scholarly journals The carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia over the last two decades

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 4025-4066 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Piao ◽  
A. Ito ◽  
S. Li ◽  
Y. Huang ◽  
P. Ciais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Carbon Accumulation

Abstract. This REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes regional study provides a synthesis of the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia, a region comprised of China, Japan, North- and South-Korea, and Mongolia. We estimate the current terrestrial carbon balance of East Asia and its driving mechanisms during 1990–2009 using three different approaches: inventories combined with satellite greenness measurements, terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle models and atmospheric inversion models. The magnitudes of East Asia's natural carbon sink from these three approaches are comparable: −0.264 ± 0.033 Pg C yr−1 from inventory-remote sensing model-data fusion approach, −0.393 ± 0.141 Pg C yr−1 (not considering biofuel emissions) or −0.204 ± 0.141 Pg C yr−1 (considering biofuel emissions) for carbon cycle models, and −0.270 ± 0.507 Pg C yr−1 for atmospheric inverse models. The ensemble of ecosystem modeling based analyses further suggests that at the regional scale, climate change and rising atmospheric CO2 together resulted in a carbon sink of −0.289 ± 0.135 Pg C yr−1, while land use change and nitrogen deposition had a contribution of −0.013 ± 0.029 Pg C yr−1 and −0.107 ± 0.025 Pg C yr−1, respectively. Although the magnitude of climate change effects on the carbon balance varies among different models, all models agree that in response to climate change alone, southern China experienced an increase in carbon storage from 1990 to 2009, while northern East Asia including Mongolia and north China showed a decrease in carbon storage. Overall, our results suggest that about 13–26% of East Asia's CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning have been offset by carbon accumulation in its terrestrial ecosystems over the period from 1990 to 2009. The underlying mechanisms of carbon sink over East Asia still remain largely uncertain, given the diversity and intensity of land management processes, and the regional conjunction of many drivers such as nutrient deposition, climate, atmospheric pollution and CO2 changes, which cannot be considered as independent for their effects on carbon storage.

scholarly journals The carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia over the last two decades

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 3571-3586 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Piao ◽  
A. Ito ◽  
S. G. Li ◽  
Y. Huang ◽  
P. Ciais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon

Abstract. This REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes regional study provides a synthesis of the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia, a region comprised of China, Japan, North and South Korea, and Mongolia. We estimate the current terrestrial carbon balance of East Asia and its driving mechanisms during 1990–2009 using three different approaches: inventories combined with satellite greenness measurements, terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle models and atmospheric inversion models. The magnitudes of East Asia's terrestrial carbon sink from these three approaches are comparable: −0.293±0.033 PgC yr−1 from inventory–remote sensing model–data fusion approach, −0.413±0.141 PgC yr−1 (not considering biofuel emissions) or −0.224±0.141 PgC yr−1 (considering biofuel emissions) for carbon cycle models, and −0.270±0.507 PgC yr−1 for atmospheric inverse models. Here and in the following, the numbers behind ± signs are standard deviations. The ensemble of ecosystem modeling based analyses further suggests that at the regional scale, climate change and rising atmospheric CO2 together resulted in a carbon sink of −0.289±0.135 PgC yr−1, while land-use change and nitrogen deposition had a contribution of −0.013±0.029 PgC yr−1 and −0.107±0.025 PgC yr−1, respectively. Although the magnitude of climate change effects on the carbon balance varies among different models, all models agree that in response to climate change alone, southern China experienced an increase in carbon storage from 1990 to 2009, while northern East Asia including Mongolia and north China showed a decrease in carbon storage. Overall, our results suggest that about 13–27% of East Asia's CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning have been offset by carbon accumulation in its terrestrial territory over the period from 1990 to 2009. The underlying mechanisms of carbon sink over East Asia still remain largely uncertain, given the diversity and intensity of land management processes, and the regional conjunction of many drivers such as nutrient deposition, climate, atmospheric pollution and CO2 changes, which cannot be considered as independent for their effects on carbon storage.

scholarly journals Interactions between nitrogen deposition, land cover conversion, and climate change determine the contemporary carbon balance of Europe

