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Carbon cycle

Uncertain sinks in the shrubs

Replacement of grassland by shrubland, which is occurring on a large scale in the United States, is thought to lock up considerable amounts of carbon. This 'carbon sink' may be much smaller than previously estimated.

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Figure 1

ROB JACKSON

Figure 2: Carbon accumulation and loss due to expansion of shrublands into grasslands.

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Correspondence to Christine L. Goodale.

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Goodale, C., Davidson, E. Uncertain sinks in the shrubs. Nature 418, 593–594 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/418593a

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