequestration

Science.gov (United States)

E. M. Stacy; S. C. Hart; C. T. Hunsaker; D. W. Johnson; A. A. Berhe

2015-01-01

Lateral movement of organic matter (OM) due to erosion is now considered an important flux term in terrestrial carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) budgets, yet most published studies on the role of erosion focus on agricultural or grassland ecosystems. To date, little information is available on the rate and nature of OM eroded from forest ecosystems. We present annual...

A Tale of Two Forest Carbon Assessments in the Eastern United States: Forest Use Versus Cover as a Metric of Change

Science.gov (United States)

C. W. Woodall; B. F. Walters; M. B. Russell; J. W. Coulston; G. M. Domke; A. W. D' Amato; P. A. Sowers

2016-01-01

The dynamics of land-use practices (for example, forest versus settlements) is often a major driver of changes in terrestrial carbon (C). As the management and conservation of forest land uses are considered a means of reducing future atmospheric CO2 concentrations, the monitoring of forest C stocks and stock change by categories of land-use...

Soil organic carbon pools and stocks in permafrost-affected soils on the tibetan plateau.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corina Dörfer

Full Text Available The Tibetan Plateau reacts particularly sensitively to possible effects of climate change. Approximately two thirds of the total area is affected by permafrost. To get a better understanding of the role of permafrost on soil organic carbon pools and stocks, investigations were carried out including both discontinuous (site Huashixia, HUA and continuous permafrost (site Wudaoliang, WUD. Three organic carbon fractions were isolated using density separation combined with ultrasonic dispersion: the light fractions (1.6 g cm(-3 of mineral associated organic matter (MOM. The fractions were analyzed for C, N, and their portion of organic C. FPOM contained an average SOC content of 252 g kg(-1. Higher SOC contents (320 g kg(-1 were found in OPOM while MOM had the lowest SOC contents (29 g kg(-1. Due to their lower density the easily decomposable fractions FPOM and OPOM contribute 27% (HUA and 22% (WUD to the total SOC stocks. In HUA mean SOC stocks (0-30 cm depth account for 10.4 kg m(-2, compared to 3.4 kg m(-2 in WUD. 53% of the SOC is stored in the upper 10 cm in WUD, in HUA only 39%. Highest POM values of 36% occurred in profiles with high soil moisture content. SOC stocks, soil moisture and active layer thickness correlated strongly in discontinuous permafrost while no correlation between SOC stocks and active layer thickness and only a weak relation between soil moisture and SOC stocks could be found in continuous permafrost. Consequently, permafrost-affected soils in discontinuous permafrost environments are susceptible to soil moisture changes due to alterations in quantity and seasonal distribution of precipitation, increasing temperature and therefore evaporation.

Terrestrial gross carbon dioxide uptake : Global distribution and covariation with climate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beer, Christian; Reichstein, Markus; Tomelleri, Enrico; Ciais, Philippe; Jung, Martin; Carvalhais, Nuno; Rödenbeck, Christian; Arain, M. Altaf; Baldocchi, Dennis D.; Bonan, Gordon B.; Bondeau, Alberte; Cescatti, Alessandro; Lasslop, Gitta; Lindroth, Anders; Lomas, Mark; Luyssaert, Sebastiaan; Margolis, Hank; Oleson, Keith W.; Roupsard, Olivier; Veenendaal, Elmar; Viovy, Nicolas; Williams, Christopher M.; Woodward, F. Ian; Papale, Dario

2010-01-01

Terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) is the largest global CO 2 flux driving several ecosystem functions. We provide an observation-based estimate of this flux at 123 ± 8 petagrams of carbon per year (Pg C year-1) using eddy covariance flux data and various diagnostic models. Tropical forests

Assessing the Impacts of forest degradation on water, energy, and carbon budgets in Amazon forest using the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, M.; Xu, Y.; Longo, M.; Keller, M.; Knox, R. G.; Koven, C.; Fisher, R.

