TY - JOUR
T1 - Implications of the steady-state assumption for the global vegetation carbon turnover
AU - Fan, Naixin
AU - Santoro, Maurizio
AU - Besnard, Simon
AU - Cartus, Oliver
AU - Koirala, Sujan
AU - Carvalhais, Nuno
N1 - Funding Information:
N F, M S and O C acknowledges support from the BIOMASCAT project (ESA contract 4000115192/18/I/NB). N F acknowledges support from the International Max Planck Research School for Biogeochemical Cycles (IMPRS-gBGC). S K acknowledges support from the CRESCENDO Project of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (Grant Agreement No. 641816).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd
PY - 2023/10/1
Y1 - 2023/10/1
N2 - Vegetation carbon turnover time (τ) is a central ecosystem property to quantify the global vegetation carbon dynamics. However, our understanding of vegetation dynamics is hampered by the lack of long-term observations of the changes in vegetation biomass. Here we challenge the steady state assumption of τ by using annual changes in vegetation biomass that derived from remote-sensing observations. We evaluate the changes in magnitude, spatial patterns, and uncertainties in vegetation carbon turnover times from 1992 to 2016. We found the robustness in the steady state assumption for forest ecosystems at large spatial scales, contrasting with local larger differences at the grid cell level between τ under steady state and τ under non-steady state conditions. The observation that terrestrial ecosystems are not in a steady state locally is deemed crucial when studying vegetation dynamics and the potential response of biomass to disturbance and climatic changes.
AB - Vegetation carbon turnover time (τ) is a central ecosystem property to quantify the global vegetation carbon dynamics. However, our understanding of vegetation dynamics is hampered by the lack of long-term observations of the changes in vegetation biomass. Here we challenge the steady state assumption of τ by using annual changes in vegetation biomass that derived from remote-sensing observations. We evaluate the changes in magnitude, spatial patterns, and uncertainties in vegetation carbon turnover times from 1992 to 2016. We found the robustness in the steady state assumption for forest ecosystems at large spatial scales, contrasting with local larger differences at the grid cell level between τ under steady state and τ under non-steady state conditions. The observation that terrestrial ecosystems are not in a steady state locally is deemed crucial when studying vegetation dynamics and the potential response of biomass to disturbance and climatic changes.
KW - remote sensing
KW - steady state assumption
KW - vegetation carbon stock
KW - vegetation carbon turnover time
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85175398688&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1748-9326/acfb22
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/acfb22
M3 - Letter
AN - SCOPUS:85175398688
SN - 1748-9318
VL - 18
JO - Environmental Research Letters
JF - Environmental Research Letters
IS - 10
M1 - 104036
ER -