Siberian carbon sink reduced by forest disturbances
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Siberian carbon sink reduced by forest disturbances. / Fan, Lei; Wigneron, Jean Pierre; Ciais, Philippe; Chave, Jérome; Brandt, Martin; Sitch, Stephen; Yue, Chao; Bastos, Ana; Li, Xin; Qin, Yuanwei; Yuan, Wenping; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Mukhortova, Liudmila; Li, Xiaojun; Liu, Xiangzhuo; Wang, Mengjia; Frappart, Frédéric; Xiao, Xiangming; Chen, Jingming; Ma, Mingguo; Wen, Jianguang; Chen, Xiuzhi; Yang, Hui; van Wees, Dave; Fensholt, Rasmus.
In: Nature Geoscience, Vol. 16, 2023, p. 56–62.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Siberian carbon sink reduced by forest disturbances
AU - Fan, Lei
AU - Wigneron, Jean Pierre
AU - Ciais, Philippe
AU - Chave, Jérome
AU - Brandt, Martin
AU - Sitch, Stephen
AU - Yue, Chao
AU - Bastos, Ana
AU - Li, Xin
AU - Qin, Yuanwei
AU - Yuan, Wenping
AU - Schepaschenko, Dmitry
AU - Mukhortova, Liudmila
AU - Li, Xiaojun
AU - Liu, Xiangzhuo
AU - Wang, Mengjia
AU - Frappart, Frédéric
AU - Xiao, Xiangming
AU - Chen, Jingming
AU - Ma, Mingguo
AU - Wen, Jianguang
AU - Chen, Xiuzhi
AU - Yang, Hui
AU - van Wees, Dave
AU - Fensholt, Rasmus
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Siberian forests are generally thought to have acted as an important carbon sink over recent decades, but exposure to severe droughts and fire disturbances may have impacted their carbon dynamics. Limited available forest inventories mean the carbon balance remains uncertain. Here we analyse annual live and dead above-ground carbon changes derived from low-frequency passive microwave observations from 2010 to 2019. We find that during this period, the carbon balance of Siberian forests was close to neutral, with the forests acting as a small carbon sink of +0.02+0.01+0.03 PgC yr−1. Carbon storage in dead wood increased, but this was largely offset by a decrease in live biomass. Substantial losses of live above-ground carbon are attributed to fire and drought, such as the widespread fires in northern Siberia in 2012 and extreme drought in eastern Siberia in 2015. These live above-ground carbon losses contrast with ‘greening’ trends seen in leaf area index over the same period, a decoupling explained by faster post-disturbance recovery of leaf area than live above-ground carbon. Our study highlights the vulnerability of large forest carbon stores in Siberia to climate-induced disturbances, challenging the persistence of the carbon sink in this region of the globe.
AB - Siberian forests are generally thought to have acted as an important carbon sink over recent decades, but exposure to severe droughts and fire disturbances may have impacted their carbon dynamics. Limited available forest inventories mean the carbon balance remains uncertain. Here we analyse annual live and dead above-ground carbon changes derived from low-frequency passive microwave observations from 2010 to 2019. We find that during this period, the carbon balance of Siberian forests was close to neutral, with the forests acting as a small carbon sink of +0.02+0.01+0.03 PgC yr−1. Carbon storage in dead wood increased, but this was largely offset by a decrease in live biomass. Substantial losses of live above-ground carbon are attributed to fire and drought, such as the widespread fires in northern Siberia in 2012 and extreme drought in eastern Siberia in 2015. These live above-ground carbon losses contrast with ‘greening’ trends seen in leaf area index over the same period, a decoupling explained by faster post-disturbance recovery of leaf area than live above-ground carbon. Our study highlights the vulnerability of large forest carbon stores in Siberia to climate-induced disturbances, challenging the persistence of the carbon sink in this region of the globe.
U2 - 10.1038/s41561-022-01087-x
DO - 10.1038/s41561-022-01087-x
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85143789938
VL - 16
SP - 56
EP - 62
JO - Nature Geoscience
JF - Nature Geoscience
SN - 1752-0894
ER -
ID: 332123496