2017-12-01

Tropical forest degradation from logging, fire, and fragmentation not only alters carbon stocks and carbon fluxes, but also impacts physical land-surface properties such as albedo and roughness length. Such impacts are poorly quantified to date due to difficulties in accessing and maintaining observational infrastructures, and the lack of proper modeling tools for capturing the interactions among biophysical properties, ecosystem demography, and biogeochemical cycling in tropical forests. As a first step to address these limitations, we implemented a selective logging module into the Functional Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES) and parameterized the model to reproduce the selective logging experiment at the Tapajos National Forest in Brazil. The model was spun up until it reached the steady state, and simulations with and without logging were compared with the eddy covariance flux towers located at the logged and intact sites. The sensitivity of simulated water, energy, and carbon fluxes to key plant functional traits (e.g. Vcmax and leaf longevity) were quantified by perturbing their values within their documented ranges. Our results suggest that the model can reproduce water and carbon fluxes in intact forests, although sensible heat fluxes were overestimated. The effects of logging intensity and techniques on fluxes were assessed by specifying different disturbance parameters in the models (e.g., size-dependent mortality rates associated with timber harvest, collateral damage, and mechanical damage for infrastructure construction). The model projections suggest that even though the degraded forests rapidly recover water and energy fluxes compared with old-growth forests, the recovery times for carbon stocks, forest structure and composition are much longer. In addition, the simulated recovery trajectories are highly dependent on choices of values for functional traits. Our study highlights the advantages of an Earth system modeling approach

Terrestrial biosphere carbon storage under alternative climate projections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaphoff, S.; Lucht, W.; Gerten, D.; Sitch, S.; Cramer, W. [Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, P.O. Box 601203, D-14412 Potsdam (Germany); Prentice, I.C. [QUEST, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Bristol, BS8 1RJ (United Kingdom)

2006-01-15

This study investigates commonalities and differences in projected land biosphere carbon storage among climate change projections derived from one emission scenario by five different general circulation models (GCMs). Carbon storage is studied using a global biogeochemical process model of vegetation and soil that includes dynamic treatment of changes in vegetation composition, a recently enhanced version of the Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-DGVM). Uncertainty in future terrestrial carbon storage due to differences in the climate projections is large. Changes by the end of the century range from -106 to +201 PgC, thus, even the sign of the response whether source or sink, is uncertain. Three out of five climate projections produce a land carbon source by the year 2100, one is approximately neutral and one a sink. A regional breakdown shows some robust qualitative features. Large areas of the boreal forest are shown as a future CO2 source, while a sink appears in the arctic. The sign of the response in tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems differs among models, due to the large variations in simulated precipitation patterns. The largest uncertainty is in the response of tropical rainforests of South America and Central Africa.

Terrestrial biosphere carbon storage under alternative climate projections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaphoff, S.; Lucht, W.; Gerten, D.; Sitch, S.; Cramer, W.; Prentice, I.C.

2006-01-01

This study investigates commonalities and differences in projected land biosphere carbon storage among climate change projections derived from one emission scenario by five different general circulation models (GCMs). Carbon storage is studied using a global biogeochemical process model of vegetation and soil that includes dynamic treatment of changes in vegetation composition, a recently enhanced version of the Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-DGVM). Uncertainty in future terrestrial carbon storage due to differences in the climate projections is large. Changes by the end of the century range from -106 to +201 PgC, thus, even the sign of the response whether source or sink, is uncertain. Three out of five climate projections produce a land carbon source by the year 2100, one is approximately neutral and one a sink. A regional breakdown shows some robust qualitative features. Large areas of the boreal forest are shown as a future CO2 source, while a sink appears in the arctic. The sign of the response in tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems differs among models, due to the large variations in simulated precipitation patterns. The largest uncertainty is in the response of tropical rainforests of South America and Central Africa

The Effectiveness of Ameliorant to Increase Carbon Stock of Oilpalm and Rubber Plantation on Peatland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ai Dariah

