Increasing carbon storage in intact African tropical forests
Increasing carbon storage in intact African tropical forests
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DOI：
10.1038/nature07771
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发表时间：
2009-02-19
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Woell, Hannsjoerg
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lewis, Simon L.;Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela;Woell, Hannsjoerg
陆地植被对全球变化环境的响应是预测未来大气二氧化碳水平的核心（1，2）。热带森林的作用至关重要，因为它们碳密度高，生产力高（3、4）。亚马逊河流域的清查图显示，近几十年来，古老森林的碳储存量有所增加（5-7），但由于缺乏空间广泛的观测网络（9、10），非洲世界上三分之一的热带森林（8）的反应在很大程度上是未知的。在这里，我们报告的数据来自一个10个国家的网络，长期监测非洲热带森林的地块。我们发现，在1968年至2007年期间，79个地块（163公顷）活树的地上碳储量增加了0.63 Mg C ha（-1）yr（-1）（95%置信区间（CI），0.22 - 0.94;平均区间，1987 - 96）。外推到未测量的森林组成部分（活根，小树，坏死）和缩放到大陆意味着在非洲热带森林树木的碳储量增加了0.34 Pg C年（-1）（CI，0.15 - 0.43）。这些报告的碳储存变化与报告的亚马逊森林单位面积的变化相似（6、7），提供了证据表明，古老森林中碳储存的增加是一种泛热带现象。实际上，将本研究以及热带美洲和亚洲的所有标准化清单数据（5、6、11）结合在一起，得出的可比数据为0.49 Mg C ha（-1）yr（-1）（n = 156; 562 ha; CI，0.29 - 0.66;平均区间，1987 - 1997）。这表明近几十年来所有热带森林的碳汇为1.3 Pg C yr（-1）（CI，0.8 - 1.6）。对非洲清单和其他数据（12）进行的具体分类分析表明，资源可得性的广泛变化，如大气中二氧化碳浓度的增加，可能是碳储存增加的原因（13），正如某些理论（14）和模型（2、10、15）所预测的那样。
The response of terrestrial vegetation to a globally changing environment is central to predictions of future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide(1,2). The role of tropical forests is critical because they are carbon- dense and highly productive(3,4). Inventory plots across Amazonia show that old- growth forests have increased in carbon storage over recent decades(5-7), but the response of one- third of the world's tropical forests in Africa(8) is largely unknown owing to an absence of spatially extensive observation networks(9,10). Here we report data from a ten- country network of long- term monitoring plots in African tropical forests. We find that across 79 plots ( 163 ha) above- ground carbon storage in live trees increased by 0.63 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) between 1968 and 2007 ( 95% confidence interval ( CI), 0.22 - 0.94; mean interval, 1987 - 96). Extrapolation to unmeasured forest components ( live roots, small trees, necromass) and scaling to the continent implies a total increase in carbon storage in African tropical forest trees of 0.34 Pg C yr(-1) ( CI, 0.15 - 0.43). These reported changes in carbon storage are similar to those reported for Amazonian forests per unit area(6,7), providing evidence that increasing carbon storage in old- growth forests is a pan- tropical phenomenon. Indeed, combining all standardized inventory data from this study and from tropical America and Asia(5,6,11) together yields a comparable figure of 0.49 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) (n = 156; 562 ha; CI, 0.29 - 0.66; mean interval, 1987 - 97). This indicates a carbon sink of 1.3 Pg C yr(-1) ( CI, 0.8 - 1.6) across all tropical forests during recent decades. Taxon- specific analyses of African inventory and other data(12) suggest that widespread changes in resource availability, such as increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, may be the cause of the increase in carbon stocks(13), as some theory(14) and models(2,10,15) predict.