Publication Details
Attributing carbon changes in conterminous U.S
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Year Published
2012
Publication
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Abstract
Recent climate variability (increasing temperature, droughts) and atmospheric composition changes (nitrogen deposition, rising CO2 concentration) along with harvesting, wildfires, and insect infestations have had significant effects on U.S. forest carbon (C) uptake. In this study, we attribute C changes in the conterminous U.S. forests to disturbance and non-disturbance factors with the help of forest inventory data, a continental stand age map, and an updated Integrated Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Cycle model (InTEC). We grouped factors into disturbances (harvesting, fire, insect infestation) and non-disturbances (CO2 concentration, N deposition, and climate variability) and estimated their subsequent impacts on forest regrowth patterns. Results showed that on average, the C sink in the conterminous U.S. forests from 1950 to 2010 was 206 Tg C yr-1 with 87% (180 Tg C yr-1) of the sink in living biomass. Compared with the simulation of all factors combined, the estimated C sink would be reduced by 95 Tg C yr-1 if disturbance factors were omitted, and reduced by 50 Tg C yr
Keywords
N deposition;carbon sink and source;climate change;disturbances;elevated CO2;forest ageCitation
Zhang, Fangmin;Chen, Jing M.;Pan, Yude; Birdsey, Richard A.;Shen, Shuanghe;Ju, Weimin;He, Liming. 2012. Attributing carbon changes in conterminous U.S. forests to disturbance and non-disturbance factors from 1901 to 2010. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 117(G2): 18p. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001930.