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Application of peatland amelioration can improve soil quality, reduce GHG emissions, and increase carbon sequestration. The research aimed to study the effect of peatland amelioration on oil palm and rubber carbon stock improvement. Research was conducted from August 2013 until June 2014. The researches on oil palm were done in Arang-arang Village, Kumpeh Subdistrict, Muaro Jambi District, and in Lubuk Ogong Village, Bandar Seikijang Sub-district, Pelalawan District. Both sites are in Jambi and Riau Province. The research on rubber was done in Jabiren Village, Jabiren Raya Subdistrict, Pulang Pisau District, Central Kalimantan Province. The study used a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD, in four treatments and four replications. The treatments were pugam (peat fertilizer enriched by polyvalent cation, manure; empty fruit bunch compost, and control (no application. The measurement of C stock was performed 10 months after application using nondestructive methods. The results showed that peatland amelioration treatments had no significant effect to improve C stock on oil palm in 6 years old and 7 years old of rubber. After 10 months of amelioration application, the treatments increased C - stock of oil palm and rubber were 2.1-2.4 Mg ha-1 and 5-11 Mg ha-1, respectively. Longer time observation may be needed to study the effect of ameliorant on C-stock of annual crops.

Assessing ecosystem carbon stocks of Indonesia's threatened wetland forests

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, M.; Kauffman, B.; Murdiyarso, D.; Kurnianto, S.

2011-12-01

Over millennia, atmospheric carbon dioxide has been sequestered and stored in Indonesia's tropical wetland forests. Waterlogged conditions impede decomposition, allowing the formation of deep organic soils. These globally significant C pools are highly vulnerable to deforestation, degradation and climate change which can potentially switch their function as C sinks to long term sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Also at risk are critical ecosystem services which sustain millions of people and the conservation of unique biological communities. The multiple benefits derived from wetland forest conservation makes them attractive for international C offset programs such as the proposed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism. Yet, ecosystem C pools and fluxes in wetland forests remain poorly quantified. Significant knowledge gaps exist regarding how land use changes impact C dynamics in tropical wetlands, and very few studies have simultaneously assessed above- and belowground ecosystem C pools in Indonesia's freshwater peat swamps and mangroves. In addition, most of what is known about Indonesia's tropical wetland forests is derived from few geographic locations where long-standing research has focused, despite their broad spatial distribution. Here we present results from an extensive survey of ecosystem C stocks across several Indonesian wetland forests. Ecosystem C stocks were measured in freshwater peat swamp forests in West Papua, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Sumatra. Carbon storage was also measured for mangrove forests in W. Papua, W. Kalimantan, and Sumatra. One overarching goal of this research is to support the development of REDD+ for tropical wetlands by informing technical issues related to carbon measuring, monitoring, and verification (MRV) and providing baseline data about the variation of ecosystem C storage across and within several Indonesian wetland forests.

Evaluation of atmospheric aerosol and tropospheric ozone effects on global terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Min

The increasing human activities have produced large amounts of air pollutants ejected into the atmosphere, in which atmospheric aerosols and tropospheric ozone are considered to be especially important because of their negative impacts on human health and their impacts on global climate through either their direct radiative effect or indirect effect on land-atmosphere CO2 exchange. This dissertation dedicates to quantifying and evaluating the aerosol and tropospheric ozone effects on global terrestrial ecosystem dynamics using a modeling approach. An ecosystem model, the integrated Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (iTem), is developed to simulate biophysical and biogeochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems. A two-broad-band atmospheric radiative transfer model together with the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) measured atmospheric parameters are used to well estimate global downward solar radiation and the direct and diffuse components in comparison with observations. The atmospheric radiative transfer modeling framework were used to quantify the aerosol direct radiative effect, showing that aerosol loadings cause 18.7 and 12.8 W m -2 decrease of direct-beam Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) and Near Infrared Radiation (NIR) respectively, and 5.2 and 4.4 W m -2 increase of diffuse PAR and NIR, respectively, leading to a total 21.9 W m-2 decrease of total downward solar radiation over the global land surface during the period of 2003-2010. The results also suggested that the aerosol effect may be overwhelmed by clouds because of the stronger extinction and scattering ability of clouds. Applications of the iTem with solar radiation data and with or without considering the aerosol loadings shows that aerosol loading enhances the terrestrial productions [Gross Primary Production (GPP), Net Primary Production (NPP) and Net Ecosystem Production (NEP)] and carbon emissions through plant respiration (RA) in global terrestrial ecosystems over the

How can soil organic carbon stocks in agriculture be maintained or increased?