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 2227-2265 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Churkina ◽  
S. Zaehle ◽  
J. Hughes ◽  
N. Viovy ◽  
Y. Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Nitrogen Deposition ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Nitrogen Dynamics

Abstract. European ecosystems are thought to uptake significant amounts of carbon, but neither the rate nor the contributions of the underlying processes are well known. In the second half of the 20th century, carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by more than 100 ppm, atmospheric nitrogen deposition has more than doubled, and European mean temperatures were increasing by 0.02 °C per year. The extents of forest and grasslands have increase with the respective rates of 5800 km2 yr-1 and 1100 km2 yr-1 as agricultural land has been abandoned at a rate of 7000 km2 yr-1. In this study, we analyze the responses of European land ecosystems to the aforementioned environmental changes using results from four process-based ecosystem models: BIOME-BGC, JULES, ORCHIDEE, and O-CN. All four models suggest that European terrestrial ecosystems sequester carbon at a rate of 100 TgC yr-1 (1980–2007 mean) with strong interannual variability (± 85 TgC yr-1) and a substantial inter-model uncertainty (± 45 TgC yr-1). Decadal budgets suggest that there has been a slight increase in terrestrial net carbon storage from 85 TgC yr-1 in 1980–1989 to 114 TgC yr-1 in 2000–2007. The physiological effect of rising CO2 in combination with nitrogen deposition and forest re-growth have been identified as the important explanatory factors for this net carbon storage. Changes in the growth of woody vegetation are an important contributor to the European carbon sink. Simulated ecosystem responses were more consistent for the two models accounting for terrestrial carbon-nitrogen dynamics than for the two models which only accounted for carbon cycling and the effects of land cover change. Studies of the interactions of carbon-nitrogen dynamics with land use changes are needed to further improve the quantitative understanding of the driving forces of the European land carbon balance.

scholarly journals China’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Balance During The 20th Century: An Analysis With A Process-Based Biogeochemistry Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyu Lu ◽  
Yao Huang ◽  
Qianlai Zhuang ◽  
Wei Sun ◽  
Shutao Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Sink Strength ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

Abstract China’s terrestrial ecosystems play a pronounced role in the global carbon cycle. Here we combine spatially-explicit information on vegetation, soil, topography, climate and land use change with a process-based biogeochemistry model to quantify the responses of terrestrial carbon cycle in China during the 20th century. We find that that the regional soil thermal and moisture regimes have dramatically changed. Specifically, evapotranspiration increased due to rising temperature and soils were drying in the last two decades of the 20th century. At a century scale, China’s terrestrial ecosystems have acted as a carbon sink averaging at 0.09 Pg C yr-1, with large inter-annual and decadal variabilities. The regional sink has been enhanced due to the rising temperature and CO2 concentration, with a slight increase trend in carbon sink strength along with the enhanced net primary production in the century. Meanwhile, the heterotrophic respiration increased in response to warming. The spatial and temporal variabilities of carbon balance in China are due to multiple controlling factors including temperature and precipitation and changing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Land-use changes including reforestation and afforestation during the late 20th century partially contributed to the increase in carbon sink at the national scale.

scholarly journals Large but decreasing effect of ozone on the European carbon sink

