The dominant role of semi-arid ecosystems in the trend and variability of the land CO2 sink

Ahlstrom, A.; Raupach, M. R.; Schurgers, G.; Smith, B.; Arneth, A.; Jung, M.; Reichstein, M.; Canadell, J. G.; Friedlingstein, P.; Jain, A. K.; Kato, E.; Poulter, B.; Sitch, S.; Stocker, Benjamin David; Viovy, N.; Wang, Y. P.; Wiltshire, A.; Zaehle, S.; Zeng, N. (2015). The dominant role of semi-arid ecosystems in the trend and variability of the land CO2 sink. Science, 348(6237), pp. 895-899. American Association for the Advancement of Science 10.1126/science.aaa1668

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The growth rate of atmospheric carbondioxide(CO2) concentrations since industrialization
is characterized by large interannual variability, mostly resulting from variability in CO
2 uptake by terrestrial ecosystems (typically termed carbon sink). However, the contributions of regional ecosystems to that variability are not well known. Using an ensemble of ecosystem and land-surface models and an empirical observation-based product of global gross primary production, we show that the mean sink, trend, and interannual variability in CO2 uptake by terrestrial ecosystems are dominated by distinct biogeographic regions. Whereas the mean sink is dominated by highly productive lands (mainly tropical forests), the trend and interannual variability of the sink are dominated by semi-arid ecosystems whose carbon balance is strongly associated with circulation-driven variations in both precipitation and temperature.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Climate and Environmental Physics
10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)

UniBE Contributor:

Stocker, Benjamin David

Subjects:

500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

0036-8075

Publisher:

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Language:

English

Submitter:

Monika Wälti-Stampfli

Date Deposited:

24 Jul 2015 10:17

Last Modified:

16 Mar 2023 13:44

Publisher DOI:

10.1126/science.aaa1668

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.70460

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/70460

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