Articles | Volume 12, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1849-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1849-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
20 Mar 2015
Research article |
| 20 Mar 2015
Pyrogenic carbon from tropical savanna burning: production and stable isotope composition
College of Science, Technology and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, P.O.Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia
now at: Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
J. G. Wynn
School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave, NES107, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA
C. M. Wurster
College of Science, Technology and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, P.O.Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia
I. Goodrick
College of Science, Technology and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, P.O.Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia
P. N. Nelson
College of Science, Technology and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, P.O.Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia
M. I. Bird
College of Science, Technology and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, P.O.Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia
Related authors
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
Carlos Alberto Quesada, Claudia Paz, Erick Oblitas Mendoza, Oliver Lawrence Phillips, Gustavo Saiz, and Jon Lloyd
SOIL, 6, 53–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Amazon soils hold as much carbon (C) as is contained in the vegetation. In this work we sampled soils across 8 different Amazonian countries to try to understand which soil properties control current Amazonian soil C concentrations. We confirm previous knowledge that highly developed soils hold C through clay content interactions but also show a previously unreported mechanism of soil C stabilization in the younger Amazonian soil types which hold C through aluminium organic matter interactions.
Friederike Gerschlauer, Gustavo Saiz, David Schellenberger Costa, Michael Kleyer, Michael Dannenmann, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 16, 409–424, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Mount Kilimanjaro is an iconic environmental asset under serious threat due to increasing human pressures and climate change constraints. We studied variations in the stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in plant, litter, and soil material sampled along a strong land-use and altitudinal gradient. Our results show that, besides management, increasing temperatures in a changing climate may promote carbon and nitrogen losses, thus altering the stability of Kilimanjaro ecosystems.
David Pelster, Mariana Rufino, Todd Rosenstock, Joash Mango, Gustavo Saiz, Eugenio Diaz-Pines, German Baldi, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 14, 187–202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In order to quantify greenhouse gas fluxes from typical eastern African smallholder farms, we measured flux rates every week for 1 year at 59 farms in western Kenya. These upland soils tend to be small sinks for CH4 and small sources of N2O. The management intensity of the farm plots had no effect on emissions, likely because the variability was low. Plots with trees had higher CH4 uptake than other plots. This suggests that emissions from small, low-input farms in this region are quite low.
G. Saiz, M. Bird, C. Wurster, C. A. Quesada, P. Ascough, T. Domingues, F. Schrodt, M. Schwarz, T. R. Feldpausch, E. Veenendaal, G. Djagbletey, G. Jacobsen, F. Hien, H. Compaore, A. Diallo, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate and explain differential patterns in SOM dynamics in C3/C4 mixed ecosystems at various spatial scales across contrasting climate and soils. This study shows that the interdependence between biotic and abiotic factors ultimately determines whether SOM dynamics of C3- and C4-derived vegetation are at variance in ecosystems where both vegetation types coexist. The results also highlight the far-reaching implications that vegetation thickening may have for the stability of deep SOM.
M. Liu, M. Dannenmann, S. Lin, G. Saiz, G. Yan, Z. Yao, D. E. Pelster, H. Tao, S. Sippel, Y. Tao, Y. Zhang, X. Zheng, Q. Zuo, and K. Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 12, 4831–4840, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate for the first time that a ground cover rice production system (GCRPS) significantly increased soil organic C and total N stocks at spatially representative paired sites under varying edaphic conditions. Our results suggest that GCRPS is a stable and sustainable technique that maintains key soil functions, while increasing rice yield and expanding the cultivation into regions where it has been hampered by low seasonal temperatures and/or a lack of irrigation water.
E. M. Veenendaal, M. Torello-Raventos, T. R. Feldpausch, T. F. Domingues, F. Gerard, F. Schrodt, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, G. Djagbletey, A. Ford, J. Kemp, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, E. Lenza, J. A. Ratter, L. Maracahipes, D. Sasaki, B. Sonké, L. Zapfack, D. Villarroel, M. Schwarz, F. Yoko Ishida, M. Gilpin, G. B. Nardoto, K. Affum-Baffoe, L. Arroyo, K. Bloomfield, G. Ceca, H. Compaore, K. Davies, A. Diallo, N. M. Fyllas, J. Gignoux, F. Hien, M. Johnson, E. Mougin, P. Hiernaux, T. Killeen, D. Metcalfe, H. S. Miranda, M. Steininger, K. Sykora, M. I. Bird, J. Grace, S. Lewis, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 2927–2951, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
When nearby forest and savanna stands are compared, they are not as structurally different as first seems. Moreover, savanna-forest transition zones typically occur at higher rainfall for South America than for Africa but with coexistence confined to a well-defined edaphic-climate envelope. With interacting soil cation-soil water storage–precipitations effects on canopy cover also observed we argue that both soils and climate influence the location of the two major tropical vegetation types.
K. J. Bloomfield, T. F. Domingues, G. Saiz, M. I. Bird, D. M. Crayn, A. Ford, D. J. Metcalfe, G. D. Farquhar, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 11, 7331–7347, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, 2014
Georgina Falster, Gab Abramowitz, Sanaa Hobeichi, Cath Hughes, Pauline Treble, Nerilie J. Abram, Michael I. Bird, Alexandre Cauquoin, Bronwyn Dixon, Russell Drysdale, Chenhui Jin, Niels Munksgaard, Bernadette Proemse, Jonathan J. Tyler, Martin Werner, and Carol Tadros
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2458, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2458, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
We used a random forest approach to produce estimates of monthly precipitation stable isotope variability from 1962–2023, at high resolution across the entire Australian continent. Comprehensive skill and sensitivity testing shows that our random forest models skilfully predict precipitation isotope values in places and times that observations are not available. We make all outputs publicly available, facilitating use in fields from ecology and hydrology to archaeology and forensic science.
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
Weiwei Sun, Enlou Zhang, Jie Chang, James Shulmeister, Michael I. Bird, Cheng Zhao, Qingfeng Jiang, and Ji Shen
Clim. Past, 16, 833–845, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-833-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-833-2020, 2020
Carlos Alberto Quesada, Claudia Paz, Erick Oblitas Mendoza, Oliver Lawrence Phillips, Gustavo Saiz, and Jon Lloyd
SOIL, 6, 53–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Amazon soils hold as much carbon (C) as is contained in the vegetation. In this work we sampled soils across 8 different Amazonian countries to try to understand which soil properties control current Amazonian soil C concentrations. We confirm previous knowledge that highly developed soils hold C through clay content interactions but also show a previously unreported mechanism of soil C stabilization in the younger Amazonian soil types which hold C through aluminium organic matter interactions.
Friederike Gerschlauer, Gustavo Saiz, David Schellenberger Costa, Michael Kleyer, Michael Dannenmann, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 16, 409–424, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Mount Kilimanjaro is an iconic environmental asset under serious threat due to increasing human pressures and climate change constraints. We studied variations in the stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in plant, litter, and soil material sampled along a strong land-use and altitudinal gradient. Our results show that, besides management, increasing temperatures in a changing climate may promote carbon and nitrogen losses, thus altering the stability of Kilimanjaro ecosystems.
David Pelster, Mariana Rufino, Todd Rosenstock, Joash Mango, Gustavo Saiz, Eugenio Diaz-Pines, German Baldi, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 14, 187–202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In order to quantify greenhouse gas fluxes from typical eastern African smallholder farms, we measured flux rates every week for 1 year at 59 farms in western Kenya. These upland soils tend to be small sinks for CH4 and small sources of N2O. The management intensity of the farm plots had no effect on emissions, likely because the variability was low. Plots with trees had higher CH4 uptake than other plots. This suggests that emissions from small, low-input farms in this region are quite low.