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 4245-4269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Oliver ◽  
Lina M. Mercado ◽  
Stephen Sitch ◽  
David Simpson ◽  
Belinda E. Medlyn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Stomatal Closure ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Background Concentrations ◽  
Tropospheric O3 ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The capacity of the terrestrial biosphere to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change is governed by the ability of vegetation to remove emissions of CO2 through photosynthesis. Tropospheric O3, a globally abundant and potent greenhouse gas, is, however, known to damage plants, causing reductions in primary productivity. Despite emission control policies across Europe, background concentrations of tropospheric O3 have risen significantly over the last decades due to hemispheric-scale increases in O3 and its precursors. Therefore, plants are exposed to increasing background concentrations, at levels currently causing chronic damage. Studying the impact of O3 on European vegetation at the regional scale is important for gaining greater understanding of the impact of O3 on the land carbon sink at large spatial scales. In this work we take a regional approach and update the JULES land surface model using new measurements specifically for European vegetation. Given the importance of stomatal conductance in determining the flux of O3 into plants, we implement an alternative stomatal closure parameterisation and account for diurnal variations in O3 concentration in our simulations. We conduct our analysis specifically for the European region to quantify the impact of the interactive effects of tropospheric O3 and CO2 on gross primary productivity (GPP) and land carbon storage across Europe. A factorial set of model experiments showed that tropospheric O3 can suppress terrestrial carbon uptake across Europe over the period 1901 to 2050. By 2050, simulated GPP was reduced by 4 to 9 % due to plant O3 damage and land carbon storage was reduced by 3 to 7 %. The combined physiological effects of elevated future CO2 (acting to reduce stomatal opening) and reductions in O3 concentrations resulted in reduced O3 damage in the future. This alleviation of O3 damage by CO2-induced stomatal closure was around 1 to 2 % for both land carbon and GPP, depending on plant sensitivity to O3. Reduced land carbon storage resulted from diminished soil carbon stocks consistent with the reduction in GPP. Regional variations are identified with larger impacts shown for temperate Europe (GPP reduced by 10 to 20 %) compared to boreal regions (GPP reduced by 2 to 8 %). These results highlight that O3 damage needs to be considered when predicting GPP and land carbon, and that the effects of O3 on plant physiology need to be considered in regional land carbon cycle assessments.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Biases in JRA-25/JCDAS Precipitation and Their Impact on the Global Terrestrial Carbon Balance

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (15) ◽  
pp. 4109-4125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makoto Saito ◽  
Akihiko Ito ◽  
Shamil Maksyutov
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Japan Meteorological Agency ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Precipitation Data ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon

Abstract This study evaluates a modeled precipitation field and examines how its bias affects the modeling of the regional and global terrestrial carbon cycle. Spatial and temporal variations in precipitation produced by the Japanese 25-yr reanalysis (JRA-25)/Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) Climate Data Assimilation System (JCDAS) were compared with two large-scale observation datasets. JRA-25/JCDAS captures the major distribution patterns of annual precipitation and the features of the seasonal cycle. Notable problems include over- and undersimulated areas of precipitation amount in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia in the 30°N–30°S domain and a large discrepancy in the number of rainfall days. The latter problem was corrected by using a stochastic model based on the probability of the occurrence of dry and wet day series; the monthly precipitation amount was then scaled by the comparison data. Overall, the corrected precipitation performed well in reproducing the spatial distribution of and temporal variations in total precipitation. Both the corrected and original precipitation data were used to simulate regional and global terrestrial carbon cycles using the prognostic biosphere model Vegetation Integrative Simulator for Trace Gases (VISIT). Following bias correction, the model results showed differences in zonal mean photosynthesis uptake and respiration release ranging from −2.0 to +3.3 Pg C yr−1, compared with the original data. The difference in the global terrestrial net carbon exchange rate was 0.3 Pg C yr−1, reflecting the compensation of coincident increases or decreases in carbon sequestration and respiration loss. At the regional scale, the ecosystem carbon cycle and canopy structure, including seasonal variations in autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration and total biomass, were strongly influenced by the input precipitation data. The results highlight the need for precise precipitation data when estimating the global terrestrial carbon balance.

scholarly journals Soil nitrogen cycle unresponsive to decadal long climate change in a Tasmanian grassland

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Rütting ◽  
Mark J. Hovenden
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Soil N ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
N Dynamics ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon Sink ◽  
Soil Nitrogen Cycle

