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Accelerating biomass loss from forest disturbances across Europe

Kowalski, Katja ; Viana-Soto, Alba ; Brandt, Martin ; Ciais, Philippe ; De Keersmaecker, Wanda ; Fensholt, Rasmus ; Pugh, Thomas A.M. LU orcid ; Xu, Yidi and Senf, Cornelius (2026) In Nature Geoscience 19(9). p.1132-1138
Abstract

Forest disturbances are rising globally due to climate change and land-use pressures, weakening the terrestrial carbon sink. However, declines in aboveground biomass from tree cover loss remain poorly quantified, limiting our understanding of the role of disturbances in global carbon dynamics. Here we present a spatially explicit estimate of aboveground biomass losses from natural disturbances and harvest across Europe’s 216 million hectares of forests, using satellite remote sensing. From 1985 to 2023, gross aboveground biomass losses totalled 6.5 ± 0.8 Pg. Of these, 18% were caused by high-severity natural disturbances, whereas stand-replacing harvests accounted for 82%. From 2018 onward, aboveground biomass losses increased by 46%... (More)

Forest disturbances are rising globally due to climate change and land-use pressures, weakening the terrestrial carbon sink. However, declines in aboveground biomass from tree cover loss remain poorly quantified, limiting our understanding of the role of disturbances in global carbon dynamics. Here we present a spatially explicit estimate of aboveground biomass losses from natural disturbances and harvest across Europe’s 216 million hectares of forests, using satellite remote sensing. From 1985 to 2023, gross aboveground biomass losses totalled 6.5 ± 0.8 Pg. Of these, 18% were caused by high-severity natural disturbances, whereas stand-replacing harvests accounted for 82%. From 2018 onward, aboveground biomass losses increased by 46% reaching annual values unprecedented in the preceding four decades. This acceleration coincided with high natural disturbance activity in biomass-rich temperate forests. After 2018, the sensitivity of aboveground biomass loss to disturbance area increased substantially, suggesting that even small increases in natural disturbances can result in large losses. As climate-driven natural disturbances intensify, we thus expect sustained aboveground biomass losses across Europe, despite policies to enhance the forest carbon sink until 2030.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Geoscience
volume
19
issue
9
pages
7 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:105047416670
ISSN
1752-0894
DOI
10.1038/s41561-026-02032-y
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026.
id
d6200fbd-870f-4ab2-9578-cc1182262814
date added to LUP
2026-09-21 22:33:52
date last changed
2026-09-22 09:04:36
@article{d6200fbd-870f-4ab2-9578-cc1182262814,
  abstract     = {{<p>Forest disturbances are rising globally due to climate change and land-use pressures, weakening the terrestrial carbon sink. However, declines in aboveground biomass from tree cover loss remain poorly quantified, limiting our understanding of the role of disturbances in global carbon dynamics. Here we present a spatially explicit estimate of aboveground biomass losses from natural disturbances and harvest across Europe’s 216 million hectares of forests, using satellite remote sensing. From 1985 to 2023, gross aboveground biomass losses totalled 6.5 ± 0.8 Pg. Of these, 18% were caused by high-severity natural disturbances, whereas stand-replacing harvests accounted for 82%. From 2018 onward, aboveground biomass losses increased by 46% reaching annual values unprecedented in the preceding four decades. This acceleration coincided with high natural disturbance activity in biomass-rich temperate forests. After 2018, the sensitivity of aboveground biomass loss to disturbance area increased substantially, suggesting that even small increases in natural disturbances can result in large losses. As climate-driven natural disturbances intensify, we thus expect sustained aboveground biomass losses across Europe, despite policies to enhance the forest carbon sink until 2030.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kowalski, Katja and Viana-Soto, Alba and Brandt, Martin and Ciais, Philippe and De Keersmaecker, Wanda and Fensholt, Rasmus and Pugh, Thomas A.M. and Xu, Yidi and Senf, Cornelius}},
  issn         = {{1752-0894}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{1132--1138}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Geoscience}},
  title        = {{Accelerating biomass loss from forest disturbances across Europe}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-02032-y}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41561-026-02032-y}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}