Contribution of Increasing CO2 and Climate to Carbon Storage by Ecosystems in the United States

David Schimel; Jerry Melillo; Hanqin Tian; A. David McGuire; David Kicklighter; Timothy Kittel; Nan Rosenbloom; Steven Running; Peter Thorton; Dennis Ojima; William Parton; Robin Kelly; Martin Sykes; Ron Neilson; Brian Rizzo

Contribution of Increasing CO₂ and Climate to Carbon Storage by Ecosystems in the United States

Informally Refereed

Authors:

David Schimel, Jerry Melillo, Hanqin Tian, A. David McGuire, David Kicklighter, Timothy Kittel, Nan Rosenbloom, Steven Running, Peter Thorton, Dennis Ojima, William Parton, Robin Kelly, Martin Sykes, Ron Neilson, Brian Rizzo

Year:

2000

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Southern Research Station

Source:

Science Vol. 287, pp. 2004-2006, 17 March 2000

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Abstract

The effects of increasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and climate on net carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems of the conterminous United States for the period 1895-1993 were modeled with new, detailed historical climate information. For the period 1980-1993, results from an ensemble of three models agree within 25%, simulating a land carbon sink from CO₂ and climate effects of 0.08 gigaton of carbon per year. The best estimates of the total sink from inventory data are about three times larger, suggesting that processes such as regrowth on abandoned agricultural land or in forests harvested before 1980 have effects as large as or larger than the direct effects of CO₂ and climate. The modeled sink varies by about 100% from year to year as a result of climate variability.

Citation

Schimel, David; Melillo, Jerry; Tian, Hanqin; McGuire, A. David; Kicklighter, David; Kittel, Timothy; Rosenbloom, Nan; Running, Steven; Thorton, Peter; Ojima, Dennis; Parton, William; Kelly, Robin; Sykes, Martin; Neilson, Ron; Rizzo, Brian. 2000. Contribution of Increasing CO₂ and Climate to Carbon Storage by Ecosystems in the United States. Science Vol. 287, pp. 2004-2006, 17 March 2000