scholarly journals Are Sacred Groves of Kathmandu Valley Efficient in Sequestering Carbon?

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Shrestha ◽  
M. P. Devkota ◽  
B. K. Sharma

Ability of plant to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide and store it in biomass is contributing to global carbon cycle. Sacred groves, one of the regimes for forest management, play role in regulating climate by acting as sinks for carbon. Aiming to assess sequestrated carbon in tree the study was conducted in two sacred groves of Kathmandu valley, Nepal. Concentric circular plots of 20 m radius were used for data collection. Allometric equation having height, diameter, and specific gravity of tree was used to determine biomass. The calculated biomass of tree was converted to the carbon stock by using carbon fraction. Tree species of both sacred groves sequestered 15.08 metric tons of carbon. The carbon stock was high in Quercus-Myrsine forest and low in Schima-Pyrus forest.

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 371 (6536) ◽  
pp. 1346-1350
Author(s):  
Adina Paytan ◽  
Elizabeth M. Griffith ◽  
Anton Eisenhauer ◽  
Mathis P. Hain ◽  
Klaus Wallmann ◽  
...  

Changes in the concentration and isotopic composition of the major constituents in seawater reflect changes in their sources and sinks. Because many of the processes controlling these sources and sinks are tied to the cycling of carbon, such records can provide insights into what drives past changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and climate. Here, we present a stable strontium (Sr) isotope record derived from pelagic marine barite. Our δ88/86Sr record exhibits a complex pattern, first declining between 35 and 15 million years ago (Ma), then increasing from 15 to 5 Ma, before declining again from ~5 Ma to the present. Numerical modeling reveals that the associated fluctuations in seawater Sr concentrations are about ±25% relative to present-day seawater. We interpret the δ88/86Sr data as reflecting changes in the mineralogy and burial location of biogenic carbonates.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Alexandrov

Abstract. The seasonal changes in the globally averaged atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations reflect an important aspect of the global carbon cycle: the gas exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere. The data on the globally averaged atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations, which are reported by Earth System Research Laboratory of the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA/ESRL), could be used to demonstrate the adequacy of the global carbon-cycle models. However, it was recently found that the observed amplitude of seasonal variations in the atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations is higher than simulated. In this paper, the factors that affect the amplitude of seasonal variations are explored using a carbon-cycle model of reduced complexity. The model runs show that the low amplitude of the simulated seasonal variations may result from underestimated effect of substrate limitation on the seasonal pattern of heterotrophic respiration and from an underestimated magnitude of the annual gross primary production (GPP) in the terrestrial ecosystems located to the north of 25° N.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Frankenberg ◽  
S. S. Kulawik ◽  
S. Wofsy ◽  
F. Chevallier ◽  
B. Daube ◽  
...  

Abstract. In recent years, space-borne observations of atmospheric carbon-dioxide (CO2) have become increasingly used in global carbon-cycle studies. In order to obtain added value from space-borne measurements, they have to suffice stringent accuracy and precision requirements, with the latter being less crucial as it can be reduced by just enhanced sample size. Validation of CO2 column averaged dry air mole fractions (XCO2) heavily relies on measurements of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network TCCON. Owing to the sparseness of the network and the requirements imposed on space-based measurements, independent additional validation is highly valuable. Here, we use observations from the HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) flights from January 2009 through September 2011 to validate CO2 measurements from satellites (GOSAT, TES, AIRS) and atmospheric inversion models (CarbonTracker CT2013B, MACC v13r1). We find that the atmospheric models capture the XCO2 variability observed in HIPPO flights very well, with correlation coefficients (r2) of 0.93 and 0.95 for CT2013B and MACC, respectively. Some larger discrepancies can be observed in profile comparisons at higher latitudes, esp. at 300 hPa during the peaks of either carbon uptake or release. These deviations can be up to 4 ppm and hint at misrepresentation of vertical transport. Comparisons with the GOSAT satellite are of comparable quality, with an r2 of 0.85, a mean bias μ of −0.06 ppm and a standard deviation σ of 0.45 ppm. TES exhibits an r2 of 0.75, μ of 0.34 ppm and σ of 1.13 ppm. For AIRS, we find an r2 of 0.37, μ of 1.11 ppm and σ of 1.46 ppm, with latitude-dependent biases. For these comparisons at least 6, 20 and 50 atmospheric soundings have been averaged for GOSAT, TES and AIRS, respectively. Overall, we find that GOSAT soundings over the remote pacific ocean mostly meet the stringent accuracy requirements of about 0.5 ppm for space-based CO2 observations.


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