Mapping the irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems

Noon, Monica; Goldstein, Allie; Ledezma, Juan Carlos; Roehrdanz, Patrick R.; Cook‐Patton, Susan C.; Spawn‐Lee, Seth A.; Wright, Timothy M.; González‐Roglich, Mariano; Hole, David G.; Rockström, Johan; Turner, Will R.

doi:10.1038/s41893-021-00803-6

Cited by 129 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 77 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Concurrently, take strong measures to minimize expansion of agriculture through deforestation, ploughing of natural grasslands or draining of peats and wetlands, thus preserving natural or semi-natural ecosystems with their large SOC stocks and numerous other ecological benefits. This requires a reversal of the trend observed over recent decades (Noon et al, 2021). Our proposed strategy is more realistic than a pretence that some notion that “natural” conditions can be reproduced in soils required for food production.…”

Section: Concluding Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it possible to attain the same soil organic matter content in arable agricultural soils as under natural vegetation?

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Clearing natural vegetation to establish arable agriculture (cropland) almost invariably causes a loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). Is it possible to restore soil that continues in arable agriculture to the pre-clearance SOC level through modified management practices? To address this question we reviewed evidence from long-term experiments at Rothamsted Research, UK, Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, Sanborn Field, USA and Brazil and both experiments and surveys of farmers’ fields in Ethiopia, Australia, Zimbabwe, UK and Chile. In most cases SOC content in soil under arable cropping was in the range 38–67% of pre-clearance values. Returning crop residues, adding manures or including periods of pasture within arable rotations increased this, often to 60–70% of initial values. Under tropical climatic conditions SOC loss after clearance was particularly rapid, e.g. a loss of >50% in less than 10 years in smallholder farmers’ fields in Zimbabwe. If larger yielding crops were grown, using fertilizers, and maize stover returned instead of being grazed by cattle, the loss was reduced. An important exception to the general trend of SOC loss after clearance was clearing Cerrado vegetation on highly weathered acidic soils in Brazil and conversion to cropping with maize and soybean. Other exceptions were unrealistically large annual applications of manure and including long periods of pasture in a highly SOC-retentive volcanic soil. Also, introducing irrigated agriculture in a low rainfall region can increase SOC beyond the natural value due to increased plant biomass production. For reasons of sustainability and soil health it is important to maintain SOC as high as practically possible in arable soils, but we conclude that in the vast majority of situations it is unrealistic to expect to maintain pre-clearance values. To maintain global SOC stocks at we consider it is more important to reduce current rates of land clearance and sustainably produce necessary food on existing agricultural land.

show abstract

Section: Concluding Commentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it possible to attain the same soil organic matter content in arable agricultural soils as under natural vegetation?

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite only comprising 19% of all threatened forest, high-integrity forest should be prioritized due to their unrivalled importance in the provision of multifarious ecosystem services (Grantham et al 2020). Indeed, their loss represents a keystone environmental problem in that it would trigger disproportionately large and long-term consequences that could offset decades of conservation progress and climate action, particularly in areas containing vulnerable, yet irreplaceable carbon stocks (Noon et al 2021). By contrast, medium-integrity forest, which contribute substantially to ecosystem functionalbeit at reduced levels due to their semi-disturbed state (Grantham et al 2020)-constituted 49% of all threatened EHS forest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal analysis of deforestation patterns and drivers reveals emergent threats to tropical forest landscapes