Science.gov (United States)

Don, Axel; Leifeld, Jens

2015-04-01

CO2 emissions from soils are 10 times higher than anthropogenic CO2 emissions from fossil burning with around 60 Pg C a-1. At the same time around 60 Pg of carbon is added to the soils as litter from roots and leaves. Thus, the balance between both fluxes is supposed to be zero for the global earth system in steady state without human perturbations. However, the global carbon flux has been altered by humans since thousands of years by extracting biomass carbon as food, feed and fiber with global estimate of 40% of net primary productivity (NPP). This fraction is low in forests but agricultural systems, in particular croplands, are systems with a high net exported carbon fraction. Soils are mainly input driven systems. Agricultural soils depend on input to compensate directly for i) respiration losses, ii) extraction of carbon (and nitrogen) and depletion (e.g. via manure) or indirectly via enhances NPP (e.g. via fertilization management). In a literature review we examined the role of biomass extraction and carbon input via roots, crop residues and amendments (manure, slurry etc.) to agricultural soil's carbon stocks. Recalcitrance of biomass carbon was found to be of minor importance for long-term carbon storage. Thus, also the impact of crop type on soil carbon dynamics seems mainly driven by the amount of crop residuals of different crop types. However, we found distinct differences in the efficiency of C input to refill depleted soil C stocks between above ground C input or below ground root litter C input, with root-C being more efficient due to slower turnover rates. We discuss the role of different measures to decrease soil carbon turnover (e.g. decreased tillage intensity) as compared to measures that increase C input (e.g. cover crops) in the light of global developments in agricultural management with ongoing specialization and segregation between catch crop production and dairy farms.

Carbon Stocks and Fluxes in Tropical Lowland Dipterocarp Rainforests in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Science.gov (United States)

Saner, Philippe; Loh, Yen Yee; Ong, Robert C.; Hector, Andy

2012-01-01

Deforestation in the tropics is an important source of carbon C release to the atmosphere. To provide a sound scientific base for efforts taken to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) good estimates of C stocks and fluxes are important. We present components of the C balance for selectively logged lowland tropical dipterocarp rainforest in the Malua Forest Reserve of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Total organic C in this area was 167.9 Mg C ha−1±3.8 (SD), including: Total aboveground (TAGC: 55%; 91.9 Mg C ha−1±2.9 SEM) and belowground carbon in trees (TBGC: 10%; 16.5 Mg C ha−1±0.5 SEM), deadwood (8%; 13.2 Mg C ha−1±3.5 SEM) and soil organic matter (SOM: 24%; 39.6 Mg C ha−1±0.9 SEM), understory vegetation (3%; 5.1 Mg C ha−1±1.7 SEM), standing litter (logging TAGC stocks were 28% lower compared to unlogged forest (128 Mg C ha−1±13.4 SEM); a combined weighted average mean reduction due to selective logging of −57.8 Mg C ha−1 (with 95% CI −75.5 to −40.2). Based on the findings we conclude that selective logging decreased the dipterocarp stock by 55–66%. Silvicultural treatments may have the potential to accelerate the recovery of dipterocarp C stocks to pre-logging levels. PMID:22235319

Estimating Forest Carbon Stock in Alpine and Arctic Ecotones of the Urals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Usoltsev

