Abstract
An intense search is under way to identify the `missing sink' in the world carbon budget of perhaps 2 Pg year−1 (petagrams, or billiontonnes) of carbon, but its location and mechanism have proved elusive. Here we use a new forest inventory data set to estimate the carbon sink and the carbon pool of woody biomass in 55 countries that account for nearly all temperate or boreal forests and approximately half the world's total forest area. In each country there was a net accumulation of biomass; together, the carbon sink of woody biomass was 0.88 Pg year−1 during the 1990swith estimated uncertainty from 0.71 to 1.1 Pg year−1. Thisestimate, already about half of the missing sink, would probably be even larger if carbon accumulation in soil and detritus were also accounted for, but we are unable to quantify that additional sink. The sink is twice that estimated for the woody biomass of these forests a decade ago due to higher estimates for tree growth throughout the region and decreased timber harvests in Russia. In contrast, the new data indicate a carbon pool that is smaller than earlier estimates because of improved data for Russia and Australia.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexeyev, V., Birdsey, R., Stakanov, V., and Korotkov, I.: 1995, 'Carbon in Vegetation of Russian Forests: Methods to Estimate Storage and Geographical Distribution', Water, Air and Soil Pollut 82, 271–282.
Botkin, D. B. and Simpson, L. G.: 1990, 'Biomass of the North American Boreal Forest', Biogeochemistry 9, 161–174.
Bousquet, P., Ciais, P., Peylin, P., Ramonet, M., and Monfray, P.: 1999, 'Inverse Modeling of Annual Atmospheric CO2 Sources and Sinks: 1. Method and Control Inversion', J. Geophys. Res. 104, 26161–26178.
Dixon, R. K., Brown, S., Houghton, R. A., Solomon, A. M., Trexler, M. C., and Wisnievski, J.: 1994, 'Carbon Pools and Flux of Global Forest Ecosystems', Science 263, 185–190.
EC: 1997, Study on European Forestry Information and Communication System, Reports on Forest Inventory and Survey Systems, European Commission, Luxembourg, 1328 pp.
Fan, S., Gloor, M., Mahlman, J., Pacala, S., Sarmiento, J., Takahashi, T., and Tans, P.: 1998, 'A Large Terrestrial Carbon Sink in North America Implied by Atmospheric and Oceanic Carbon Dioxide Data and Models', Science 282, 442–446.
Goodale, C. L., Apps, M. J., Birdsey, R. A., Field, C. B., Heath, L. S., Houghton, R. A., Jenkins, J. C., Kohlmaier, G. H., Kurz, W. A., Liu, S., Nabuurs, G.-J., Nilsson, S., and Shvidenko, A.: 2002, 'Forest Carbon Sinks in the Northern Hemisphere', Ecol. Appl. 12, 891–899.
Hakkila, P.: 1989, Utilization of Residual Forest Biomass, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 568 pp.
Keeling, R. F., Piper, S. C., and Heimann, M.: 1996, 'Global and Hemispheric CO2 Sinks Deduced from Changes in Atmospheric O2 Concentration', Nature 381, 218–221.
Kurz, W. A. and Apps, M. J.: 1999, 'A 70-Year Retrospective Analysis of Carbon Fluxes in the Canadian Forest Sector', Ecol. Appl. 9, 526–547.
Kuusela, K.: 1994, Forest Resources in Europe 1950-1990, European Forest Institute Research Report 1, Cambridge University Press, New York, 154 pp.
Liski, J., Perruchoud, D., and Karjalainen, T.: 2002, 'Increasing Carbon Stocks in the Forest Soils of Western Europe', Forest Ecology and Management 169, 163–179.
Lowe, J. J., Power, K., and Gray, S. L.: 1994, Canada's Forest Inventory 1991, Canadian Forest Service, Information Report PI-X-115, 67 pp.
Lowe, J. J., Power, K., and Gray, S. L.: 1996, Canada's Forest Inventory 1991: The 1994 Version, Canadian Forest Service, Information Report BC-X-362, 23 pp.
Myneni, R. B., Dong, J., Tucker, C. J., Kaufmann, R. K., Kauppi, P. E., Liski, J., Zhou, L., Alexeyev, V., and Hughes, M. K.: 2001, 'A Large Carbon Sink in theWoody Biomass of Northern Forests', Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 98, 14784–14789.
