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

Piao, S. L. ; Ito, A. ; Li, S. G. ; Huang, Y. ; Ciais, P. ; Wang, X. H. ; Peng, S. S. ; Nan, H. J. ; Zhao, C. and Ahlström, Anders LU orcid , et al. (2012) In Biogeosciences 9(9). p.3571-3586
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)... (More)
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. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biogeosciences
volume
9
issue
9
pages
3571 - 3586
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • wos:000310472600005
  • scopus:84868651492
ISSN
1726-4189
DOI
10.5194/bg-9-3571-2012
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dacd9991-b724-4f3e-99fe-814815837479 (old id 3284047)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:54:34
date last changed
2022-03-19 07:25:16
@article{dacd9991-b724-4f3e-99fe-814815837479,
  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.}},
  author       = {{Piao, S. L. and Ito, A. and Li, S. G. and Huang, Y. and Ciais, P. and Wang, X. H. and Peng, S. S. and Nan, H. J. and Zhao, C. and Ahlström, Anders and Andres, R. J. and Chevallier, F. and Fang, J. Y. and Hartmann, J. and Huntingford, C. and Jeong, S. and Levis, S. and Levy, P. E. and Li, J. S. and Lomas, M. R. and Mao, J. F. and Mayorga, E. and Mohammat, A. and Muraoka, H. and Peng, C. H. and Peylin, P. and Poulter, B. and Shen, Z. H. and Shi, X. and Sitch, S. and Tao, S. and Tian, H. Q. and Wu, X. P. and Xu, M. and Yu, G. R. and Viovy, N. and Zaehle, S. and Zeng, N. and Zhu, B.}},
  issn         = {{1726-4189}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{3571--3586}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Biogeosciences}},
  title        = {{The carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia over the last two decades}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3571-2012}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/bg-9-3571-2012}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}