Lénaïc Pardon, Cécile Bessou, Nathalie Saint-Geours, Benoît Gabrielle, Ni'matul Khasanah, Jean-Pierre Caliman, and Paul N. Nelson
Biogeosciences, 13, 5433–5452, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5433-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5433-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Oil palm is the most rapidly expanding tropical perennial crop, which raises environmental concerns, notably related to the use of nitrogen fertilisers and consequent pollution. We tested existing models to estimate N losses in plantations. Results were highly variable and highlighted the remaining challenges to improve the reliability of these models in order to steer towards more sustainable practices.
A. Cohen, C. Campisano, R. Arrowsmith, A. Asrat, A. K. Behrensmeyer, A. Deino, C. Feibel, A. Hill, R. Johnson, J. Kingston, H. Lamb, T. Lowenstein, A. Noren, D. Olago, R. B. Owen, R. Potts, K. Reed, R. Renaut, F. Schäbitz, J.-J. Tiercelin, M. H. Trauth, J. Wynn, S. Ivory, K. Brady, R. O'Grady, J. Rodysill, J. Githiri, J. Russell, V. Foerster, R. Dommain, S. Rucina, D. Deocampo, J. Russell, A. Billingsley, C. Beck, G. Dorenbeck, L. Dullo, D. Feary, D. Garello, R. Gromig, T. Johnson, A. Junginger, M. Karanja, E. Kimburi, A. Mbuthia, T. McCartney, E. McNulty, V. Muiruri, E. Nambiro, E. W. Negash, D. Njagi, J. N. Wilson, N. Rabideaux, T. Raub, M. J. Sier, P. Smith, J. Urban, M. Warren, M. Yadeta, C. Yost, and B. Zinaye
Sci. Dril., 21, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-21-1-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-21-1-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
An initial description of the scientific rationale, drilling and core handling, and initial core description activities of the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP). HSPDP is a large international consortium whose objective is to collect cores from lakebeds in proximity to important fossil early human fossil sites in eastern Africa, to better understand the environmental and climatic context of human evolution.
W. T. Luo, P. N. Nelson, M.-H. Li, J. P. Cai, Y. Y. Zhang, Y. G. Zhang, S. Yang, R. Z. Wang, Z. W. Wang, Y. N. Wu, X. G. Han, and Y. Jiang
Biogeosciences, 12, 7047–7056, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7047-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7047-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Soil pH buffering capacity plays a crucial role in predicting acidification rates, yet its large-scale patterns and controls are poorly understood, especially for neutral-alkaline soils. Here, we evaluated the spatial patterns and drivers of pHBC along a massive 3600km transect of land in China, stretching from the country’s subarctic north to its arid deserts. We found distinct drivers of soil acidification processes in different types of soil across northern China, resulting in a new advance.
G. Saiz, M. Bird, C. Wurster, C. A. Quesada, P. Ascough, T. Domingues, F. Schrodt, M. Schwarz, T. R. Feldpausch, E. Veenendaal, G. Djagbletey, G. Jacobsen, F. Hien, H. Compaore, A. Diallo, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate and explain differential patterns in SOM dynamics in C3/C4 mixed ecosystems at various spatial scales across contrasting climate and soils. This study shows that the interdependence between biotic and abiotic factors ultimately determines whether SOM dynamics of C3- and C4-derived vegetation are at variance in ecosystems where both vegetation types coexist. The results also highlight the far-reaching implications that vegetation thickening may have for the stability of deep SOM.
M. Liu, M. Dannenmann, S. Lin, G. Saiz, G. Yan, Z. Yao, D. E. Pelster, H. Tao, S. Sippel, Y. Tao, Y. Zhang, X. Zheng, Q. Zuo, and K. Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 12, 4831–4840, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate for the first time that a ground cover rice production system (GCRPS) significantly increased soil organic C and total N stocks at spatially representative paired sites under varying edaphic conditions. Our results suggest that GCRPS is a stable and sustainable technique that maintains key soil functions, while increasing rice yield and expanding the cultivation into regions where it has been hampered by low seasonal temperatures and/or a lack of irrigation water.
E. M. Veenendaal, M. Torello-Raventos, T. R. Feldpausch, T. F. Domingues, F. Gerard, F. Schrodt, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, G. Djagbletey, A. Ford, J. Kemp, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, E. Lenza, J. A. Ratter, L. Maracahipes, D. Sasaki, B. Sonké, L. Zapfack, D. Villarroel, M. Schwarz, F. Yoko Ishida, M. Gilpin, G. B. Nardoto, K. Affum-Baffoe, L. Arroyo, K. Bloomfield, G. Ceca, H. Compaore, K. Davies, A. Diallo, N. M. Fyllas, J. Gignoux, F. Hien, M. Johnson, E. Mougin, P. Hiernaux, T. Killeen, D. Metcalfe, H. S. Miranda, M. Steininger, K. Sykora, M. I. Bird, J. Grace, S. Lewis, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 2927–2951, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
When nearby forest and savanna stands are compared, they are not as structurally different as first seems. Moreover, savanna-forest transition zones typically occur at higher rainfall for South America than for Africa but with coexistence confined to a well-defined edaphic-climate envelope. With interacting soil cation-soil water storage–precipitations effects on canopy cover also observed we argue that both soils and climate influence the location of the two major tropical vegetation types.
K. J. Bloomfield, T. F. Domingues, G. Saiz, M. I. Bird, D. M. Crayn, A. Ford, D. J. Metcalfe, G. D. Farquhar, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 11, 7331–7347, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Biogeochemistry: Land
Seasonality and synchrony of photosynthesis in African forests inferred from spaceborne chlorophyll fluorescence and vegetation indices
Altitudinal distribution of soil organic and inorganic carbon in a dry alpine rangeland of northern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Precipitation–fire functional interactions control biomass stocks and carbon exchanges across the world's largest savanna
Nitrogen concentrations in boreal and temperate tree tissues vary with tree age/size, growth rate, and climate
Burn severity and vegetation type control phosphorus concentration, molecular composition, and mobilization
Fertilization turns a rubber plantation from sink to methane source
Comparison of shortwave radiation dynamics between boreal forest and open peatland pairs in southern and northern Finland
Subsurface CO2 dynamics in a temperate karst system reveal complex seasonal and spatial variations
Cropland expansion drives vegetation greenness decline in Southeast Asia
How to measure the efficiency of bioenergy crops compared to forestation
On the added value of sequential deep learning for upscaling evapotranspiration
Annual net CO2 fluxes from drained organic soils used for agriculture in the hemiboreal region of Europe
Implications of climate and litter quality for simulations of litterbag decomposition at high latitudes
Soil carbon-concentration and carbon-climate feedbacks in CMIP6 Earth system models
Monitoring the impact of forest changes on carbon uptake with solar-induced fluorescence measurements from GOME-2A and TROPOMI for an Australian and Chinese case study
Technical note: Flagging inconsistencies in flux tower data
Uncertainty in Amazon vegetation productivity in CMIP6 projections driven by surface energy fluxes
Relevance of near-surface soil moisture vs. terrestrial water storage for global vegetation functioning
High-resolution spatial patterns and drivers of terrestrial ecosystem carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide fluxes in the tundra
Long-term additions of ammonium nitrate to montane forest ecosystems may cause limited soil acidification, even in the presence of soil carbonate
Leaf carbon and nitrogen stoichiometric variation along environmental gradients
Gross primary productivity and the predictability of CO2: more uncertainty in what we predict than how well we predict it
Scale variance in the carbon dynamics of fragmented, mixed-use landscapes estimated using model–data fusion
Seasonal controls override forest harvesting effects on the composition of dissolved organic matter mobilized from boreal forest soil organic horizons
Carbon cycle extremes accelerate weakening of the land carbon sink in the late 21st century
Estimating oil-palm Si storage, Si return to soils, and Si losses through harvest in smallholder oil-palm plantations of Sumatra, Indonesia
Assessing the sensitivity of multi-frequency passive microwave vegetation optical depth to vegetation properties
Seasonal variation of mercury concentration of ancient olive groves of Lebanon
Soil organic matter diagenetic state informs boreal forest ecosystem feedbacks to climate change
Upscaling dryland carbon and water fluxes with artificial neural networks of optical, thermal, and microwave satellite remote sensing
Sun-induced fluorescence as a proxy for primary productivity across vegetation types and climates
Technical note: A view from space on global flux towers by MODIS and Landsat: the FluxnetEO data set
Changing sub-Arctic tundra vegetation upon permafrost degradation: impact on foliar mineral element cycling
Land Management Contributes significantly to observed Vegetation Browning in Syria during 2001–2018
MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields tree cover needs calibrating in tropical savannas
Assessing the representation of the Australian carbon cycle in global vegetation models
Assessing the response of soil carbon in Australia to changing inputs and climate using a consistent modelling framework
Reviews and syntheses: Ongoing and emerging opportunities to improve environmental science using observations from the Advanced Baseline Imager on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites
First pan-Arctic assessment of dissolved organic carbon in lakes of the permafrost region
The impact of wildfire on biogeochemical fluxes and water quality in boreal catchments
Examining the sensitivity of the terrestrial carbon cycle to the expression of El Niño
Subalpine grassland productivity increased with warmer and drier conditions, but not with higher N deposition, in an altitudinal transplantation experiment
Reviews and syntheses: Impacts of plant-silica–herbivore interactions on terrestrial biogeochemical cycling
Implementation of nitrogen cycle in the CLASSIC land model
Combined effects of ozone and drought stress on the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds from Quercus robur L.