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on measured carbon stocks in the forests of two tree line ecotones of the Ural region where climate change might improve growing conditions. The first is an alpine ecotone that is represented by an altitudinal gradient of the spruce-dominated forests on the Western slope of the Tylaiskii Kamen Mountain (Western part of the Konzhakovskii-Tylaiskii-Serebryanskii Mountain system, 59°30′N, 59°00′E, at the alpine timber line that has risen from 864 to 960 m above sea level in the course of the last 100 years. The second is an arctic ecotone in larch-dominated forests at the lower course of the Pur river (67°N, 78°E, at the transition zone between closed floodplain forests and open or island-like communities of upland forests on tundra permafrost. According to our results, there are large differences in the carbon of the aboveground biomass of both ecotones across environmental gradients. In the alpine tree line ecotone, a 19-fold drop of the carbon stocks was detected between the lower and higher altitudinal levels. In the arctic ecotone the aboveground biomass carbon stock of forests of similar densities (1300 to 1700 trees per ha was 7 times as much in the river flood bed, and 5 times as much in mature, dense forests as the low density forests at higher elevations. Twelve regression equations describing dependencies of the aboveground tree biomass (stems, branches, foliage, total aboveground part upon stem diameter of the tree are proposed, which can be used to estimating the biological productivity (carbon of spruce and larch forests on Tylaiskii Kamen Mountain and the lower Pur river and on surrounding areas on the base of traditional forest mensuration have been proposed. In order to reduce the labor intensity of a coming determination of forest biomass the average values of density and dry matter content in the biomass fractions are given that were obtained by taking our sample trees.The results can be useful in

Importance of vegetation dynamics for future terrestrial carbon cycling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahlström, Anders; Smith, Benjamin; Xia, Jianyang; Luo, Yiqi; Arneth, Almut

2015-01-01

Terrestrial ecosystems currently sequester about one third of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions each year, an important ecosystem service that dampens climate change. The future fate of this net uptake of CO 2 by land based ecosystems is highly uncertain. Most ecosystem models used to predict the future terrestrial carbon cycle share a common architecture, whereby carbon that enters the system as net primary production (NPP) is distributed to plant compartments, transferred to litter and soil through vegetation turnover and then re-emitted to the atmosphere in conjunction with soil decomposition. However, while all models represent the processes of NPP and soil decomposition, they vary greatly in their representations of vegetation turnover and the associated processes governing mortality, disturbance and biome shifts. Here we used a detailed second generation dynamic global vegetation model with advanced representation of vegetation growth and mortality, and the associated turnover. We apply an emulator that describes the carbon flows and pools exactly as in simulations with the full model. The emulator simulates ecosystem dynamics in response to 13 different climate or Earth system model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 ensemble under RCP8.5 radiative forcing. By exchanging carbon cycle processes between these 13 simulations we quantified the relative roles of three main driving processes of the carbon cycle; (I) NPP, (II) vegetation dynamics and turnover and (III) soil decomposition, in terms of their contribution to future carbon (C) uptake uncertainties among the ensemble of climate change scenarios. We found that NPP, vegetation turnover (including structural shifts, wild fires and mortality) and soil decomposition rates explained 49%, 17% and 33%, respectively, of uncertainties in modelled global C-uptake. Uncertainty due to vegetation turnover was further partitioned into stand-clearing disturbances (16%), wild fires (0%), stand

Carbon-isotope stratigraphy from terrestrial organic matter through the Monterey event, Miocene, New Jersey margin (IODP Expedition 313)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fang, Linhao; Bjerrum, Christian J.; Hesselbo, Stephen P.

2013-01-01

documented from oceanic settings (i.e., lack of positive excursion of carbon-isotope values in terrestrial organic matter through the Langhian Stage). Factors that may potentially bias local terrestrial carbon-isotope records include reworking from older deposits, degradation and diagenesis, as well....../or reworking of older woody phytoclasts, but where such processes have occurred they do not readily explain the observed carbon-isotope values. It is concluded that the overall carbon-isotope signature for the exchangeable carbon reservoir is distorted, to the extent that the Monterey event excursion...... is not easily identifiable. The most likely explanation is that phytoclast reworking has indeed occurred in clinoform toe-of-slope facies, but the reason for the resulting relatively heavy carbon-isotope values in the Burdigalian remains obscure....

