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Related Concept Videos

The Carbon Cycle01:14

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Carbon is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and is recycled through the ecosystem in two primary processes: one in which carbon is exchanged among living organisms, and one in which carbon is cycled over long periods of time through fossilized organic remains, weathering of rocks, and volcanic activity. Human activities, including increased agricultural practices and the burning of fossil fuels, has greatly affected the balance of the natural carbon cycle.
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Global Climate Change01:50

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Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
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The Sulfur Cycle01:22

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Sulfur, an important element in the chemical makeup of proteins, is recycled through the atmosphere and aquatic and terrestrial environments. Found in the atmosphere as sulfur dioxide (SO2), sulfur is released by decaying organisms, weathered rocks, geothermal vents, volcanos, and burning fossil fuels. It is deposited into the ecosystem, cycled through the biotic community, and either released back into the atmosphere as gas or deposited in marine sediment for long-term storage and eventual...
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The Calvin Benson Cycle01:46

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Ribulose 1,5- bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo) is a critical enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide assimilation during photosynthesis. However, it is an inefficient enzyme, having an extremely slow catalytic rate. A typical enzyme can process about a thousand molecules per second; however, RuBisCo fixes only around three-carbon dioxides per second. Photosynthetic cells compensate for this slow rate by synthesizing very high amounts of RuBisCo, making it the most abundant single...
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Most plants use the C3 pathway for carbon fixation. However, some plants, such as sugar cane, corn, and cacti that grow in hot conditions, use alternative pathways to fix carbon and conserve energy loss due to photorespiration. Photorespiration is the process that occurs when the oxygen concentration is high. Under such conditions, the rubisco enzyme in the Calvin cycle binds O2 instead of CO2, which halts photosynthesis and consumes energy.
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The enduring world forest carbon sink.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Global forests maintain a steady carbon sink, absorbing significant carbon dioxide (CO2). However, regional changes occur, with temperate and tropical regrowth forests increasing their sink capacity, while boreal and intact tropical forests show declines due to disturbances and area loss.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology and Climate Science
  • Forest Carbon Sequestration
  • Terrestrial Ecosystems

Background:

  • Terrestrial ecosystems, particularly forests, play a crucial role in mitigating climate change by absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).
  • Understanding the long-term trends and biome-specific contributions of forest carbon sinks is essential for climate modeling and policy development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To conduct a ground-based, long-term assessment of forest contributions to terrestrial CO2 uptake across global biomes.
  • To analyze biome-level changes in forest carbon sinks over three decades.
  • To evaluate the forest carbon sink's capacity relative to fossil-fuel emissions and the impact of deforestation.

Main Methods:

  • Synthesis of in situ forest data from boreal, temperate, and tropical biomes spanning 30 years.
  • Analysis of carbon sink trends at global and biome levels.
  • Comparison of forest carbon sink capacity with fossil-fuel emissions and deforestation rates.

Main Results:

  • Global forest carbon sink remained stable from the 1990s to the 2010s (approx. 3.5–3.6 Pg C yr−1).
  • Temperate and tropical regrowth forests showed increased carbon sinks (+30% and +29%, respectively) due to forest area expansion.
  • Boreal and intact tropical forests experienced decreased carbon sinks (-36% and -31%, respectively) due to intensified disturbances and area loss.

Conclusions:

  • While the global forest carbon sink is stable, significant regional variations driven by land area changes and disturbance regimes exist.
  • The global forest sink offsets nearly half of fossil-fuel emissions, but tropical deforestation negates two-thirds of this benefit.
  • Future forest sink capacity may be threatened by forest aging, ongoing deforestation, and increased disturbances, necessitating targeted land management policies.