Regional trends in terrestrial carbon exchange and their seasonal signatures

Kevin R. Gurney; Warren J. Eckels

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0889.2011.00534.x

Regional trends in terrestrial carbon exchange and their seasonal signatures

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 63 (2011): Issue 3

By: Kevin R. Gurney and Warren J. Eckels

Open Access

|Jan 2011

Abstract

The trends of terrestrial carbon exchange and their mechanistic drivers are key components in understanding how carbon reservoirs will respond to climate change. Here we show trends in seasonal non-fossil land-atmosphere carbon exchange from 1980 to 2008 using atmospheric CO₂ inversion results. Four indices were analysed: growing-season net flux (GSNF), dormant-season net flux (DSNF), amplitude and annual net carbon flux (NCF). We find that the global land carbon sink is intensifying at -0.057 ± 0.01 PgC yr^-2, resulting in -1.65 ± 0.29 PgC of additional uptake over the period examined. This increased total land uptake is driven by a decline in the DSNF (-0.04 ± 0.01 PgC yr^-2) and intensification of the GSNF (-0.02 ± 0.008 PgC yr^-2). Regional analysis shows the dominant role of the southern half of the African continent; intensification of the GSNF (-0.02 ± 0.005 PgC yr^-2) and a decline in the DSNF (-0.013 ± 0.004 PgC yr^-2) imply that Africa has shifted from a net carbon source in the 1980s to near-neutral emissions. By contrast, a weakening of the GSNF is found in temperate North America (0.015±0.007 PgC yr^-2) and tropical America (0.01 ± 0.005 PgC yr^-2).

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2011.00534.x | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

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Language: English

Page range: 328 - 339

Submitted on: Oct 15, 2010

Accepted on: Mar 29, 2011

Published on: Jan 1, 2011

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2011 Kevin R. Gurney, Warren J. Eckels, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 63 (2011): Issue 3