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November 7, 2024 report This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Bob Yirka , Phys.org An international team of forest and resource management specialists, ecologists and conservationists has verified the claims of China's national greenhouse gas inventories regarding major forest biomass carbon gains.
In their paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience , the group also notes that the gains have largely been the result of land management efforts. The journal editors have also published a Research Briefing outlining the work in the same issue. In 2015, 196 countries, including China, signed the Paris Agreement, a treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Signatories also agreed to attempt to meet certain goals, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adding natural carbon sinks, such as increasing forest land—they also agreed to allow independent assessments of claims made toward meeting such goals. Over the past several years, officials in China have made claims regarding large increases in land dedicated to growing forests, and that such increases have come about intentionally, mostly due to land management strategies. In this new effort, the research team sought to validate these claims.
They studied satellite images of forests across China covering the years 2001 to 2020. In so doing, they found an increase of approximately 6.2%.
The increase, the team suggested, would sequester approximately 209 million metric tons of carbon every year, based on tree types and densities. Both numbers were roughly equal to claims made by the Chinese government. To assess claims that the gains were due to intentional efforts via forest management activities, the group used data derived from tree cover dynamics to separate China's forests into eight types of management areas, which they studied separately.
They then used global models that simulate carbon impacts over time as a way to attribute changes to carbon sequestering by management type. They were able to estimate that approximately half of the biomass carbon sink increases were due to direct management programs. They also found that ongoing restoration projects were responsible for approximately 75% of successful management efforts.
The team believes their study shows that China's claims regarding increases in forest cover and resulting carbon sequestration have been accurate. More information: Zhanmang Liao et al, Growing biomass carbon stock in China driven by expansion and conservation of woody areas, Nature Geoscience (2024). DOI: 10.
1038/s41561-024-01569-0 Human management has a crucial role in China's land carbon balance, Nature Geoscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-024-01571-6 Journal information: Nature Geoscience © 2024 Science X Network.
