Satellite-observed pantropical carbon dynamics
(2019) In Nature Plants 5(9). p.944-951- Abstract
Changes in terrestrial tropical carbon stocks have an important role in the global carbon budget. However, current observational tools do not allow accurate and large-scale monitoring of the spatial distribution and dynamics of carbon stocks1. Here, we used low-frequency L-band passive microwave observations to compute a direct and spatially explicit quantification of annual aboveground carbon (AGC) fluxes and show that the tropical net AGC budget was approximately in balance during 2010 to 2017, the net budget being composed of gross losses of −2.86 PgC yr−1 offset by gross gains of −2.97 PgC yr−1 between continents. Large interannual and spatial fluctuations of tropical AGC were quantified during the... (More)
Changes in terrestrial tropical carbon stocks have an important role in the global carbon budget. However, current observational tools do not allow accurate and large-scale monitoring of the spatial distribution and dynamics of carbon stocks1. Here, we used low-frequency L-band passive microwave observations to compute a direct and spatially explicit quantification of annual aboveground carbon (AGC) fluxes and show that the tropical net AGC budget was approximately in balance during 2010 to 2017, the net budget being composed of gross losses of −2.86 PgC yr−1 offset by gross gains of −2.97 PgC yr−1 between continents. Large interannual and spatial fluctuations of tropical AGC were quantified during the wet 2011 La Niña year and throughout the extreme dry and warm 2015–2016 El Niño episode. These interannual fluctuations, controlled predominantly by semiarid biomes, were shown to be closely related to independent global atmospheric CO2 growth-rate anomalies (Pearson’s r = 0.86), highlighting the pivotal role of tropical AGC in the global carbon budget.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Nature Plants
- volume
- 5
- issue
- 9
- pages
- 944 - 951
- publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85069928672
- pmid:31358958
- ISSN
- 2055-0278
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41477-019-0478-9
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1da5bc06-9686-405a-9eb2-be13f31b09b1
- date added to LUP
- 2019-08-28 14:06:55
- date last changed
- 2024-03-03 22:25:02
@article{1da5bc06-9686-405a-9eb2-be13f31b09b1, abstract = {{<p>Changes in terrestrial tropical carbon stocks have an important role in the global carbon budget. However, current observational tools do not allow accurate and large-scale monitoring of the spatial distribution and dynamics of carbon stocks<sup>1</sup>. Here, we used low-frequency L-band passive microwave observations to compute a direct and spatially explicit quantification of annual aboveground carbon (AGC) fluxes and show that the tropical net AGC budget was approximately in balance during 2010 to 2017, the net budget being composed of gross losses of −2.86 PgC yr<sup>−1</sup> offset by gross gains of −2.97 PgC yr<sup>−1</sup> between continents. Large interannual and spatial fluctuations of tropical AGC were quantified during the wet 2011 La Niña year and throughout the extreme dry and warm 2015–2016 El Niño episode. These interannual fluctuations, controlled predominantly by semiarid biomes, were shown to be closely related to independent global atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> growth-rate anomalies (Pearson’s r = 0.86), highlighting the pivotal role of tropical AGC in the global carbon budget.</p>}}, author = {{Fan, Lei and Wigneron, Jean Pierre and Ciais, Philippe and Chave, Jérôme and Brandt, Martin and Fensholt, Rasmus and Saatchi, Sassan S. and Bastos, Ana and Al-Yaari, Amen and Hufkens, Koen and Qin, Yuanwei and Xiao, Xiangming and Chen, Chi and Myneni, Ranga B. and Fernandez-Moran, Roberto and Mialon, Arnaud and Rodriguez-Fernandez, N. J. and Kerr, Yann and Tian, Feng and Peñuelas, Josep}}, issn = {{2055-0278}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{9}}, pages = {{944--951}}, publisher = {{Palgrave Macmillan}}, series = {{Nature Plants}}, title = {{Satellite-observed pantropical carbon dynamics}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41477-019-0478-9}}, doi = {{10.1038/s41477-019-0478-9}}, volume = {{5}}, year = {{2019}}, }