A synthesis of the impact of Russian forests on the global carbon budget for 1961–1998

Abstract

An attempt is made to synthesize the current understanding of the impact of Russian forests on the global carbon (C) budget for the period 1961-1998 (37 years), based on a detailed inventory of pools and fluxes in 1988-1992, and a historical reconstruction of a full forest carbon budget for 1961-1998. All major intermediate indicators of the budget (phytomass, net primary production, impact of disturbances, soil respiration, etc.) were independently estimated and compared with earlier reported results. During the entire period, the C pools of Russian forest land (FL, 882.0 × 10 6 ha in 1998) increased by 433 Tg C yr −1 , of which 153 Tg C yr −1 are accumulated in live biomass, 57 Tg C yr −1 in above-and belowground dead wood, and 223 Tg C yr −1 are sequestered in soil. A significant part of this increase deals with land-cover changes. The annual average C uptake by the FL from the atmosphere, defined by a flux-based method, is estimated to be −322 Tg C yr −1 for 1961-1998. The lateral transport to the lithosphere and hydrosphere comprised 47 Tg C yr −1 (including charcoal), which is considered part of the "missing C sink." The uncertainties (excluding unrecognized biases) of averages for the entire period are estimated to be in the range of ±5-8% and ±24% for major fluxes out/into the atmosphere and for net ecosystem exchange, respectively (a priori confidential probability of 0.9). If the impact of land-cover change is excluded, the average annual sink in 1961-1998, estimated by both pool-and flux-based methods, was 268 ± 94 and 272 ± 68 Tg C yr −1 , respectively. The reported results are in line with recent estimates for Northern Eurasia made by inverse modeling at the continental scale, if land classes other than forests contribute to the total sink of terrestrial vegetation.

Variability in terrestrial carbon sinks over two decades: Part 2 — Eurasia

“…Potter et al (2003a) noted exceptions during relatively cool temperature periods such as 1991-1992 and 1995-1996 when the Eurasian continental carbon sink was predicted to vary between 0.1 and 0.25 Pg C per year. These results are consistent with those reported from satellite observations and forest inventory data by Myneni et al (2001), who estimated a biomass sink for Eurasian forests of 0.48 Pg C per year over the period 1981-1999, and by Shvidenko and Nilsson (2003), who estimated a carbon sink for Russian forests of 0.27 Pg C per year over the period 1961-1998. In order to add detail to continental-scale estimates, ecosystem modeling approaches represent the terrestrial biosphere as thousands of geo-referenced pixel elements, with detailed physiological processes simulated for each pixel to transport CO 2 between the simulated land surface and the atmosphere, and to store carbon at the pixel location (Potter, 1999;Potter et al, 2003a,b). This type of spatial modeling approach cannot only identify sub-continental carbon sink locations (Dargaville et al, 2002), but also characterize the historical changes in land cover properties and actual vegetation type at each pixel location using satellite remote sensing.…”

Forest Carbon Dynamics in the Pacific Northwest (USA) and the St. Petersburg Region of Russia: Comparisons and Policy Implications

“…Estimates based on national forest inventory data indicate a significant net sink between 1961 and 1998 (433 Tg C yr −1 total, 155 Tg C yr −1 in live forest biomass) (Shvidenko and Nilsson, 2003) and an increase in productivity of forests of 20-25%, primarily in the Western part of Russia (Alexeyev et al, 2004). To improve understanding of human interactions with terrestrial ecosystems and C fluxes and make realistic predictions, a more narrow regional focus is necessary.…”

Consequences of long-term severe industrial pollution for aboveground carbon and nitrogen pools in northern taiga forests at local and regional scales

“…Fires and insect pests impose the major disturbances in northern forests (Kurz and Apps, 1999;Shvidenko and Nilsson, 2003). However, the land area affected by pollution in the boreal forest zone of Fennoscandia, due to nearly 80 years of industrial activity in the Kola Peninsula (107,200 km 2 , as estimated from Cu concentrations in forest litter: Reimann et al, 1998), exceeded by a factor of 500 the total area of extensive forest fires in the north-western Russia in a normal year in early 2000s (which averaged ca.…”