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Research Article

Carbon pools in China’s terrestrial ecosystems: New estimates based on an intensive field survey

Xuli Tang, Xia Zhao, Yongfei Bai, View ORCID ProfileZhiyao Tang, Wantong Wang, Yongcun Zhao, Hongwei Wan, Zongqiang Xie, Xuezheng Shi, Bingfang Wu, Gengxu Wang, Junhua Yan, Keping Ma, Sheng Du, Shenggong Li, Shijie Han, Youxin Ma, Huifeng Hu, View ORCID ProfileNianpeng He, Yuanhe Yang, Wenxuan Han, Hongling He, Guirui Yu, Jingyun Fang, and Guoyi Zhou
  1. aSouth China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;
  2. bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
  3. cKey Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
  4. dCollege of Tourism, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China;
  5. eState Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China;
  6. fInstitute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China;
  7. gInstitute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China;
  8. hState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China;
  9. iInstitute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
  10. jInstitute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;
  11. kXishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China;
  12. lCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

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PNAS April 17, 2018 115 (16) 4021-4026; first published April 16, 2018; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1700291115
Xuli Tang
aSouth China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;
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Xia Zhao
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
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Yongfei Bai
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
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Zhiyao Tang
cKey Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
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  • ORCID record for Zhiyao Tang
Wantong Wang
aSouth China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;
dCollege of Tourism, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China;
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Yongcun Zhao
eState Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China;
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Hongwei Wan
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
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Zongqiang Xie
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
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Xuezheng Shi
eState Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China;
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Bingfang Wu
fInstitute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China;
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Gengxu Wang
gInstitute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China;
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Junhua Yan
aSouth China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;
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Keping Ma
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
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Sheng Du
hState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China;
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Shenggong Li
iInstitute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
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Shijie Han
jInstitute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;
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Youxin Ma
kXishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China;
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Huifeng Hu
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
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Nianpeng He
iInstitute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
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  • ORCID record for Nianpeng He
Yuanhe Yang
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
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Wenxuan Han
lCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
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Hongling He
iInstitute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
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Guirui Yu
iInstitute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
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Jingyun Fang
bInstitute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
cKey Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
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  • For correspondence: gyzhou@scib.ac.cn jyfang@urban.pku.edu.cn
Guoyi Zhou
aSouth China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;
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  • For correspondence: gyzhou@scib.ac.cn jyfang@urban.pku.edu.cn
  1. Edited by Susan E. Trumbore, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany, and approved November 21, 2017 (received for review February 15, 2017)

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Significance

Previous estimations of carbon budgets in China’s terrestrial ecosystems varied greatly because of the multiplicity of data sources and the inconsistency of methodologies. By conducting a methodologically consistent field campaign across the country, we estimated that the total carbon pool in China’s forests, shrublands, grasslands, and croplands was 79.24 ± 2.42 Pg C. The carbon density exhibited a strong dependence on climate regime: it decreased with temperature but increased with precipitation. The country’s forests have a large potential of biomass carbon sequestration of 1.9–3.4 Pg C in the next 10 to 20 years assuming no removals. Our findings provide a benchmark to identify the effectiveness of the government’s natural protection policies.

Abstract

China’s terrestrial ecosystems have functioned as important carbon sinks. However, previous estimates of carbon budgets have included large uncertainties owing to the limitations of sample size, multiple data sources, and inconsistent methodologies. In this study, we conducted an intensive field campaign involving 14,371 field plots to investigate all sectors of carbon stocks in China’s forests, shrublands, grasslands, and croplands to better estimate the regional and national carbon pools and to explore the biogeographical patterns and potential drivers of these pools. The total carbon pool in these four ecosystems was 79.24 ± 2.42 Pg C, of which 82.9% was stored in soil (to a depth of 1 m), 16.5% in biomass, and 0.60% in litter. Forests, shrublands, grasslands, and croplands contained 30.83 ± 1.57 Pg C, 6.69 ± 0.32 Pg C, 25.40 ± 1.49 Pg C, and 16.32 ± 0.41 Pg C, respectively. When all terrestrial ecosystems are taken into account, the country’s total carbon pool is 89.27 ± 1.05 Pg C. The carbon density of the forests, shrublands, and grasslands exhibited a strong correlation with climate: it decreased with increasing temperature but increased with increasing precipitation. Our analysis also suggests a significant sequestration potential of 1.9–3.4 Pg C in forest biomass in the next 10–20 years assuming no removals, mainly because of forest growth. Our results update the estimates of carbon pools in China’s terrestrial ecosystems based on direct field measurements, and these estimates are essential to the validation and parameterization of carbon models in China and globally.

  • carbon stock
  • climatic influences
  • human influences
  • spatial variations
  • terrestrial ecosystems

Footnotes

  • ↵1X.T., X.Z., Y.B., and Z.T. contributed equally to this work.

  • ↵2To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: gyzhou{at}scib.ac.cn or jyfang{at}urban.pku.edu.cn.
  • Author contributions: J.F. and G.Z. designed research; X.T., Y.B., Z.T., Y.Z., H.W., Z.X., X.S., G.W., J.Y., K.M., S.D., S.L., S.H., Y.M., H. He, G.Y., and G.Z. performed research; X.T., X.Z., W.W., Y.Z., and B.W. analyzed data; and X.T., X.Z., W.W., H. Hu, N.H., Y.Y., W.H., J.F., and G.Z. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1700291115/-/DCSupplemental.

Published under the PNAS license.

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Carbon pools in China’s terrestrial ecosystems
Xuli Tang, Xia Zhao, Yongfei Bai, Zhiyao Tang, Wantong Wang, Yongcun Zhao, Hongwei Wan, Zongqiang Xie, Xuezheng Shi, Bingfang Wu, Gengxu Wang, Junhua Yan, Keping Ma, Sheng Du, Shenggong Li, Shijie Han, Youxin Ma, Huifeng Hu, Nianpeng He, Yuanhe Yang, Wenxuan Han, Hongling He, Guirui Yu, Jingyun Fang, Guoyi Zhou
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2018, 115 (16) 4021-4026; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1700291115

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Carbon pools in China’s terrestrial ecosystems
Xuli Tang, Xia Zhao, Yongfei Bai, Zhiyao Tang, Wantong Wang, Yongcun Zhao, Hongwei Wan, Zongqiang Xie, Xuezheng Shi, Bingfang Wu, Gengxu Wang, Junhua Yan, Keping Ma, Sheng Du, Shenggong Li, Shijie Han, Youxin Ma, Huifeng Hu, Nianpeng He, Yuanhe Yang, Wenxuan Han, Hongling He, Guirui Yu, Jingyun Fang, Guoyi Zhou
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2018, 115 (16) 4021-4026; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1700291115
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