ORCID
- Borthwick, Alistair: 0000-0001-6053-7764
Abstract
Significance The role of soil erosion as a net sink or source of atmospheric CO 2 remains highly debated. This work quantifies national-scale land−atmosphere CO 2 fluxes induced by soil erosion. Severe water erosion in China has caused displacement of 180 ± 80 Mt C⋅y -1 of soil organic carbon during the last two decades, and the consequent land−atmosphere CO 2 flux from water erosion is a net CO 2 sink of 45 ± 25 Mt C⋅y -1 , equivalent to 8–37% of the terrestrial carbon sink previously assessed in China. This closes an important gap concerning large-scale estimation of lateral and vertical CO 2 fluxes from water erosion and highlights the importance of reducing uncertainty in assessing terrestrial carbon balance.
DOI
10.1073/ps.1523358113
Publication Date
2016-06-14
Publication Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
113
Issue
24
ISSN
0027-8424
Organisational Unit
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics
First Page
6617
Last Page
6622
Recommended Citation
Yue, Y., Ni, J., Ciais, P., Piao, S., Wang, T., Huang, M., Borthwick, A., Li, T., Wang, Y., Chappell, A., & Van, O. (2016) 'Lateral transport of soil carbon and land−atmosphere CO 2 flux induced by water erosion in China', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(24), pp. 6617-6622. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1073/ps.1523358113
