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Regional variation in carbon sequestration potential of forest ecosystems in China

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Abstract

Enhancing forest carbon (C) storage is recognized as one of the most economic and green approaches to offsetting anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, experimental evidence for C sequestration potential (C sp) in China’s forest ecosystems and its spatial patterns remain unclear, although a deep understanding is essential for policy-makers making decisions on reforestation. Here, we surveyed the literature from 2004 to 2014 to obtain C density data on forest ecosystems in China and used mature forests as a reference to explore C sp. The results showed that the C densities of vegetation and soil (0–100 cm) in China’s forest ecosystems were about 69.23 Mg C/ha and 116.52 Mg C/ha, respectively. In mature forests, the C sp of vegetation and soil are expected to increase to 129.26 Mg C/ha (87.1%) and 154.39 Mg C/ha (32.4%) in the coming decades, respectively. Moreover, the potential increase of C storage in vegetation (10.81 Pg C) is estimated at approximately twice that of soil (5.01 Pg C). Higher C sp may occur in the subtropical humid regions and policy-makers should pay particular attention to the development of new reforestation strategies for these areas. In addition to soil nutrients and environment, climate was an important factor influencing the spatial patterns of C density in forest ecosystems in China. Interestingly, climate influenced the spatial patterns of vegetation and soil C density via different routes, having a positive effect on vegetation C density and a negative effect on soil C density. This estimation of the potential for increasing forest C storage provided new insights into the vital roles of China’s forest ecosystems in future C sequestration. More importantly, our findings emphasize that climate constraints on forest C sequestration should be considered in reforestation strategies in China because the effects of climate were the opposite for spatial patterns of C density in vegetation and soil.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciated the data shared by the National Data Sharing Infrastructure of Earth System Science (http://www.geodata.cn). Data share should contact with He Nianpeng.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100101, China

    Li Xu, Ding Wen, Jianxing Zhu & Nianpeng He

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, China

    Li Xu, Jianxing Zhu & Nianpeng He

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  1. Li Xu
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  2. Ding Wen
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Correspondence to Nianpeng He.

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Foundation item: Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31290221, 41571130043, 31570471), Chinese Academy of Sciences Strategic Priority Research Program (No. XDA05050702), Program for Kezhen Distinguished Talents in Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 2013RC102), Program of Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Xu, L., Wen, D., Zhu, J. et al. Regional variation in carbon sequestration potential of forest ecosystems in China. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 27, 337–350 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-017-0870-1

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