AbstractIncreases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and global air temperature affect all terrestrial ecosystems and often lead to enhanced ecosystem productivity, which in turn dampens the rise in atmospheric CO2 by removing CO2 from the atmosphere. As most terrestrial ecosystems are limited in their productivity by the availability of nitrogen (N), there is concern about the persistence of this terrestrial carbon sink, as these ecosystems might develop a progressive N limitation (PNL). An increase in the gross soil N turnover may alleviate PNL, as more mineral N is made available for plant uptake. So far, climate change experiments have mainly manipulated one climatic factor only, but there is evidence that single-factor experiments usually overestimate the effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we investigated how simultaneous, decadal-long increases in CO2 and temperature affect the soil gross N dynamics in a native Tasmanian grassland under C3 and C4 vegetation. Our laboratory 15N labeling experiment showed that average gross N mineralization ranged from 4.9 to 11.3 µg N g−1 day−1 across the treatment combinations, while gross nitrification was about ten-times lower. Considering all treatment combinations, no significant effect of climatic treatments or vegetation type (C3 versus C4 grasses) on soil N cycling was observed.

scholarly journals Net Ecosystem Exchange of CO2 in Deciduous Pine Forest of Lower Western Himalaya, India

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilendu Singh ◽  
Bikash Ranjan Parida ◽  
Joyeeta Singh Charakborty ◽  
N.R. Patel
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Net Ecosystem Exchange ◽  
Western Himalaya ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Environmental Controls ◽  
Carbon Release ◽  
The Himalaya

Carbon cycle studies over the climate-sensitive Himalayan regions are relatively understudied and to address this gap, systematic measurements on carbon balance components were performed over a deciduous pine forest with an understory layer. We determined annual net carbon balance, seasonality in components of carbon balance, and their environmental controls. Results indicated a strong seasonality in the behavior of carbon exchange components. Net primary productivity (NPP) of pine forest exceeded soil respiration during the growing phase. Consequently, net ecosystem exchange exhibited a net carbon uptake. In the initial phase of the growing season, daily mean uptake was −3.93 (±0.50) g C m−2 day−1, which maximizes (−8.47 ± 2.3) later during post-monsoon. However, a brief phase of carbon release was observed during peak monsoon (August) owing to an overcast condition. Nevertheless, annually the forest remained as a carbon sink. The understory is extensively distributed and it turned out to be a key component of carbon balance because of sustained NPP during the pine leafless period. Temperature and evaporative fraction exhibited a prime control over the seasonal carbon dynamics. Our observations could lend certain useful insights into the application of coupled climate-carbon cycle models for the Himalaya and ecological functions in the region.

scholarly journals Effect of increasing CO2 on the terrestrial carbon cycle

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 436-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Schimel ◽  
Britton B. Stephens ◽  
Joshua B. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Uptake ◽  
Model Diagnostics ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon Cycle ◽  
New Space ◽  
Improved Model

Feedbacks from the terrestrial carbon cycle significantly affect future climate change. The CO2 concentration dependence of global terrestrial carbon storage is one of the largest and most uncertain feedbacks. Theory predicts the CO2 effect should have a tropical maximum, but a large terrestrial sink has been contradicted by analyses of atmospheric CO2 that do not show large tropical uptake. Our results, however, show significant tropical uptake and, combining tropical and extratropical fluxes, suggest that up to 60% of the present-day terrestrial sink is caused by increasing atmospheric CO2. This conclusion is consistent with a validated subset of atmospheric analyses, but uncertainty remains. Improved model diagnostics and new space-based observations can reduce the uncertainty of tropical and temperate zone carbon flux estimates. This analysis supports a significant feedback to future atmospheric CO2 concentrations from carbon uptake in terrestrial ecosystems caused by rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This feedback will have substantial tropical contributions, but the magnitude of future carbon uptake by tropical forests also depends on how they respond to climate change and requires their protection from deforestation.

Investigation of the Roadside Forest Based on "Carbon Neutral"

2013 ◽  
Vol 779-780 ◽  
pp. 1314-1319
Author(s):  
Xing Long Zhu ◽  
Chen Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Transport System ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Carbon Neutral ◽  
Highway System

The paper discusses the importance of increasing the carbon sink function of the highway system in maintaining carbon cycle balance of the Earth and "Carbon neutral" concept is used in highway roadside design. The carbon emission and carbon sequestration capacity of forest on both sides of the highway system are also calculated. The results show that most of the road green design has not yet reached a self-balancing capability of neutral carbon sink, and the establishment of the carbon sink forest from 50m to 100m will realize the carbon balance of the transport system.

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