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Carbon storage in China's forest ecosystems: estimation by different integrative methods.
Shunlei Peng1, Ding Wen2, Nianpeng He2
1Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research CAS Beijing 100101 China; Key laboratory of Ecological Restoration in the Hilly Area Pingdingshan University Pingdingshan He'nan Province 467000 China.
Estimating carbon storage in China's forests, especially soil and dead organic matter, is crucial. This study reveals significant uncertainty, highlighting the need for diverse methods to accurately quantify forest carbon stocks.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Forestry
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Carbon (C) storage in China's forest ecosystems, particularly dead biomass and soil organic carbon, has been poorly quantified, leading to significant uncertainty.
- Previous estimates often overlooked these components, complicating accurate assessments of forest carbon budgets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate carbon storage across China's forest ecosystems using field-measured data from 2004-2014.
- To assess the uncertainty in carbon storage estimates arising from different integrative methods, including forest type classifications and spatial interpolations.
- To provide a more comprehensive understanding of carbon distribution within forest components.
Main Methods:
- Utilized field-measured data from 2004-2014 for carbon storage estimation.
- Employed three forest type classifications and three spatial interpolation methods for integrative analysis.
- Calculated carbon density and storage for aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, dead mass, and soil organic carbon (0-100 cm depth).
Main Results:
- Total carbon storage in China's forest ecosystems ranged from 30.99 to 34.96 petagrams of carbon (Pg C) across six integrative methods.
- A 5.0% variation (coefficient of variation) was detected among methods, primarily driven by soil carbon estimates.
- Soil organic carbon represented the largest pool, accounting for 66.2% of the total estimated carbon storage (21.958 Pg C).
- Dead mass carbon storage was estimated between 0.68 and 0.82 Pg C.
- Carbon storage estimates using forest type classification were closer to the average than those from spatial interpolation methods.
Conclusions:
- Significant uncertainty exists in large-scale forest carbon storage estimates, influenced by methodological choices and data sources.
- Multimethodological approaches are essential for accurately estimating carbon storage in extensive forest ecosystems.
- Soil organic carbon and vegetation carbon storage showed a ratio (R:S) of 0.23, with soil holding 2.1 times more carbon than vegetation.