Jamaludin

Alban

Carrasco

et al. 2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As deforestation breaches into new tropical frontiers, proactive conservation strategies require a trifecta of information on where deforestation is accelerating (emergent), how drivers of deforestation vary spatiotemporally, and where to focus limited conservation resources in protecting the most integral yet threatened forested landscapes. Here we introduce Emergent Threat Analysis, a process integrating Emerging Hot Spot Analysis of deforestation, visual classification of deforestation outcomes over time, and spatial quantification of contemporary forest condition. We applied Emergent Threat Analysis to tropical Southeast Asia, a global epicentre of biodiversity threatened by deforestation. We found that emergent hot spots (EHS)—a subset of hot spots characterized by strong, recent, and clustered patterns of deforestation—accounted for 26.1% of total forest loss from 1992–2018, with deforestation within EHS proceeding at 2.5 times the regional rate of gross loss. Oil palm and rubber plantation expansion were the principal drivers of deforestation within EHS of insular and mainland SE Asia, respectively. Over the study period, oil palm shifted in importance from Sumatra and Sarawak to Papua and Kalimantan, whereas rubber became prominent in Cambodia and Tanintharyi from 2006–2015. As of 2019, more than 170,000 km2 of SE Asia’s remaining forest occurred within EHS, of which 21.7% was protected. High and medium-integrity forest constituted 19.2% and 49.1% of remaining EHS forest, respectively, but of these, 35.0% of high-integrity and 23.9% of medium-integrity EHS forest were protected. Because we anticipate that tree plantation expansion will continue to drive deforestation in SE Asia, significantly heightened protection is needed to secure the long-term preservation of high and medium-integrity forest, especially in highly contested, forest frontier regions. Finally, as a flexible, integrated process, Emergent Threat Analysis is applicable to deforestation fronts across the global tropics.

show abstract

“…Solving these challenges is vital for exploring spatial synergies and trade-offs among scenarios of BAU development interventions vs NBS, guiding investments to the right places, and identifying stakeholders whose participation is key for delivering equitable and just outcomes. The good news is rapid progress is being made in global spatial mapping of ecosystems providing NCPs: from the role of mangroves and coral reefs in providing coastal protection (Chaplin-Kramer et al, 2019; Jones et al, 2020) and mountain ecosystems in supporting people's lives and livelihoods (Gret-Regamy & Weibel, 2020), to the carbon stored in ecosystems that is ‘irreplaceable’ for achieving the Paris Climate Agreement (Noon et al, 2022), and quantification of the positive links between protected areas globally and the health and wealth of nearby communities (Naidoo et al, 2019). Crucially, such mapping exercises are increasingly being linked to the economic implications of losing nature that supports NCP delivery (e.g.…”

Section: Map the Nature People Needmentioning

confidence: 99%

Make nature's role visible to achieve the SDGs

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Non-technical summary Implicit in the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda is the notion that environmental sustainability is intertwined with, and underpins, the 17 Goals. Yet the language of the Goals, and their Targets and indicators is blind to the myriad ways in which nature supports people's health and wealth – which we argue represents a key impediment to progress. Using examples of nature–human wellbeing linkages, we assess the language of all 169 Targets to identify urgent research, policy, and action needed to spotlight and leverage nature's foundational role, to help enable truly sustainable development for all. Technical summary Nature's foundational role in helping achieve the SDGs is implicit rather than explicit in the language of SDGs Goals, Targets, and indicators. Drawing from the scientific literature describing how nature underpins human wellbeing, we carry out a systematic assessment of the language of all 169 Targets, categorizing which Targets are dependent upon nature for their achievement, could harm nature if attained through business-as-usual actions, or may synergistically benefit nature through their attainment. We find that half are dependent upon nature for their achievement – yet for more than two-thirds of those nature's role goes unstated and risks being downplayed or ignored. Moreover, while achieving the overwhelming majority of the 169 Targets could potentially benefit nature, more than 60% are likely to deliver ‘mixed outcomes’ – benefitting or harming nature depending on how they're achieved. Furthermore, of the 241 official indicators <5% track nature's role in achieving the parent Target. Our analysis provides insights important for increasing effectiveness across the SDG agenda regarding where to invest, how to enhance synergies and limit unanticipated impacts, and how to measure success. It also suggests a path for integrating the ‘nature that people need’ to achieve the SDGs into the CBD's post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Social media summary Harmonizing links between the SDGs and the CBD's post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is vital for promoting sustainable development

show abstract

Mapping the irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems

Cited by 129 publications

References 77 publications

Is it possible to attain the same soil organic matter content in arable agricultural soils as under natural vegetation?

Is it possible to attain the same soil organic matter content in arable agricultural soils as under natural vegetation?

Spatiotemporal analysis of deforestation patterns and drivers reveals emergent threats to tropical forest landscapes

Make nature's role visible to achieve the SDGs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About