A bottom-up quantification of foliar mercury uptake fluxes across Europe
Lagged effects regulate the inter-annual variability of the tropical carbon balance
Spatial variations in terrestrial net ecosystem productivity and its local indicators
Nitrogen cycling in CMIP6 land surface models: progress and limitations
Decomposing reflectance spectra to track gross primary production in a subalpine evergreen forest
Russell Doughty, Michael C. Wimberly, Dan Wanyama, Helene Peiro, Nicholas Parazoo, Sean Crowell, and Moses Azong Cho
Biogeosciences, 22, 1985–2004, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1985-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1985-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We find West African solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) increases during the dry season and peaks before precipitation, similar to the Amazon. In central Africa, a continental-scale bimodal SIF seasonality appears; its minimum aligns with precipitation, but its maximum seems less environmentally driven. Notably, differences between SIF and vegetation index (VI) seasonality indicate VI-based photosynthesis estimates may be inaccurate.
Qinglin Liu, Ailin Zhang, Xiangyi Li, Jinfei Yin, Yuxue Zhang, Osbert Jianxin Sun, and Yong Jiang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1269, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1269, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The arid region of the plateau is a fragile ecosystem sensitive to environmental change. Changes in the soil carbon pool in this ecosystem will affect the terrestrial carbon cycle. The soil carbon pool in this region is mainly composed of soil inorganic carbon, and the response to environmental changes is more obvious. At the same time, the impact of environment on vegetation is also an important part of the carbon cycle of terrestrial organisms.
Mathew Williams, David T. Milodowski, T. Luke Smallman, Kyle G. Dexter, Gabi C. Hegerl, Iain M. McNicol, Michael O'Sullivan, Carla M. Roesch, Casey M. Ryan, Stephen Sitch, and Aude Valade
Biogeosciences, 22, 1597–1614, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Southern African woodlands are important in both regional and global carbon cycles. A new carbon analysis created by combining satellite data with ecosystem modelling shows that the region has a neutral C balance overall but with important spatial variations. Patterns of biomass and C balance across the region are the outcome of climate controls on production and vegetation–fire interactions, which determine the mortality of vegetation and spatial variations in vegetation function.
Martin Thurner, Kailiang Yu, Stefano Manzoni, Anatoly Prokushkin, Melanie A. Thurner, Zhiqiang Wang, and Thomas Hickler
Biogeosciences, 22, 1475–1493, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1475-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1475-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen concentrations in tree tissues (leaves, branches, stems, and roots) are related to photosynthesis, growth, and respiration and thus to vegetation carbon uptake. Our novel database allows us to identify the controls of tree tissue nitrogen concentrations in boreal and temperate forests, such as tree age/size, species, and climate. Changes therein will affect tissue nitrogen concentrations and thus also vegetation carbon uptake.
Morgan E. Barnes, Jesse Alan Roebuck Jr., Samantha Grieger, Paul J. Aronstein, Vanessa A. Garayburu-Caruso, Kathleen Munson, Robert P. Young, Kevin D. Bladon, John D. Bailey, Emily B. Graham, Lupita Renteria, Peggy A. O'Day, Timothy D. Scheibe, and Allison N. Myers-Pigg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-21, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-21, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfires impact nutrient cycles on land and in water. We used burning experiments to understand the types of phosphorous (P), an essential nutrient, that might be released to the environment after different types of fires. We found that the amount of P moving through the environment post-fire is dependent on the type of vegetation and degree of burning which may influence when and where this material is processed or stored.
Daniel Epron, Rawiwan Chotiphan, Zixiao Wang, Ornuma Duangngam, Makoto Shibata, Sumonta Kumar Paul, Takumi Mochidome, Jate Sathornkich, Wakana A. Azuma, Jun Murase, Yann Nouvellon, Poonpipope Kasemsap, and Kannika Sajjaphan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The rapid expansion of rubber cultivation constitutes a significant land-use change in Southeast Asia. Despite fertilization been a common practice in rubber plantations, its impact on soil methane (CH4) dynamics remained poorly understood. Our study demonstrates that fertilization not only reduces soil CH4 consumption but also increases CH4 production, transforming rubber plantations from a net CH4 sink into a source. Implementing rational fertilization could enhance atmospheric CH4 removal.
Otso Peräkylä, Erkka Rinne, Ekaterina Ezhova, Anna Lintunen, Annalea Lohila, Juho Aalto, Mika Aurela, Pasi Kolari, and Markku Kulmala
Biogeosciences, 22, 153–179, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-153-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-153-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Forests are seen as good for climate. Yet, in areas with snow, trees break up the white snow surface and absorb more sunlight than open areas. This has a warming effect, negating some of the climate benefit of trees. We studied two site pairs in Finland, both with an open peatland and a forest. We found that the later the snow melts, the more extra energy the forest absorbs as compared to the peatland. This has implications for the future, as snow cover duration is affected by global warming.
Sarah Ann Rowan, Marc Luetscher, Thomas Laemmel, Anna Harrison, Sönke Szidat, and Franziska A. Lechleitner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3775, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3775, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We explored CO2 from soil to subsurface at Milandre cave, finding very high concentrations at all depths. While forest soils produced modern CO2 year-round, cave and meadow soil CO2 influences varies with temperature controlled cave ventilation, with older CO2 input in winter from old organic matter stored underground. These findings show that CO2 fluxes in karst systems are highly dynamic, and a better understanding of them is important for accurate carbon cycle modelling.
Ruiying Zhao, Xiangzhong Luo, Yuheng Yang, Luri Nurlaila Syahid, Chi Chen, and Janice Ser Huay Lee
Biogeosciences, 21, 5393–5406, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5393-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5393-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Southeast Asia has been a global hot spot of land-use change over the past 50 years. Meanwhile, it also hosts some of the most carbon-dense and diverse ecosystems in the world. Here, we explore the impact of land-use change, along with other environmental factors, on the ecosystem in Southeast Asia. We find that elevated CO2 imposed a positive impact on vegetation greenness, but the positive impact was largely offset by intensive land-use changes in the region, particularly cropland expansion.
Sabine Egerer, Stefanie Falk, Dorothea Mayer, Tobias Nützel, Wolfgang A. Obermeier, and Julia Pongratz
Biogeosciences, 21, 5005–5025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5005-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5005-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using a state-of-the-art land model, we find that bioenergy plants can store carbon more efficiently than forests over long periods in the soil, in geological reservoirs, or by substituting fossil-fuel-based energy. Planting forests is more suitable for reaching climate targets by 2050. The carbon removal potential depends also on local environmental conditions. These considerations have important implications for climate policy, spatial planning, nature conservation, and agriculture.