Content and carbon stocks in labile and recalcitrant organic matter of the soil under crop-livestock integration in Cerrado

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itaynara Batista

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The study of organic matter and its compartments and their relationship with management, aims to develop strategies for increasing their levels in soils and better understanding of its dynamics. This work aimed to evaluate the fractions of soil organic matter and their carbon stocks in different soil cover system in crop-livestock integration and native Cerrado vegetation. The study was conducted at the farm Cabeceira, Maracajú – MS, sample area have the following history: soybean/corn + brachiaria/cotton/oat + pasture/soybean/formation of pasture/grazing, sampling was carried out in two seasons, dry (May/2009 and rainy (March 2010, in the dry season, crops present were: pasture, corn and cotton + brachiaria and in the rainy season were corn, cotton and soybeans, so the areas in the two evaluation periods were: pasture / maize + brachiaria / cotton, cotton / soybean area and a native of Savanna. Was performed to determine the exchangeable cations, particle size analysis, bulk density, organic carbon, particle size fractionation of organic matter of the soil with the quantification of particulate organic carbon (POC and organic carbon associated with minerals (OCam. Was also quantified the carbon stock and size fractions. The area of pasture / maize showed higher carbon stock in the particulate fraction in the topsoil. The area of cotton / soy due to its lower clay, showed the greatest loss of carbon. Because of the areas have the same history, the stock of more recalcitrant fraction was not sensitive to variations in coverage. The POC fraction appears more sensitive to different soil covers and seasonality.

Final Report: Fundamental Research on the Fractionation of Carbon Isotopes during Photosynthesis, New Interpretations of Terrestrial Organic Carbon within Geologic Substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jahren, A. Hope [Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States); Schubert, Brian A. [Univ. of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA (United States)

2017-08-02

The goal for the current grant period (2013 – 2016) was to quantify the effect of changing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (pCO2) on published terrestrial carbon isotope excursion events. This work supported four scientists across multiple career stages, and resulted in 5 published papers.

Estimating national forest carbon stocks and dynamics: combining models and remotely sensed information

Science.gov (United States)

Smallman, Thomas Luke; Exbrayat, Jean-François; Bloom, Anthony; Williams, Mathew

2017-04-01

Forests are a critical component of the global carbon cycle, storing significant amounts of carbon, split between living biomass and dead organic matter. The carbon budget of forests is the most uncertain component of the global carbon cycle - it is currently impossible to quantify accurately the carbon source/sink strength of forest biomes due to their heterogeneity and complex dynamics. It has been a major challenge to generate robust carbon budgets across landscapes due to data scarcity. Models have been used for estimating carbon budgets, but outputs have lacked an assessment of uncertainty, making a robust assessment of their reliability and accuracy challenging. Here a Metropolis Hastings - Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MH-MCMC) data assimilation framework has been used to combine remotely sensed leaf area index (MODIS), biomass (where available) and deforestation estimates, in addition to forest planting information from the UK's national forest inventory, an estimate of soil carbon from the Harmonized World Database (HWSD) and plant trait information with a process model (DALEC) to produce a constrained analysis with a robust estimate of uncertainty of the UK forestry carbon budget between 2000 and 2010. Our analysis estimates the mean annual UK forest carbon sink at -3.9 MgC ha-1 yr-1 with a 95 % confidence interval between -4.0 and -3.1 MgC ha-1yr-1. The UK national forest inventory (NFI) estimates the mean UK forest carbon sink to be between -1.4 and -5.5 MgC ha-1 yr-1. The analysis estimate for total forest biomass stock in 2010 is estimated at 229 (177/232) TgC, while the NFI an estimated total forest biomass carbon stock of 216 TgC. Leaf carbon area (LCA) is a key plant trait which we are able to estimate using our analysis. Comparison of median estimates for (LCA) retrieved from the analysis and a UK land cover map show higher and lower values for LCA are estimated areas dominated by needle leaf and broad leaf forests forest respectively, consistent with

Modeling soil organic carbon stocks and changes in Spain using the GEFSOC system

Science.gov (United States)

