Global vegetation carbon pool, estimation

Table I. Estimation of the global vegetation carbon pool using the latest estimates of total carbon density for forests.

Several studies, based on models, examined the effects of land-use change on the global carbon cycle and conclude that there is a net release of carbon due to land clearing. However, the results and conclusions of these studies are based on assumed sizes of vegetation carbon pools which are inputs to the models. For example, Melillo et al. 24) concluded that boreal and temperate deciduous forests of the northern hemisphere are net sources of atmospheric carbon. Their analysis used values for carbon density derived by Whittaker and Likens 19) from work by Rodin and Bazilevich (27). Rodin and Bazilevich extrapolated results of small, unrelated studies in Europe and the USSR to estimate total biomass of Eurasian boreal and temperate deciduous forests. Their estimates have since been extrapolated to forests worldwide and are used often today. 

There are two types of data necessary to obtain accurate global estimates of vegetation carbon pools or biomass. First, it is important to have accurate data on the areal extent of major ecosystems. Matthews (29) found that calculations of global biomass were significantly influenced by the land cover data set used. Second, there must be accurate estimates of biomass density for terrestrial ecosystems. There is a wide range of estimates published for the same ecosystem, each derived by different methods (29), and none having statistical reliability (7). 

Another model, first introduced by Moore, et al. (2i), was used to examine the role of terrestrial vegetation and the global carbon cycle, but did not include an ocean component. This model depended on estimates of carbon pool size and rates of CO2 uptake and release. This model has been used to project the effect of forest clearing and land-use change on the global carbon cycle (22, 23, 24). 

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