Pyrogenic carbon production from fires in China from 1901 to 2020

Area of Science:

• Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Biogeochemical Cycles
• Climate Science

Background:

• Fires are major disturbances affecting the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle.
• Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) is a persistent carbon pool formed during fires, yet its dynamics are poorly understood and often omitted from global carbon budgets.
• Quantifying PyC production is crucial for accurate carbon accounting and understanding fire impacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the spatiotemporal patterns of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) production in China from 1901 to 2020.
• To assess the contribution of PyC to total fire emissions.
• To provide century-long, gridded, and uncertainty-quantified PyC estimates for China.

Main Methods:

• Integration of newly reconstructed century-scale burned area data for China.
• Application of fuel-type-specific pyrogenic carbon (PyC) production factors.
• Spatiotemporal analysis of PyC production patterns over a 120-year period.

Main Results:

• Mean annual PyC production was 0.8 Tg C yr^-1 for forests and 0.0059 Tg C yr^-1 for non-forest fires.
• PyC production represented 17.8% of forest fire CO₂ emissions and 12.3% of non-forest fire CO₂ emissions.
• PyC production showed an increasing trend from 1901 to 2004, followed by a decline, with Northeast China being the primary contributor.

Conclusions:

• This study presents the first century-long assessment of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) dynamics in China.
• The findings provide crucial gridded PyC estimates essential for improving fire CO₂ inventories and carbon accounting.
• Understanding PyC dynamics is vital for refining global carbon budgets and assessing fire's long-term ecological impact.