Álvaro-Fuentes, Jorge; Easter, Mark; Cantero-Martínez, Carlos; Paustian, Keith

2010-05-01

Currently, there is little information about soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in Spain. To date the effects of land-use and soil management on SOC stocks in Spain have been evaluated in experimental fields under certain soil and climate conditions. However, these field experiments do not account for the spatial variability in management, cropping systems and soil and climate characteristics that exist in the whole territory. More realistic approaches like ecosystem-level dynamic simulation systems linked to geographic information systems (GIS) allow better assessments of SOC stocks at a regional or national level. The Global Environmental Facility Soil Organic Carbon (GEFSOC) system was recently built for this purpose (Milne et al., 2007) and it incorporates three widely used models for estimating SOC dynamics: (a) the Century ecosystem model; (b) the RothC soil C decomposition model; and (c) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) method for assessing soil C at regional scales. We modeled 9.5 Mha in northeast Spain using the GEFSOC system to predict SOC stocks and changes comprising: pasture, forest, cereal-fallow, cereal monoculture, orchards, rice, irrigated land and grapes and olives. The spatial distribution of the different land use categories and their change over time was obtained from the European Corine database and from Spanish census data on land use from 1926 to 2007. At the same time, current and historical management information was collected from different sources in order to have a fairly well picture of changes in land use and management for this area. Soil parameters needed by the system were obtained from the European soil map (1 km x 1 km) and climate data was produced by the Meteorology State Agency (Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Environs of Spain). The SOC stocks simulated were validated with SOC values from the European SOC map and from other national studies. Modeled SOC results suggested that spatial

Carbon Stocks in Mangrove Ecosystems of Musi and Banyuasin Estuarine, South Sumatra Province (Stok Karbon Ekosistem Mangrove di Estuarin Musi dan Banyuasin, Provinsi Sumatera Selatan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melki Melki

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Hutan mangrove di daerah estuari mampu menghasilkan stok karbon yang sangat besar sebagai daerah perlindungan dan pemulihan yang efektif sebagai strategi mitigasi perubahan iklim yang efektif. Pemilihan ekosistem pesisir dalam strategi mitigasi memerlukan kuantifikasi stok karbon untuk menghitung emisi atau penyerapan berdasarkan waktu. Penelitian ini menghitung stok karbon pada ekosistem Musi Estuari Waters (MEW dan Banyuasin Estuari Water (BEW, Provinsi Sumatera Selatan pada tipe vegetasi yang berbeda dan hubungan variabel lingkungan dengan stok karbon. Di tujuh lokasi dalam MEW dan BEW sampel vegetasi dan tanah. Hasil yang didapatkan adalah nilai yang lebih tinggi dari stok karbon di vegetasi dari lokasi III/MEW (7.600,92 mg.ha-1, stok karbon dalam tanah dari lokasi II/MEW (61.081,87 mg.ha-1 dan stok karbon di ekosistem dari lokasi II (64.548,54 mg.ha-1. Mangrove A. marina merupakan yang paling baik menyimpan stok carbon termasuk antara vegetasi dan tanah karena toleransi salinitas yang rendah. Kata kunci: mangrove, karbon, estuari, Musi, Banyuasin Mangrove forests in estuarines can have exceptionally large carbon stocks and their protection and restoration would constitute an effective mitigation strategy to climate change. Inclusion of coastal ecosystems in mitigation strategies require quantification of carbon stocks in order to calculate emissions or sequestration through time. This study quantified the ecosystem carbon stocks of the Musi Estuarine Waters (MEW and Banyuasin Estuarine Water (BEW, Province of South Sumatra into different vegetation types and examined relationships of environmental variables with carbon stocks. At seven sites within MEW and BEW of vegetation and soil samples. The results that the higher value of carbon stock in vegetation from Site III/MEW (7.600,92 mg.ha-1, the carbon stock in soil from Site II/MEW (61.081,87 mg.ha-1 and carbon stock in ecosystem from Site II (64.548,54 mg.ha-1. Mangrove of A. marina the

Trends in management of the world's forests and impacts on carbon stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Richard Birdsey; Yude. Pan

2015-01-01

Global forests are increasingly affected by land-use change, fragmentation, changing management objectives, and degradation. In this paper we broadly characterize trends in global forest area by intensity of management, and provide an overview of changes in global carbon stocks associated with managed forests. We discuss different interpretations of "management...

Patterns and controls of inter-annual variability in the terrestrial carbon budget