Basil Kraft, Jacob A. Nelson, Sophia Walther, Fabian Gans, Ulrich Weber, Gregory Duveiller, Markus Reichstein, Weijie Zhang, Marc Rußwurm, Devis Tuia, Marco Körner, Zayd Mahmoud Hamdi, and Martin Jung
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2896, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2896, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Global evapotranspiration (ET) can be estimated using machine learning (ML) models optimized on local data and applied to global data. This study explores whether sequential neural networks, which consider past data, perform better than models that do not. The findings show that sequential models struggle with global upscaling, likely due to their sensitivity to data shifts from local to global scales. To improve ML-based upscaling, additional data or integration of physical knowledge is needed.
Arta Bārdule, Raija Laiho, Jyrki Jauhiainen, Kaido Soosaar, Andis Lazdiņš, Kęstutis Armolaitis, Aldis Butlers, Dovilė Čiuldienė, Andreas Haberl, Ain Kull, Milda Muraškienė, Ivika Ostonen, Gristin Rohula-Okunev, Muhammad Kamil-Sardar, Thomas Schindler, Hanna Vahter, Egidijus Vigricas, and Ieva Līcīte
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2523, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2523, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Estimates of CO2 fluxes from drained nutrient-rich organic soils in cropland and grassland in the hemiboreal region of Europe revealed that annual net CO2 fluxes were lower than the latest (2014) IPCC emission factors provided for the whole temperate zone including hemiboreal region. Contribution of CO2 fluxes from shallow highly decomposed organic soils, former peatlands that no longer meet the IPCC criterion for organic soils, to total emissions can be high and should not be underestimated.
Elin Ristorp Aas, Inge Althuizen, Hui Tang, Sonya Geange, Eva Lieungh, Vigdis Vandvik, and Terje Koren Berntsen
Biogeosciences, 21, 3789–3817, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3789-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3789-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used a soil model to replicate two litterbag decomposition experiments to examine the implications of climate, litter quality, and soil microclimate representation. We found that macroclimate was more important than litter quality for modeled mass loss. By comparing different representations of soil temperature and moisture we found that using observed data did not improve model results. We discuss causes for this and suggest possible improvements to both the model and experimental design.
Rebecca M. Varney, Pierre Friedlingstein, Sarah E. Chadburn, Eleanor J. Burke, and Peter M. Cox
Biogeosciences, 21, 2759–2776, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2759-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2759-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil carbon is the largest store of carbon on the land surface of Earth and is known to be particularly sensitive to climate change. Understanding this future response is vital to successfully meeting Paris Agreement targets, which rely heavily on carbon uptake by the land surface. In this study, the individual responses of soil carbon are quantified and compared amongst CMIP6 Earth system models used within the most recent IPCC report, and the role of soils in the land response is highlighted.
Juliëtte C. S. Anema, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Piet Stammes, Gerbrand Koren, William Woodgate, Philipp Köhler, Christian Frankenberg, and Jacqui Stol
Biogeosciences, 21, 2297–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To keep the Paris agreement goals within reach, negative emissions are necessary. They can be achieved with mitigation techniques, such as reforestation, which remove CO2 from the atmosphere. While governments have pinned their hopes on them, there is not yet a good set of tools to objectively determine whether negative emissions do what they promise. Here we show how satellite measurements of plant fluorescence are useful in detecting carbon uptake due to reforestation and vegetation regrowth.
Martin Jung, Jacob Nelson, Mirco Migliavacca, Tarek El-Madany, Dario Papale, Markus Reichstein, Sophia Walther, and Thomas Wutzler
Biogeosciences, 21, 1827–1846, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1827-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1827-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a methodology to detect inconsistencies in perhaps the most important data source for measurements of ecosystem–atmosphere carbon, water, and energy fluxes. We expect that the derived consistency flags will be relevant for data users and will help in improving our understanding of and our ability to model ecosystem–climate interactions.
Matteo Mastropierro, Daniele Peano, and Davide Zanchettin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-823, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-823, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We address how different ESMs represent vegetation productivity, in terms of carbon fluxes, within the Amazon basin. By statistically assessing the role of climatological and model specific factors that influence vegetation, we showed that surface energy fluxes and the implementation of Phosphorous limitation resulted to be the main drivers of model uncertainties in a future scenario. Reducing these uncertainties allows to increase the reliability of tropical land carbon and climate projections
Prajwal Khanal, Anne J. Hoek Van Dijke, Timo Schaffhauser, Wantong Li, Sinikka J. Paulus, Chunhui Zhan, and René Orth
Biogeosciences, 21, 1533–1547, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1533-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Water availability is essential for vegetation functioning, but the depth of vegetation water uptake is largely unknown due to sparse ground measurements. This study correlates vegetation growth with soil moisture availability globally to infer vegetation water uptake depth using only satellite-based data. We find that the vegetation water uptake depth varies across climate regimes and vegetation types and also changes during dry months at a global scale.
Anna-Maria Virkkala, Pekka Niittynen, Julia Kemppinen, Maija E. Marushchak, Carolina Voigt, Geert Hensgens, Johanna Kerttula, Konsta Happonen, Vilna Tyystjärvi, Christina Biasi, Jenni Hultman, Janne Rinne, and Miska Luoto
Biogeosciences, 21, 335–355, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-335-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O are important for climate feedbacks. We combined extensive in situ measurements and remote sensing data to develop machine-learning models to predict GHG fluxes at a 2 m resolution across a tundra landscape. The analysis revealed that the system was a net GHG sink and showed widespread CH4 uptake in upland vegetation types, almost surpassing the high wetland CH4 emissions at the landscape scale.
Thomas Baer, Gerhard Furrer, Stephan Zimmermann, and Patrick Schleppi
Biogeosciences, 20, 4577–4589, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4577-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4577-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen (N) deposition to forest ecosystems is a matter of concern because it affects their nutrient status and makes their soil acidic. We observed an ongoing acidification in a montane forest in central Switzerland even if the subsoil of this site contains carbonates and is thus well buffered. We experimentally added N to simulate a higher pollution, and this increased the acidification. After 25 years of study, however, we can see the first signs of recovery, also under higher N deposition.
Huiying Xu, Han Wang, Iain Colin Prentice, and Sandy P. Harrison
Biogeosciences, 20, 4511–4525, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4511-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4511-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Leaf carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are crucial elements in leaf construction and physiological processes. This study reconciled the roles of phylogeny, species identity, and climate in stoichiometric traits at individual and community levels. The variations in community-level leaf N and C : N ratio were captured by optimality-based models using climate data. Our results provide an approach to improve the representation of leaf stoichiometry in vegetation models to better couple N with C cycling.
István Dunkl, Nicole Lovenduski, Alessio Collalti, Vivek K. Arora, Tatiana Ilyina, and Victor Brovkin
Biogeosciences, 20, 3523–3538, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Despite differences in the reproduction of gross primary productivity (GPP) by Earth system models (ESMs), ESMs have similar predictability of the global carbon cycle. We found that, although GPP variability originates from different regions and is driven by different climatic variables across the ESMs, the ESMs rely on the same mechanisms to predict their own GPP. This shows that the predictability of the carbon cycle is limited by our understanding of variability rather than predictability.
David T. Milodowski, T. Luke Smallman, and Mathew Williams
Biogeosciences, 20, 3301–3327, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Model–data fusion (MDF) allows us to combine ecosystem models with Earth observation data. Fragmented landscapes, with a mosaic of contrasting ecosystems, pose a challenge for MDF. We develop a novel MDF framework to estimate the carbon balance of fragmented landscapes and show the importance of accounting for ecosystem heterogeneity to prevent scale-dependent bias in estimated carbon fluxes, disturbance fluxes in particular, and to improve ecological fidelity of the calibrated models.
Keri L. Bowering, Kate A. Edwards, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 20, 2189–2206, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) mobilized from surface soils is a source of carbon (C) for deeper mineral horizons but also a mechanism of C loss. Composition of DOM mobilized in boreal forests varied more by season than as a result of forest harvesting. Results suggest reduced snowmelt and increased fall precipitation enhance DOM properties promoting mineral soil C stores. These findings, coupled with hydrology, can inform on soil C fate and boreal forest C balance in response to climate change.
