The European carbon balance. Part 3: forests |
| |
| Authors: | S LUYSSAERT P CIAIS S L PIAO E‐D SCHULZE M JUNG S ZAEHLE M J SCHELHAAS M REICHSTEIN G CHURKINA D PAPALE G ABRIL C BEER J GRACE D LOUSTAU G MATTEUCCI F MAGNANI G J NABUURS H VERBEECK M SULKAVA G R
Van Der WERF I A JANSSENS members of the CARBOEUROPE‐IP SYNTHESIS TEAM |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Biology, University of Antwerpen, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium;2. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA CNRS UVSQ, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France;3. Max‐Planck Institut für Biogeochemie, Hans‐Knoell‐Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany;4. Centre for Ecosystem Studies, Alterra, Wageningen UR, PO Box 47, NL‐6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands;5. Laboratory of Forest Ecology, Department of Forest Environment Science and Resource, University of Tuscia, DISAFRI, Via Camillo de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy;6. Département de géologie et océanographie, CNRS–UMR EPOC 5805, Université Bordeaux‐1, avenue des Facultés, 33405 Talence, France;7. Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JN, Scotland, UK;8. UR1263 EPHYSE, 33883, Villenave d'Ornon, France;9. CNR‐ISAFOM, Via Cavour 4‐6, 87036 Rende, Italy;10. Department of Fruit Tree and Woody Plant Science, University of Bologna, Bologna I‐40127, Italy;11. European Forest Institute Torikatu 34, 80100 Joensuu, Finland;12. Department of Information and Computer Science, Helsinki University of Technology, PO Box 5400, Helsinki 02015 TKK, Finland;13. Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| |
| Abstract: | We present a new synthesis, based on a suite of complementary approaches, of the primary production and carbon sink in forests of the 25 member states of the European Union (EU‐25) during 1990–2005. Upscaled terrestrial observations and model‐based approaches agree within 25% on the mean net primary production (NPP) of forests, i.e. 520±75 g C m?2 yr?1 over a forest area of 1.32 × 106 km2 to 1.55 × 106 km2 (EU‐25). New estimates of the mean long‐term carbon forest sink (net biome production, NBP) of EU‐25 forests amounts 75±20 g C m?2 yr?1. The ratio of NBP to NPP is 0.15±0.05. Estimates of the fate of the carbon inputs via NPP in wood harvests, forest fires, losses to lakes and rivers and heterotrophic respiration remain uncertain, which explains the considerable uncertainty of NBP. Inventory‐based assessments and assumptions suggest that 29±15% of the NBP (i.e., 22 g C m?2 yr?1) is sequestered in the forest soil, but large uncertainty remains concerning the drivers and future of the soil organic carbon. The remaining 71±15% of the NBP (i.e., 53 g C m?2 yr?1) is realized as woody biomass increments. In the EU‐25, the relatively large forest NBP is thought to be the result of a sustained difference between NPP, which increased during the past decades, and carbon losses primarily by harvest and heterotrophic respiration, which increased less over the same period. |
| |
| Keywords: | covariance ecosystem models eddy EU‐25 forest inventories greenhouse gas balance |
|
|
