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Articles | Volume 23, issue 16
Articles | Volume 23, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-5811-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-5811-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 23, issue 16
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
25 Aug 2026
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 25 Aug 2026

Quantifying the influence of wood carbon fractions on tree- and forest ecosystem-scale carbon estimation in a temperate forest

Adam R. Martin, Dilene Mugenzi, Sean C. Thomas, Audrey Barker-Plotkin, Mahendra Doraisami, Mark Givelas, Adam Gorgolewski, Rachel O. Mariani, David Orwig, Benton N. Taylor, and Leeladarshini Sujeeun

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Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 245–265, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-245-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-245-2026, 2026
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Cited articles

Anderegg, W. R., Hicke, J. A., Fisher, R. A., Allen, C. D., Aukema, J., Bentz, B., Hood, S., Lichstein, J. W., Macalady, A. K., and McDowell, N.: Tree mortality from drought, insects, and their interactions in a changing climate, New Phytol., 208, 674–683, 2015. 
Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., and Walker, S.: Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4, J. Stat. Softw., 67, 1–48, 2015. 
Coops, N. C., Tompalski, P., Goodbody, T. R., Queinnec, M., Luther, J. E., Bolton, D. K., White, J. C., Wulder, M. A., van Lier, O. R., and Hermosilla, T.: Modelling lidar-derived estimates of forest attributes over space and time: a review of approaches and future trends, Remote Sens. Environ., 260, 112477, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112477, 2021. 
Davies, S. J., Abiem, I., Salim, K. A., Aguilar, S., Allen, D., Alonso, A., Anderson-Teixeira, K., Andrade, A., Arellano, G., and Ashton, P. S.: ForestGEO: Understanding forest diversity and dynamics through a global observatory network, Biol. Conserv., 253, 108907, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108907, 2021. 
Domke, G. M., Oswalt, S. N., Walters, B. F., and Morin, R. S.: Tree planting has the potential to increase carbon sequestration capacity of forests in the United States, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 117, 24649–24651, 2020. 
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Editorial statement
Must estimates of the amount of carbon stored in forest ecosystems rely on the simple assumption that half of woody material is comprised of carbon. Martin and others demonstrate that this value can differ amongst species, and using species-specific wood carbon fractions can change the estimate of carbon stored in large trees by 500 kg or more. Extrapolating these differences to the globe suggests that current global forest carbon stocks may be overestimated by more than 2 Pg. Results create a path forward for integrating species-specific food carbon fraction measurements into carbon cycle science.
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Short summary
Forests are critical in the global carbon cycle. Accurate estimates of tree and forest carbon stocks depend on assumptions surrounding wood chemistry, though this is often overlooked in forest carbons science. We show that species-specific wood chemistry values upward-revise tree-and forest carbon stock estimates, though certain wood chemistry assumptions – namely, the commonly-employed 50 % wood carbon fraction assumption – over-estimate carbon stocks in virtually all temperate trees and forests.
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