Bharat Sharma, Jitendra Kumar, Auroop R. Ganguly, and Forrest M. Hoffman
Biogeosciences, 20, 1829–1841, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide increases vegetation growth and causes more heatwaves and droughts. The impact of such climate extremes is detrimental to terrestrial carbon uptake capacity. We found that due to overall climate warming, about 88 % of the world's regions towards the end of 2100 will show anomalous losses in net biospheric productivity (NBP) rather than gains. More than 50 % of all negative NBP extremes were driven by the compound effect of dry, hot, and fire conditions.
Britta Greenshields, Barbara von der Lühe, Felix Schwarz, Harold J. Hughes, Aiyen Tjoa, Martyna Kotowska, Fabian Brambach, and Daniela Sauer
Biogeosciences, 20, 1259–1276, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Silicon (Si) can have multiple beneficial effects on crops such as oil palms. In this study, we quantified Si concentrations in various parts of an oil palm (leaflets, rachises, fruit-bunch parts) to derive Si storage estimates for the total above-ground biomass of an oil palm and 1 ha of an oil-palm plantation. We proposed a Si balance by identifying Si return (via palm fronds) and losses (via harvest) in the system and recommend management measures that enhance Si cycling.
Luisa Schmidt, Matthias Forkel, Ruxandra-Maria Zotta, Samuel Scherrer, Wouter A. Dorigo, Alexander Kuhn-Régnier, Robin van der Schalie, and Marta Yebra
Biogeosciences, 20, 1027–1046, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1027-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1027-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation attenuates natural microwave emissions from the land surface. The strength of this attenuation is quantified as the vegetation optical depth (VOD) parameter and is influenced by the vegetation mass, structure, water content, and observation wavelength. Here we model the VOD signal as a multi-variate function of several descriptive vegetation variables. The results help in understanding the effects of ecosystem properties on VOD.
Nagham Tabaja, David Amouroux, Lamis Chalak, François Fourel, Emmanuel Tessier, Ihab Jomaa, Milad El Riachy, and Ilham Bentaleb
Biogeosciences, 20, 619–633, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-619-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-619-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the seasonality of the mercury (Hg) concentration of olive trees. Hg concentrations of foliage, stems, soil surface, and litter were analyzed on a monthly basis in ancient olive trees growing in two groves in Lebanon. Our study draws an adequate baseline for the eastern Mediterranean and for the region with similar climatic inventories on Hg vegetation uptake in addition to being a baseline for new studies on olive trees in the Mediterranean.
Allison N. Myers-Pigg, Karl Kaiser, Ronald Benner, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 20, 489–503, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-489-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-489-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Boreal forests, historically a global sink for atmospheric CO2, store carbon in vast soil reservoirs. To predict how such stores will respond to climate warming we need to understand climate–ecosystem feedbacks. We find boreal forest soil carbon stores are maintained through enhanced nitrogen cycling with climate warming, providing direct evidence for a key feedback. Further application of the approach demonstrated here will improve our understanding of the limits of climate–ecosystem feedbacks.
Matthew P. Dannenberg, Mallory L. Barnes, William K. Smith, Miriam R. Johnston, Susan K. Meerdink, Xian Wang, Russell L. Scott, and Joel A. Biederman
Biogeosciences, 20, 383–404, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-383-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-383-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Earth's drylands provide ecosystem services to many people and will likely be strongly affected by climate change, but it is quite challenging to monitor the productivity and water use of dryland plants with satellites. We developed and tested an approach for estimating dryland vegetation activity using machine learning to combine information from multiple satellite sensors. Our approach excelled at estimating photosynthesis and water use largely due to the inclusion of satellite soil moisture.
Mark Pickering, Alessandro Cescatti, and Gregory Duveiller
Biogeosciences, 19, 4833–4864, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4833-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4833-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores two of the most recent products in carbon productivity estimation, FLUXCOM gross primary productivity (GPP), calculated by upscaling local measurements of CO2 exchange, and remotely sensed sun-induced chlorophyll a fluorescence (SIF). High-resolution SIF data are valuable in demonstrating similarity in the SIF–GPP relationship between vegetation covers, provide an independent probe of the FLUXCOM GPP model and demonstrate the response of SIF to meteorological fluctuations.
Sophia Walther, Simon Besnard, Jacob Allen Nelson, Tarek Sebastian El-Madany, Mirco Migliavacca, Ulrich Weber, Nuno Carvalhais, Sofia Lorena Ermida, Christian Brümmer, Frederik Schrader, Anatoly Stanislavovich Prokushkin, Alexey Vasilevich Panov, and Martin Jung
Biogeosciences, 19, 2805–2840, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2805-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2805-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite observations help interpret station measurements of local carbon, water, and energy exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere and are indispensable for simulations of the same in land surface models and their evaluation. We propose generalisable and efficient approaches to systematically ensure high quality and to estimate values in data gaps. We apply them to satellite data of surface reflectance and temperature with different resolutions at the stations.
Elisabeth Mauclet, Yannick Agnan, Catherine Hirst, Arthur Monhonval, Benoît Pereira, Aubry Vandeuren, Maëlle Villani, Justin Ledman, Meghan Taylor, Briana L. Jasinski, Edward A. G. Schuur, and Sophie Opfergelt
Biogeosciences, 19, 2333–2351, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2333-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2333-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic warming and permafrost degradation largely affect tundra vegetation. Wetter lowlands show an increase in sedges, whereas drier uplands favor shrub expansion. Here, we demonstrate that the difference in the foliar elemental composition of typical tundra vegetation species controls the change in local foliar elemental stock and potential mineral element cycling through litter production upon a shift in tundra vegetation.
Tiexi Chen, Renjie Guo, Qingyun Yan, Xin Chen, Shengjie Zhou, Chuanzhuang Liang, Xueqiong Wei, and Han Dolman
Biogeosciences, 19, 1515–1525, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1515-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1515-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Currently people are very concerned about vegetation changes and their driving factors, including natural and anthropogenic drivers. In this study, a general browning trend is found in Syria during 2001–2018, indicated by the vegetation index. We found that land management caused by social unrest is the main cause of this browning phenomenon. The mechanism initially reported here highlights the importance of land management impacts at the regional scale.
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
Lina Teckentrup, Martin G. De Kauwe, Andrew J. Pitman, Daniel S. Goll, Vanessa Haverd, Atul K. Jain, Emilie Joetzjer, Etsushi Kato, Sebastian Lienert, Danica Lombardozzi, Patrick C. McGuire, Joe R. Melton, Julia E. M. S. Nabel, Julia Pongratz, Stephen Sitch, Anthony P. Walker, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 18, 5639–5668, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5639-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5639-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Australian continent is included in global assessments of the carbon cycle such as the global carbon budget, yet the performance of dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) over Australia has rarely been evaluated. We assessed simulations by an ensemble of dynamic global vegetation models over Australia and highlighted a number of key areas that lead to model divergence on both short (inter-annual) and long (decadal) timescales.
Juhwan Lee, Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel, Mingxi Zhang, Zhongkui Luo, and Ying-Ping Wang
Biogeosciences, 18, 5185–5202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5185-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5185-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We performed Roth C simulations across Australia and assessed the response of soil carbon to changing inputs and future climate change using a consistent modelling framework. Site-specific initialisation of the C pools with measurements of the C fractions is essential for accurate simulations of soil organic C stocks and composition at a large scale. With further warming, Australian soils will become more vulnerable to C loss: natural environments > native grazing > cropping > modified grazing.
