Carbon emissions from land-use change and management in China between 1990 and 2010

Li Lai; Xianjin Huang; Hong Yang; Xiaowei Chuai; Mei Zhang; Taiyang Zhong; Zhigang Chen; Yi Chen; Xiao Wang; Julian R Thompson

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1601063

Carbon emissions from land-use change and management in China between 1990 and 2010

Sci Adv. 2016 Nov 2;2(11):e1601063. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1601063. eCollection 2016 Nov.

Authors

Li Lai¹, Xianjin Huang², Hong Yang³, Xiaowei Chuai², Mei Zhang⁴, Taiyang Zhong², Zhigang Chen², Yi Chen², Xiao Wang⁵, Julian R Thompson⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China.; Information Center of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210013, China.
² School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China.
³ School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China.; Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway.; Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, 1431 Ås, Norway.
⁴ School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China.; School of Urban and Resources Sciences, Jinling Institute of Nanjing University, Nanjing 210089, China.
⁵ Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China.
⁶ UCL Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.

Abstract

China has experienced enormous changes in land use in recent decades, which are largely driven by its unparalleled economic development. We analyze changes in vegetation and soil carbon storage between 1990 and 2010 resulting from combinations of land-use category conversion and management. Results demonstrate a major decline in grasslands (-6.85%; 20.83 × 10⁶ ha) and large increases in urban areas (+43.73%; 6.87 × 10⁶ ha), farmlands (+0.84%; 1.48 × 10⁶ ha), and forests (+0.67%; 1.52 × 10⁶ ha). The total soil organic carbon pool has been reduced by approximately 11.5 Tg of carbon (TgC) year^-1, whereas 13.2 TgC year^-1 has accumulated in the biomass carbon pool because of land-use category change. Large carbon losses (approximately 101.8 TgC year^-1) have resulted from land management failures, including forest fires and insect pests. Overall land-use change and land management have contributed about 1.45 Pg of carbon to the total carbon released from 1990 to 2010. Our results highlight the importance of improving land-use management, especially in view of the recently proposed expansion of urban areas in China.

Keywords: China; Land-use change; carbon storage; land-use management; terrestrial ecosystem.