Nadelhoffer, K. J., Emmett, B. A., Gundersen, P., Kjonaas, O. J., Koopmans, C. J., Schleppi, P., Tietema, A., and Wright, R. F.: 1999, 'Nitrogen Deposition Makes a Minor Contribution to Carbon Sequestration in Temperate Gorests', Nature 398, 145–149.
Nilsson, S., Shvidenko, A., Stolbovoi, V., Gluck, M., Jonas, M., and Obersteiner, M.: 2000, Full Carbon Account for Russia, Interim report IR-00-016, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, 180 pp.
Perruchoud, D., Kienast, F., Kaufmann, E., and Bräker, O. U.: 1999, '20th Century Carbon Budget of Forest Soils in the Alps', Ecosystems 2, 320–337.
Pisarenko, A. I., Strakhov, V. V., Päivinen, R., Kuusela, K., Dyakun, F. A., and Sdobnova, V. V.: 2000, Development of Forest Resources in the European Part of the Russian Federation, European Forest Institute Research Report 11, Brill, Leiden, Boston, KÖln, 102 pp.
Powell, D. S., Faulkner, J. L., Darr, D. R., Zhu, Z., and MacCleery, D. W.: 1994, Forest Resources of the United States, 1992, USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report RM-234, 25 pp.
Prentice, I. C. et al.: 2001, 'The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide', in Houghton, J. T. et al. (eds.), Climate Change 2001: The scientific Basis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. pp. 183–237.
Rayner, P. J., Enting, I. G., Francey, R. J., and Langenfelds, R.: 1999, 'Reconstructing the Recent Carbon Cycle from Atmospheric CO2, 13C and O2/N2 Observations', Tellus 51B, 213–232.
Schimel, D. S., Melillo, J., Tian, H., McGuire, A. D., Kicklighter, D., Kittel, T., Rosenbloom, N., Running, S., Thornton, P., Ojima, D., Parton, W., Kelly, R., Sykes, M., Neilson, R., and Rizzo, B.: 2000, 'Contribution of Increasing CO2 and Climate to Carbon Storage by Ecocsystems in the United States', Science 287, 2004–2006.
Sedjo, R. A.: 1992, 'Temperate Forest Ecosystems in the Global Carbon Cycle', Ambio 21, 274–277.
Shvidenko, A. and Nilsson, S.: 1997, 'Are the Russian Forests Disappearing?', Unasylva 188, 57–64.
Shvidenko, A. and Nilsson, S.: 1998a, 'Dynamics of Forest Resources of the Former Soviet Union with Respect to the Carbon Budget', in Kohlmeier, G. H., Weber, M., and Houghton, R. A. (eds.), Carbon Mitigation Potentials of Forestry and Wood Industry, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 43–62.
Shvidenko, A. and Nilsson, S.: 1998b, 'Is Sustainable Development of the Russian Forest Sector Possible?', IUFRO Occasional Paper 11, 1–76.
Spiecker, H., Mielikäinen, K., KÖhl, M., and Skovsgaard, J.: 1996, Growth Trends in European Forests, European Forest Institute Research Report 5, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 372 pp.
Tans, P. P., Fung, I. Y., and Takahashi, T.: 1990, 'Observational Constraints on the Global Atmospheric CO2 Budget', Science 247, 1431–1438.
Turner, D. P., Koerper, G. J., Harmon, M. E., and Lee, J. J.: 1995, 'A Carbon Budget for Forests of the Conterminous United States', Ecol. Appl. 5, 421–236.
UN-ECE/FAO: 1985, The Forest Resources of the ECE Region (Europe, the U.S.S.R., North America, United Nations, Geneva, 223 pp.
UN-ECE/FAO: 1992, The Forest Resources of the Temperate Zones, The UN-ECE/FAO 1990 Forest Resource Assessment, Volume I, General Forest Resource Information, United Nations, New York, 348 pp.
UN-ECE/FAO: 2000, Forest Resources of Europe, CIS, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand (Industrialized Temperate/Boreal Countries), Contribution to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, United Nations, New York, 445 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liski, J., Korotkov, A.V., Prins, C.F.L. et al. Increased Carbon Sink in Temperate and Boreal Forests. Climatic Change 61, 89–99 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026365005696
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026365005696