Anam M. Khan, Paul C. Stoy, James T. Douglas, Martha Anderson, George Diak, Jason A. Otkin, Christopher Hain, Elizabeth M. Rehbein, and Joel McCorkel
Biogeosciences, 18, 4117–4141, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4117-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4117-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Remote sensing has played an important role in the study of land surface processes. Geostationary satellites, such as the GOES-R series, can observe the Earth every 5–15 min, providing us with more observations than widely used polar-orbiting satellites. Here, we outline current efforts utilizing geostationary observations in environmental science and look towards the future of GOES observations in the carbon cycle, ecosystem disturbance, and other areas of application in environmental science.
Lydia Stolpmann, Caroline Coch, Anne Morgenstern, Julia Boike, Michael Fritz, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kathleen Stoof-Leichsenring, Yury Dvornikov, Birgit Heim, Josefine Lenz, Amy Larsen, Katey Walter Anthony, Benjamin Jones, Karen Frey, and Guido Grosse
Biogeosciences, 18, 3917–3936, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Our new database summarizes DOC concentrations of 2167 water samples from 1833 lakes in permafrost regions across the Arctic to provide insights into linkages between DOC and environment. We found increasing lake DOC concentration with decreasing permafrost extent and higher DOC concentrations in boreal permafrost sites compared to tundra sites. Our study shows that DOC concentration depends on the environmental properties of a lake, especially permafrost extent, ecoregion, and vegetation.
Gustaf Granath, Christopher D. Evans, Joachim Strengbom, Jens Fölster, Achim Grelle, Johan Strömqvist, and Stephan J. Köhler
Biogeosciences, 18, 3243–3261, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3243-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We measured element losses and impacts on water quality following a wildfire in Sweden. We observed the largest carbon and nitrogen losses during the fire and a strong pulse of elements 1–3 months after the fire that showed a fast (weeks) and a slow (months) release from the catchments. Total carbon export through water did not increase post-fire. Overall, we observed a rapid recovery of the biogeochemical cycling of elements within 3 years but still an annual net release of carbon dioxide.
Lina Teckentrup, Martin G. De Kauwe, Andrew J. Pitman, and Benjamin Smith
Biogeosciences, 18, 2181–2203, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2181-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2181-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) describes changes in the sea surface temperature patterns of the Pacific Ocean. This influences the global weather, impacting vegetation on land. There are two types of El Niño: central Pacific (CP) and eastern Pacific (EP). In this study, we explored the long-term impacts on the carbon balance on land linked to the two El Niño types. Using a dynamic vegetation model, we simulated what would happen if only either CP or EP El Niño events had occurred.
Matthias Volk, Matthias Suter, Anne-Lena Wahl, and Seraina Bassin
Biogeosciences, 18, 2075–2090, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Grassland ecosystem services like forage production and greenhouse gas storage in the soil depend on plant growth.
In an experiment in the mountains with warming treatments, we found that despite dwindling soil water content, the grassland growth increased with up to +1.3 °C warming (annual mean) compared to present temperatures. Even at +2.4 °C the growth was still larger than at the reference site.
This suggests that plant growth will increase due to global warming in the near future.
Bernice C. Hwang and Daniel B. Metcalfe
Biogeosciences, 18, 1259–1268, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1259-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Despite growing recognition of herbivores as important ecosystem engineers, many major gaps remain in our understanding of how silicon and herbivory interact to shape biogeochemical processes. We highlight the need for more research particularly in natural settings as well as on the potential effects of herbivory on terrestrial silicon cycling to understand potentially critical animal–plant–soil feedbacks.
Ali Asaadi and Vivek K. Arora
Biogeosciences, 18, 669–706, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-669-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-669-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
More than a quarter of the current anthropogenic CO2 emissions are taken up by land, reducing the atmospheric CO2 growth rate. This is because of the CO2 fertilization effect which benefits 80 % of global vegetation. However, if nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients cannot keep up with increasing atmospheric CO2, the magnitude of this terrestrial ecosystem service may reduce in future. This paper implements nitrogen constraints on photosynthesis in a model to understand the mechanisms involved.
Arianna Peron, Lisa Kaser, Anne Charlott Fitzky, Martin Graus, Heidi Halbwirth, Jürgen Greiner, Georg Wohlfahrt, Boris Rewald, Hans Sandén, and Thomas Karl
Biogeosciences, 18, 535–556, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-535-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-535-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Drought events are expected to become more frequent with climate change. Along with these events atmospheric ozone is also expected to increase. Both can stress plants. Here we investigate to what extent these factors modulate the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from oak plants. We find an antagonistic effect between drought stress and ozone, impacting the emission of different BVOCs, which is indirectly controlled by stomatal opening, allowing plants to control their water budget.
Lena Wohlgemuth, Stefan Osterwalder, Carl Joseph, Ansgar Kahmen, Günter Hoch, Christine Alewell, and Martin Jiskra
Biogeosciences, 17, 6441–6456, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6441-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6441-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mercury uptake by trees from the air represents an important but poorly quantified pathway in the global mercury cycle. We determined mercury uptake fluxes by leaves and needles at 10 European forests which were 4 times larger than mercury deposition via rainfall. The amount of mercury taken up by leaves and needles depends on their age and growing height on the tree. Scaling up our measurements to the forest area of Europe, we estimate that each year 20 t of mercury is taken up by trees.
A. Anthony Bloom, Kevin W. Bowman, Junjie Liu, Alexandra G. Konings, John R. Worden, Nicholas C. Parazoo, Victoria Meyer, John T. Reager, Helen M. Worden, Zhe Jiang, Gregory R. Quetin, T. Luke Smallman, Jean-François Exbrayat, Yi Yin, Sassan S. Saatchi, Mathew Williams, and David S. Schimel
Biogeosciences, 17, 6393–6422, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6393-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6393-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We use a model of the 2001–2015 tropical land carbon cycle, with satellite measurements of land and atmospheric carbon, to disentangle lagged and concurrent effects (due to past and concurrent meteorological events, respectively) on annual land–atmosphere carbon exchanges. The variability of lagged effects explains most 2001–2015 inter-annual carbon flux variations. We conclude that concurrent and lagged effects need to be accurately resolved to better predict the world's land carbon sink.
Erqian Cui, Chenyu Bian, Yiqi Luo, Shuli Niu, Yingping Wang, and Jianyang Xia
Biogeosciences, 17, 6237–6246, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6237-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6237-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mean annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) is related to the magnitude of the carbon sink of a specific ecosystem, while its inter-annual variation (IAVNEP) characterizes the stability of such a carbon sink. Thus, a better understanding of the co-varying NEP and IAVNEP is critical for locating the major and stable carbon sinks on land. Based on daily NEP observations from eddy-covariance sites, we found local indicators for the spatially varying NEP and IAVNEP, respectively.
Taraka Davies-Barnard, Johannes Meyerholt, Sönke Zaehle, Pierre Friedlingstein, Victor Brovkin, Yuanchao Fan, Rosie A. Fisher, Chris D. Jones, Hanna Lee, Daniele Peano, Benjamin Smith, David Wårlind, and Andy J. Wiltshire
Biogeosciences, 17, 5129–5148, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5129-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5129-2020, 2020
Rui Cheng, Troy S. Magney, Debsunder Dutta, David R. Bowling, Barry A. Logan, Sean P. Burns, Peter D. Blanken, Katja Grossmann, Sophia Lopez, Andrew D. Richardson, Jochen Stutz, and Christian Frankenberg
Biogeosciences, 17, 4523–4544, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4523-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4523-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We measured reflected sunlight from an evergreen canopy for a year to detect changes in pigments that play an important role in regulating the seasonality of photosynthesis. Results show a strong mechanistic link between spectral reflectance features and pigment content, which is validated using a biophysical model. Our results show spectrally where, why, and when spectral features change over the course of the season and show promise for estimating photosynthesis remotely.
Cited articles
Alden, C. B., Miller, J. B., and White, J. W. C.: Can bottom-up ocean CO2 fluxes be reconciled with atmospheric 13C observations?, Tellus B, 62, 369–388, 2010.
Andreae, M. O. and Merlet, P.: Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 15, 955–966, 2001.
