Agric. Forest Meteorol. 195–196, 32–37 (2014)
Afforestation is one way to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change, but choosing the best location is not always straightforward.
Yang Gao from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China, and colleagues investigated the water consumption cost of carbon sequestration (WCCC) for afforestation projects in China. They find an abrupt change in ecosystem and plant water-use efficiency coincident with the 400–500 mm average annual precipitation isopleth, where the WCCC is 1 kg H20 per g C. This threshold represents a boundary beyond which afforestation may lead to land degradation due to water depletion.
Unfortunately China's major afforestation programmes are mostly concentrated in relatively arid areas with a high WCCC to the west of the 400–500 mm precipitation isopleth. This illustrates the importance of considering water-use efficiency when selecting sites for afforestation.
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Brown, A. Water costs of afforestation. Nature Clim Change 4, 533 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2295
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2295
