Vegetation structural change since 1981 significantly enhanced the terrestrial carbon sink
University of Toronto · Nanjing University · +9 more institutions
Abstract
Abstract Satellite observations show that leaf area index (LAI) has increased globally since 1981, but the impact of this vegetation structural change on the global terrestrial carbon cycle has not been systematically evaluated. Through process-based diagnostic ecosystem modeling, we find that the increase in LAI alone was responsible for 12.4% of the accumulated terrestrial carbon sink (95 ± 5 Pg C) from 1981 to 2016, whereas other drivers of CO 2 fertilization, nitrogen deposition, and climate change (temperature, radiation, and precipitation) contributed to 47.0%, 1.1%, and −28.6% of the sink, respectively. The legacy effects of past changes in these drivers prior to 1981 are responsible for the remaining…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 19.19
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 49
Authors
7- JCJ.M. ChenCorresponding
University of Toronto, Nanjing University
- WJWeimin Ju
Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing University
- PCPhilippe Ciais
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA Paris-Saclay
- NVNicolas Viovy
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA Paris-Saclay
- RLRonggao Liu
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Topics & keywords
- Carbon sink
- Sink (geography)
- Environmental science
- Carbon cycle
- Climate change
- Global change
- Terrestrial ecosystem
- Ecosystem