Ascough, P. L., Bird, M. I., Brock, F., Higham, T. F. G., Meredith, W., Snape, C. E., and Vane, C. H.: Hydropyrolysis as a new tool for radiocarbon pre-treatment and the quantification of black carbon., Quaternary Geochronol., 4, 140–147, 2009.
Bird, M. I. and Ascough, P. L.: Isotopes in pyrogenic carbon: A review, Org. Geochem., 42, 1529–1539, 2012.
Bird, M. I. and Cali, J. A.: A million-year record of fire in sub-Saharan Africa, Nature, 394, 767–769, 1998.
Bird, M. I. and Gröcke, D. R.: Determination of the abundance and carbon isotope composition of elemental carbon in sediments, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 61, 3413–3423, 1997.
Bird, M. I. and Pousai, P.: Variations of δ13C in the surface soil organic carbon pool, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 11, 313–322, 1997.
Bird, M. I., Moyo, C., Veenendaal, E. M., Lloyd, J., and Frost, P.: Stability of elemental carbon in a savanna soil, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 13, 923–932, 1999.
Bird, M. I., Wynn, J. G., Saiz G., Wurster C. M., and McBeath A.: The Pyrogenic Carbon Cycle, Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 43, 9.1–9.26, 2015.
Blackford, J.: Charcoal fragments in surface samples following a fire and the implications for interpretation of subfossil charcoal data, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 164, 33–42, 2000.
Bond, T. C., Streets, D. G., Yarber, K. F., Nelson, S. M., Woo, J. H., and Klimont, Z.: A technology-based global inventory of black and organic carbon emissions from combustion, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D14203, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003697, 2004.
Buchmann, N. and Ehleringer, J. R.: CO2 concentration profiles, and carbon and oxygen isotopes in C3 and C4 crop canopies, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 89, 45–58, 1998.
Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., MacFadden, B. J., Leakey, M. G., Quade, J., Eisenmann, V., and Ehleringer, J. R.: Global vegetation change through the Miocene/Pliocene boundary, Nature, 389, 153–158, 1997.
Cerling, T. E., Wynn, J. G., Andanje, S. A., Bird, M. I., Korir, D. K., Levin, N. E., Mace, W., Maccharia, A. N., Quade, J., and Remien, C. H.: Woody cover and hominin environments in the past 6 million years, Nature, 476, 51–56, 2011.
Ciais, P., Friedlingstein, P., Schimel, D. S., and Tans, P. P.: A global calculation of the δ13C of soil respired carbon: Implications for the biospheric uptake of anthropogenic CO2, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 13, 519–530, 1999.
Ciais, P., Cuntz, M., Scholze, M., Mouillot, F., Peylin, P., and Gitz, V.: Remarks on the use of 13C and 18O isotopes in atmospheric CO2 to quantify biospheric carbon fluxes, in: Stable Isotopes and Biosphere Atmosphere Interactions, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 235–267, 2005.
Clark, J. S.: Particle motion and the theory of charcoal analysis: source area, transport, deposition and sampling, Quaternary Res., 30, 67–80, 1988.
Conedera, M., Tinner, W., Neff, C., Meurer, M., Dickens, A. F., and Krebs, P.: Reconstructing past fire regimes: methods, applications, and relevance to fire management and conservation, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 28, 555–576, 2009.
Cope, M. J. and Chaloner, W. G.: Fossil charcoal as evidence of past atmospheric composition, Nature, 283, 647–649, 1980.
Das, O., Wang, Y., and Hsieh, Y.-P.: Chemical and carbon isotope characteristics of ash and smoke derived from burning of C3 and C4 grasses, Org. Geochem., 41, 263–269, 2010.
Dittmar, T.: The molecular level determination of black carbon in marine dissolved organic matter, Org. Geochem., 39, 396–407, 2008.
Dittmar, T., de Rezende, C. E., Manecki, M., Niggemann, J., Ovalle, A. R. C., Stubbins, A., and Bernardes, M. C.: Continuous flux of dissolved black carbon from a vanished tropical forest biome, Nat. Geosci., 5, 618–622, 2012.
Domingues, T. F., Meir, P., Feldpausch, T. R., Saiz, G., Veenendaal, E. M., Schrodt, F., Bird, M. I., Djagbletey, G., Hien, F., Compaore, H., Diallo, A., Grace, J., and Lloyd, J.: Co-limitation of photosynthetic capacity by nitrogen and phosphorus along a precipitation gradient in West Africa, Plant, Cell and Environment, 33, 959-980, 2010.
Dümig, A., Rumpel C., Dignac M.-F., and Kögel-Knabner I.: The role of lignin for the δ13C signature in C4 grassland and C3 forest soils, Soil Biol. Biochem., 57, 1–13 2013.
Enting, I. G., Trudinger, C. M., and Francey, R. J.: A synthesis inversion of the concentration and d13C of atmospheric CO2, Tellus B, 47, 35–52, 1995.
Forbes, M. S., Raison, R. J., and Skjemstad, J. O.: Formation, transformation and transport of black carbon (charcoal) in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, Sci. Total Environ., 370, 190–206, 2006.
Furley, P. A., Rees, R. M., Ryan, C. M., and Saiz, G.: Savanna burning and the assessment of long-term fire experiments with particular reference to Zimbabwe, Prog. Phys. Geogr., 32, 611–634, 2008.
Haberle, S.: A 23 000-yr pollen record from Lake Euramoo, Wet Tropics of NE Queensland, Australia, Quaternary Res., 64, 343–356, 2005.
Hammes, K., Schmidt, M. W., Smernik, R. J., Currie, L. A., Ball, W. P., Nguyen, T. H., Louchouarn, P., Houel, S., Gustafsson, Ö., Elmquist, M., Cornelissen, G., Skjemstad, J. O., Masiello, C. A., Song, J., Peng, P., Mitra, S., Dunn, J. C., Hatcher, P. G., Hockaday, W. C., Smith, D. M., Hartkopf-Fröder, C., Böhmer, A., Lüer, B., Huebert, B. J., W., A., Brodowski, S., Huang, L., Zhang, W., Gschwend, P. M., Flores-Cervantes, D. X., Largeau, C., Rouzaud, J.-N., Rumpel, C., Guggenberger, G., Kaiser, K., Rodionov, A., Gonzalez-Vila, F. J., Gonzalez-Perex, J. A., de la Rosa, J. M., D.A.C., M., López-Capél, E., and Ding, L.: Comparison of quantification methods to measure fire-derived (black/elemental) carbon in soils and sediments using reference materials from soil, water, sediment and the atmosphere, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 21, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GB002914, 2007.
Hartford, R. A. and Frandsen, W. H.: When it's hot, it's hot or maybe it's not!, (Surface flaming may not portend extensive soil heating), Int. J. Wildland Fire, 2, 139–144, 1992.
Keppler, F., Kalin, R. M., Harper, D. B., McRoberts, W. C., and Hamilton, J. T. G.: Carbon isotope anomaly in the major plant C1 pool and its global biogeochemical implications, Biogeosciences, 1, 123–131, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-1-123-2004, 2004.
Krull, E. S., Skjemstad, J. O., Graetz, D., Grice, K., Dunning, W., Cook, G. D., and Parr, J. D.: 13C-depleted charcoal from C3 and C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths., Org. Geochem., 34, 1337–1352, 2003.
Kuhlbusch, T. A. J., Andreae, M. O., Cachier, H., Goldammer, J. G., Lacaux, J. P., Shea, R., and Crutzen, P. J.: Black carbon formation by savanna fires: Measurements and implications for the global carbon cycle, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 23651–23623, 1996.
Lehmann, J., Skjemstad, J., Sohi, S., Carter, J., Barson, M., Falloon, P., Coleman, K., Woodbury, P., and Krull, E.: Australian climate–carbon cycle feedback reduced by soil black carbon, Nat. Geosci., 1, 832–883, 2008.
Lloyd, J. and Farquhar, G. D.: 13C discrimination during CO2 assimilation by the terrestrial biosphere, Oecologia, 99, 201–215, 1994.
