24 May 2001

Climate: Carbon sinks down in the forest

Image © Will Owen .

The capacity of forests to sequester carbon as atmospheric CO₂ concentrations rise has been the subject of much controversy, especially in the context of the 'forestation credits' proposed in the Kyoto Protocol. Two contributions set out to collect solid data on the subject by testing the effects of CO₂ fertilization on the scale of a real forest. Duke Forest in North Carolina, has been managed for research purposes since the early 1930s, and the 'rings' containing the CO₂-enriched atmosphere can be seen on the cover. The results suggest that soil and leaf-litter pools store only modest amounts of carbon, and carbon storage in trees is limited by shortage of nutrients and water in the long-term.

Limited carbon storage in soil and litter of experimental forest plots under increased atmospheric CO₂
WILLIAM H. SCHLESINGER & JOHN LICHTER
Nature 411, 466-469 (24 May 2001)
| First Paragraph | Full Text | PDF (146 K) |

Soil fertility limits carbon sequestration by forest ecosystems in a CO₂-enriched atmosphere
RAM OREN, DAVID S. ELLSWORTH, KURT H. JOHNSEN, NATHAN PHILLIPS, BRENT E. EWERS, CHRIS MAIER, KARINA V.R. SCHÄFER, HEATHER MCCARTHY, GEORGE HENDREY, STEVEN G. MCNULTY & GABRIEL G. KATUL
Nature 411, 469-472 (24 May 2001)
| First Paragraph | Full Text | PDF (293 K) |

Carbon cycle: Fertile forest experiments
ERIC A. DAVIDSON & ADAM I. HIRSCH
Long-term experiments under realistic conditions are beginning to deliver data on how forests — or at least some forests — will react to increasing levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere.
Nature 411, 431-433 (24 May 2001)
| Full Text | PDF (119 K) |

environment: Sink hopes sink

24 May 2001 table of contents