Loo, S. V. and Koppejan, J.: Handbook of biomass combustion and co-firing, Twente University Press, Enschede, the Netherlands, 2002.
Major, J., Lehmann, J., Rondon, M., and Goodale, C.: Fate of soil-applied black carbon: downward migration, leaching and soil respiration, Glob. Change Biol., 16, 1366–1379, 2010.
Masiello, C. A.: New directions in black carbon organic geochemistry, Mar. Chem., 92, 201–213, 2004.
Masiello, C. A. and Druffel, E. R. M.: Black carbon in deep-sea sediments, Science, 280, 1911–1913, 1998.
Meredith, W., Ascough, P. L., Bird, M. I., Large, D. J., Snape, C. E., Sun, Y., and Tilston, E. L.: Assessment of hydropyrolysis as a method for the quantification of black carbon using standard reference materials, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 97, 131–147, 2012.
Miranda, A. C., Sinátora, H., Oliveira, I. F., and Ferreira, B.: Soil and air temperatures during prescribed cerrado fires in Central Brazil, J. Trop. Ecol., 9, 313–320, 1993.
O'Leary, M. H.: Carbon isotopes in photosynthesis, Bioscience, 38, 328–336, 1988.
O'Malley, V., Burke, R. A., and Schlotzhauer, W. S.: Using GC-MS/Combustion/IRMS to determine the 13C/12C ratios of individual hydrocarbons produced from the combustion of biomass materials–applications to biomass burning, Org. Geochem., 27, 567–581, 1997.
Randerson, J. T., Van der Werf, G. R., Collatz, G. J., Giglio, L., Still, C. J., Kasibhatla, P., Miller, J. B., White, J. W. C., DeFries, R. S., and Kasischke, E. S.: Fire emissions from C3 and C4 vegetation and their influence on interannual variability of atmospheric CO2 and δ13CO2, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 19, GB2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GB002366, 2005.
Rumpel, C., Alexis, M., Chabbi, A., Chaplot, V., Rasse, D. P., Valentin, C., and Mariotti, A.: Black carbon contribution to soil organic matter composition in tropical sloping land under slash and burn agriculture, Geoderma, 130, 35–46, 2006.
Saiz, G., Bird, M. I., Domingues, T., Schrodt, F., Schwarz, M., Feldpausch, T. R., Veenendaal, E. M., Djagbletey, G., Hien, F., Compaore, H., Diallo, A., and Lloyd, J.: Variation in soil carbon stocks and their determinants across a precipitation gradient in West Africa, Glob. Change Biol., 18, 1670–1683, 2012.
Saiz, G., Goodrick, I., Wurster, C., Zimmermann, M., Nelson, P., and Bird M. I.: Charcoal re-combustion efficiency in tropical savannas, Geoderma, 219/220, 40–45, 2014.
Santín, C., Doerr, S. H., Preston, C., and Bryant, R.: International Journal of Wildland Fire, Consumption of residual pyrogenic carbon by wildfire, 22, 1072–1077, 2013.
Santín, C., Doerr, S. H., Preston, C. M., and González-Rodríguez, G.: Pyrogenic organic matter production from wildfires: a missing sink in the global carbon cycle, Glob. Change Biol., https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12800, in press, 2015.
Seiler, W. and Crutzen, P. J.: Estimates of gross and net fluxes of carbon between the biosphere and the atmosphere from biomass burning, Clim. Change, 2, 207–247, 1980.
Still, C. J., Berry, J. A., Collatz, G. J., and DeFries, R. S.: Global distribution of C3 and C4 vegetation: carbon cycle implications, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 17, 1006, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GB001807, 2003.
Thevenon, F., D., W., Bard, E., F.S., A., Beaufort, L., and Cachier, H.: Combining charcoal and elemental black carbon analysis in sedimentary archives: Implications for past fire regimes, the pyrogenic carbon cycle, and the human–climate interactions, Glob. Planet. Change, 72, 381–389, 2010.
Torello-Raventos, M., Feldpausch, T. R., Veenendaal, E. M., Schrodt, F., Saiz, G., Domingues, T., Djagbletey, G., Ford, A., Kemp, J., Marimon, B. S., Marimon, B. H. J., Lenza, E., Ratter, J. A., Maracahipes, L., Sasaki, D., Sonké, B., Zapfack, L., Taedoumg, H., Villarroel, D., Schwarz, M., Quesada, C. A., Ishida, F. Y., Nardoto, G. B., Affum-Baffoe, K., Arroyo, L., Bowman, D. M. J. S., Compaore, H., Davies, K., Diallo, A., Fyllas, N. M., Gilpin, M., Hien, F., Johnson, M., Killeen, T. J., Metcalfe, D., Miranda, H. S., Steininger, J., Thomson, J., Sykora, K., Mougin, E., Hiernaux, P., Bird, M. I., Grace, J., Lewis, S. L., Phillips, O. L., and Lloyd, J.: On the delineation of tropical vegetation types with an emphasis on forest/savanna transitions, Plant Ecol. Div., 6, 101–137, 2013.
Trollope, W. S. W.: Fire in savanna, in Ecological Effects of Fire in South African Ecosystems, in, edited by: Booysen, P. D. V., and Tainton, N. M., Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 199–218, 1984.
van der Werf, G. R., Randerson, J. T., Giglio, L., Collatz, G. J., Mu, M., Kasibhatla, P. S., Morton, D. C., DeFries, R. S., Jin, Y., and van Leeuwen, T. T.: Global fire emissions and the contribution of deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural, and peat fires (1997–2009), Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 11707–11735, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-11707-2010, 2010.
Wessel, P., Smith, W. H. F., Scharroo, R., Luis, J. F., and Wobbe, F.: Generic Mapping Tools: Improved version released, EOS Trans. AGU, 409–410, 2013.
Wright, H. A. and Bailey, A. W.: Fire ecology, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1982.
Wurster, C., Lloyd, J., Goodrick, I., Saiz, G., and Bird, M. I.: Quantifying the abundance and stable isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon using hydrogen pyrolysis, Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 26, 2690–2696, 2012.
Wurster C. M., Saiz G., Schneider M. P. W., Schmidt M. W. I., and Bird M. I.: Quantifying pyrogenic carbon from thermosequences of wood and grass using hydrogen pyrolysis, Org. Geochem., 62, 28–32, 2013.
Wynn, J. G. and Bird, M. I.: C4-derived soil organic carbon decomposes faster than its C3 counterpart in mixed C3/C4 soils, Glob. Change Biol., 13, 2206–2217, 2007.
Wynn, J. G. and Bird, M. I.: Environmental controls on the stable carbon isotopic composition of soil organic carbon: Implications for modelling the distribution of C3 and C4 plants, Australia, Tellus B, 60, 604–621, 2008.
Wynn, J. G., Bird, M. I., Vellen, L., Grand-Clement, E., Carter, J., and Berry, S. L.: Continental-scale measurement of the soil organic carbon pool with climatic, edaphic, and biotic controls, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 20, GB1007, https://doi.org/1010.1029/2005GB002576, 2006.
Zimmerman, A. R.: Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar), Environ. Sci. Technol., 44, 1295–1301, 2010.
Zimmermann, M., Bird, M. I., Wurster, C., Saiz, G., Goodrick, I., Barta, J., Capek, P., Santruckova, H., and Smernik, R.: Rapid degradation of pyrogenic carbon, Glob. Change Biol., 18, 3306–3316, 2012.
Short summary
Around half of all pyrogenic carbon (charcoal+soot) derived from wildfires comes from semi-annual burning of tropical savannas. This pyrogenic carbon is significant because it is a component of global aerosols capable of modulating the greenhouse effect and is resistant to degradation. We use controlled field burns in northern Australian savannas to determine how much pyrogenic carbon is formed, how much of this is recalcitrant and how it is partitioned between ground residues and airborne soot.
Around half of all pyrogenic carbon (charcoal+soot) derived from wildfires comes from...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint